I find the clue for 14A disturbing. ASL is not a "communication system for the deaf"; it is an actual, living language, just like English. The clue makes it sound like someone constructed a system and provided it to deaf people, which feels demeaning. We would never refer to French as a communication system for people who live in France. Why not just "Language of the deaf, for short"?
I’m the opposite of bored! I’m about to lose a 215-day streak because “at least one square’s amiss. Horsefeathers!” I tore through the puzzle quickly as soon as it came out yesterday, gone away from it several times, taken a screenshot of the answer key to compare, and I’m flummoxed. I thought there was something wrong with the puzzle, but it doesn’t look as though others are having a problem. I’ll try emptying it and going again. I’ve been playing for three years now, and it’s the first time this has happened. Horsefeathers!
@Young6-3
Make sure your O's aren't zeroes. That's the most common issue.
1
This is a great way to celebrate these five women who were first ladies. However, I am truly disappointed (although not entirely surprised) to see several comments disparaging our current first lady. It's rude, tacky, and unnecessary. I know there are those among us who will use any opportunity to tell everyone how you don't like the President, his wife, or anything to do with him (and you arrogantly assume that anyone with any intelligence agrees with you). However, this is not the appropriate forum for your hate and negativity. This woman, Sally Hoelscher, constructed her debut puzzle to honor these women, not to give you the opportunity to say nasty things about other women.
8
@OboeSteph
Here, here!
Great theme idea! I wish I'd thought of it. Also, brilliant move for the editors to run it on President's Day. OLD GLORY and ELENA Kagan fit well too. Congrats on your debut, Sally!
4
Congrats on your first puzzle... really enjoyed it.
6
A quick finish this morning. Enjoyed the incorporation of First Ladies into today's Presidents' Day theme. Great debut puzzle, Sally!
On a personal note, the RYE bread clue was extra special to me. I am an avid home sourdough baker, and have 2 Pumpernickel Sourdough Bread Boules, now slowly rising, that will go into the oven later today.
7
A quick and easy Monday, better than last week, got an nice time and finished on MSDE in SW and was positive I wasn’t getting a happy sound, but did. And earlier comments filled in the meaning of that for me.
Love to all the other commenters here, you make the puzzles more fun. And so does Deb.
7
VERTEX Question - Not sure where else to ask, and perhaps it's been discussed before and I missed it. If so, I apologize.
But, what's up with Vertex? Is the NYT just not creating any more puzzles? I keep being taken back to the very first puzzle ever published, even though I've done them all.
If they aren't going to publish any new ones, maybe take it down from the Crossword & Games Page? It's kind of annoying. Just saying.
9
@Beth R - I hope everybody who has been frustrated by Vertex will click on recommend for your comment!
There needs to be a bypass the beginning button!
3
@David Connell Thanks for the vote of confidence, lol. I really liked it and I'm missing it. :-(
@Beth R
I have been getting new puzzles regularly but I’ve had two occasions when I had to start from the beginning. I’m not sure if I had logged out of my account or it was because of an operating system update. I emailed the puzzle folks and they responded that were working on fixing bugs. It seems as though the bugs are still there. Very frustrating.
2
Yay, love the theme for today & had no idea so many FLOTI wrote books!
Also, I thought this was a perfect Monday level solve; Mondays are often the only days I fill in roughly in order and without looking anything up. Until the SW corner! I can always count on the comments to assure me that I’m not the only one confused by a clue.
Great debut!
8
@Carol lol TIL that the plural of FLOTUS is FLOTI! 😆
3
Great debut puzzle Sally. Loved seeing all the First Ladies names. Clever idea! Congrats!
4
MODS, not emus?
3
@coloradoz Emus work exclusively for the NYT ;-)
6
There is a certain irony that the "New York-style deli" in the photo Deb selected for the Reuben clue is in Germany.
https://berlinfoodstories.com/2014/05/25/mogg-melzer-the-berlin-deli/
5
Too bad the deli wasn’t in ESSEN. (Also German verb for “to eat”, oh, the irony would be delicious!)
1
Maybe I spent too much time around the business having been an employee for a large aerospace firm for a long time. But, I have never heard a seat in a jet fighter referred to as an ejector seat. am I alone out here?
3
John,
Would you prefer ejection seat?
1
@John Ward
According to the definitive source, Wookieepedia wiki on starwars.fandom.com:
An ejector seat was a seat designed to forcibly eject the occupant clear of a starship during an in-flight emergency. During the Rebellion on Akiva, the New Republic starfighter pilot Norra Wexley discovered that the Galactic Empire's TIE fighters did indeed carry ejector seats. She was able to eject to safety after her stolen TIE was hit by turbolaser fire.
So that's that.
(It also looks like British references favor ejector, U.S. ejection)
Hildy,
I think John Ward ejected after posting.
2
Wonderful debut, with a great theme. Nice to honor the First Ladies on Presidents Day. I agree with others who look forward to a future First Gentleman. 😊
13
Congrats to the constructor on her debut.
I thought the fill was super easy, even for a Monday, until I filled all the squares and didn’t get the happy music. I’m basically illiterate (I read maybe 10 books in my life?). So I got no idea on books / authors. The tv network was NBC. I’ve never heard of NETTYFORD, but I guess she wrote somethin’...
Only after coming here, did I “realize” these were First Ladies.
I was convinced my error was with FEH or SITU. Both of which I’ve never heard of.
I was so cocky the first couple minutes, only to finish way above my average looking for that wrong letter. Love it.
4
@Newbie
Clue: sneezing droid
ACHOO ARTOO DETOO
9
Speeding through the Acrosses on a Monday means I often don't read the Down clues when they are already filled in.
That, and the fact that "Wall Street" permanently replaced the correct spelling of the lizard in my memory, meant that I had to do a puzzle sweep to find the GEKKO/IKE error.
Other than that, a smooth fill, and a nice tribute to the deserving women in the White House.
3
@Hildy Johnson As with me, I had lds for AME and never looked at the down clues in that area. That cost me a record time for a Monday by 20 seconds.
2
Loved today's puzzle - congratulations and thank you, Sally Hoelscher!
4
Oh, I really liked the First Lady puzzle. And the fact that at one time there were those who had intelligence, poise, and something worth saying.
:-)
56
@Just Carol
And BE IT SO again.
32
Puzzlemucker,
And a First Gentleman...
24
@Just Carol [eyeroll] So is Ms. Trump vacuous, schlumpy, and easily dismissable? See, I assume that's what you are saying here, even though all you have to do is wade through your bias just a bit and do a few minutes worth of research to find evidence that she is everything you seem to value.
6
Relatively easy and straightforward, until the final southeast corner, which required some extra research. Nice to honor the First Ladies! Hopefully we'll have a First Man someday soon.
12
Maureen Dowd, the NYT columnist, said if Hillary won in 2016, we could all refer to Bill as “first laddie”.
5
@Brian well that way we could still use the abbr. “FLOTUS”.... rolls off the tongue better than FMOTUS.
1
It happens that I had read both MICHELLE's and HILLARY's books--very relate-able and readable, no surprise.
Congrats to Sally H. on this lovely debut!
12
Any newbie should be encouraged. But strong editor help is needed, and in this puzzle
ARC ACOO ERMA EPIC BEE Which were all in puzzles last week and some in the same single puzzle,
suggests that was lacking here.
The puzzle is boring and too easy.
Hi @Skeptical1, Just popping in to address your points, mostly for educational purposes, because this is not the first time someone has said this.
"Boring," I feel, is in the eye of the beholder. It's subjective, and as I always told my kids, if you're bored, it's because you are not looking for fun.
"Too easy" is an interesting description, because it is Monday, and that's what we expect of Mondays. Perhaps your use of it wasn't a pejorative, but a way to let us know that you've progressed beyond the early week puzzles. In that case, congratulations!
Speaking of the easier early week puzzles, they do, by definition, have easier vocabulary, which is why you see easy words like ARC, ACHOO, EPIC and BEE. ERMA (Bombeck) might or might not be known, but she has been in the puzzle or not and is just a Google away for those who are too young to have appreciated her genius.
Finally, the puzzles are all made at different times by different people, and I *promise* you that when words repeat themselves from one puzzle to another, it is not because the editors are lazy. Making a puzzle is a very complex process, and sometimes certain words are needed to make a section work. If a puzzle sparkles and is worthy of being published but has the word ARC in it while the next day's puzzle does as well, they are not bothered by that. Rather, it's probably more a matter of whether one puzzle fits into a "day of the week" slot than the other.
52
@Deb Amlen Sorry, "but she has been in the puzzle or not" should have been "but she has been in the puzzle forever."
3
@Deb Amlen It's so egalitarian that not even the NYT editor can edit their comment
14
I sound like a broken record saying this, but it's true that you can only be published in the NYT, for the first time, once. So a big congratulations to you, Sally Hoelscher! Revel in all of your crossword constructor glory today!
38
Brother in law, travel writer, wrote an article on ice. This my first exposure to the musings of former first ladies: Dolly Madison in this case. Most north eastern communities had at least one rum distillery. Ships full of sugar cane journeyed from the Caribbean and often returned empty. The holds of these ships were reenforced and insulted so that ice, some harvested from Walden Pond, might be shipped south. Each trip resulted in a fair amount of the ice melting. Jacob Parkins, along with others, refined existing refrigeration processes allowing for the preservation of ice on ships and the development of modern refrigeration. The ice was needed to satisfy the National craving for ice cream and to chill rum drinks. Rum drinks were sometimes made with a new patent remedy Coca Cola. The sugary solutions, fruit and ice were important as most rums, while high in alcohol tasted terrible.
I knew you wanted to know that, opined Tom officiously.
Ham handed typing cost me the gold this AM. Somehow RYE became rhe. I shall drown my sorrows in a Sazerac later today.
Thank you Sally
9
@dk - boy I had a hard time understanding how you insult a cargo hold...
1
@David Connell
That's a freightful thought.
1
Stow it, you two!
3
I don't know how to embed links on this site, but for the funniest use of the word NUBBY (not NUBBLY) ever conceived, go to YouTube and enter the words "Nichols and May funeral". Some here may know the skit, but for anyone who doesn't, it's one of the most hilarious skits ever performed and not to be missed.
3
@Nancy, is it this one? Hee hee, always a bonus when the comics are cracking each other up.
https://youtu.be/cLkuNnnp89g
3
@Nancy TY! I laughed so hard I was crying!
1
Nancy— The skit was great, and I’m amazed that you remembered it used the word “nubby”!! I loved Nichols and May, but don’t remember ever seeing that skit. Did you ever see the movie, A New Leaf, with Elaine May and Walter Matthau? I will have to see if I can find it somewhere, now that you’ve reminded me. Thanks 😊
3
What a delightful start to the week, it was fun to try and get each First Lady with as few crosses as possible. I am embarrassed that I only knew “Becoming “ for sure , which was a delight to read. MICHELLE OBAMA was especially gracious about how kind LAURA BUSH was in showing her and the girls around the White House.
More please, Sally
13
My five favorite clues from last week
(in order of appearance):
1. Gets the lead out (6)
2. It had a major part in the Bible (3)(3)
3. Subjects of baseless charges (5)
4. Dreaded musician of the 1960s-'70s (6)
5. Things passed between the legs? (6)
ERASES
RED SEA
AWOLS
MARLEY
BATONS
15
@Lewis
No. 2 on your list was my favorite! Passover is my very favorite holiday.
5
Breathes there a wife of a President*
Who never to herself once went:
"I can write my very own memoir and, (no need to go pitching my manuscript), agents and publishers will flock to me and offer me an obscene advance (and maybe find me a very discreet ghostwriter, should I need some assistance) and the more I open up about my real-life, little-known problems -- problems perhaps not that dissimilar from your own, Dear Reader -- the more obscene the advance will be and the more the book will sell and maybe, who knows, end up #1 on the NYT Bestseller List."
*A bit unfair to HILLARY, who, by the time she wrote her memoir, had been much more than a First Lady.
4
@Nancy
Hmm... I think learning more about the individuals might soften this critique.
7
Oh, no, Mean Old Lady. I didn't have my American Citizen's hat on when I wrote this. I had my former Book Publishing Editor's hat on, along with my Writer's hat (as in: most writers don't have agents and publishers flocking to them; instead they have to flog their books to agents and publishers.)
All of these women were smart and interesting first ladies. All of these memoirs are, I'm sure, well worth reading. All I was saying is that, if you've been a First Lady, getting your book published is a slam-dunk. It was a swipe directed at the practices of the publishing industry, not at the First Ladies. If it came across differently, I sincerely apologize.
8
@Nancy - thanks for the followup! MOL was not alone in reading you against your meaning.
3
Would have been a personal Monday best except I foolishly put EJECTeR and EMeRY and it looked O so normal. Nice Monday puzzle!
5
This theme makes me smile, always the mark of a strong Monday puzzle.
5
Happy President's Day ! Looking forward to a First Gentleman's Book someday - Mr.Klobuchar ?? Chasten Buttigieg ??
As a side note " Becoming " is a fabulous read if you haven't picked it up yet .
28
@Cathy P
Hopefully someday soon! (As long as it's not Jared Kushner)
16
@ad absurdum
Or Bill Clinton.
1
@justsomeone I think that ship has sailed.
Ad Absurdum, reminds me of the people of Iowa a couple of years ago who long yearned for a female to be elected to the governor's office, then were indignant when it happened because she was Republican.
Very pleasant puzzle for President's day and a personal best time for me. Could have been even faster if I'd paused for just a second over the clue for 23a, but at that point I was focused on the "author of..." part of the clue and assumed I wouldn't know any of them without some crosses (and of course didn't know we were focused on first ladies at that point).
Speaking of which... we had EKE at 11d. There's nothing in that little corner that's integral to the theme answers. I wonder how difficult it would have been to rework that area to make 11d 'EVE' instead and then clue it as "First lady?"
Might have been a nice extra touch.
Congratulations to Ms. Hoelscher on a terrific debut.
15
@Rich in Atlanta
My first attempt at construction:
O V E R T
P E V E S
E L E N A
9a: Not secret or hidden
16a: Pet annoyances
12d: Counterpart of Stimpy (or Son of Solo)
13d: Airport security org.
1
@Ken
It might get returned to you. PEVES would need a double E. (Please don’t get peeved!)
1
@Andrew
Oh well...
1
Lest we forget:
Ms. Carter advocated for the awareness of and treatment of mental health. Ms. Ford championed women's rights, breast cancer awareness, and the treatment of addictions. Ms. Bush promoted education and especially reading. And Ms. Obama emphasized reversing childhood obesity, and advocated for gay rights.
A nod and gratitude for the good work of these women, and to Sally for bringing them to the fore.
53
I just realized that I left out Hillary Clinton (it was a goof, not on purpose!), who, as First Lady, championed health care reform, raised awareness of violence against women, and fought for foster care reform.
17
Congratulations, Ms. Hoelscher on your NYT debut puzzle!
6
Quick and easy except the spelling of ROSALYNNCARTER (I remembered it differently) and OHSORRY. FEH crossing with HILLARYCLINTON was not enjoyable but the puzzle was overall terrific! Great debut with a lovely theme. Next memoir: “How to Be Best Fashion Magazine Reader.”
4
SPELLING BEE
53 words, 259 points, 1 pangram (imperfect)
13
@Kevin Davis I found 52 on my own, and Shunn said I was missing 1 teeny-tiny I4, which I figured out quickly. Most words are recent from when we had a similar letter set. Clues coming up.
7
@Kevin Davis Lots of –LY adjectives & adverbs. 2 A– prefixes (1 on list), 2 –I plural suffixes.
Obscure word clues:
(Of a problem or illness) cause pain to
Settled on
Lopsided
Room or storage area under the roof
Plural desert plant
Pollution device on your car adj. & adv.
(Also describes item causing/speeding a reaction)
Feline wolf whistle
Feline appendage, or reed
Feline spiteful adj. & adv.
Urban noun & verb
Aptitude, or a place for a specific use
Thing that is true
Quality of being the above (obscure)
Lethal noun, victim, & adv.
Obesely
Taunt for an obese person
Italian car, or arbitrary order
Suitably
Pancake-like, noun & adj.
Move swiftly
Forbidden, adj. & adv.
Slanted text
Tiny
Muscle acid
Non-clergy
Opposite of forbidden, adj. & adv.
Sing-song accent
Implied, adj. & adv.
Strategy noun, adj. & adv.
Chewy, stringy candy
Baby powder
Ankle bone plural
Shoddy
Petty quarrel, or image format
27
@Kevin Davis Oops, I just realized pancake-like is more often an adj., but it can be a noun if you're talking about a mail piece or a British apartment.
1
With this fun and quick Monday solve, I hit 100 in my nascent streak!
11
@pacifically Yay! Doesn't sound nascent to me.
2
@Michael Brothers Thanks! I dubbed nascent as it's a wee streak compared to 1000s some post of here. It's the first one I've put an effort into maintaining despite years of solving. Nice daily goal for me :-)
1
@pacifically
Having never gotten even half that, I'd say a 100-day streak is downright hoary. Congratulations!
It would have been a personal best time for me, by far, if it wasn't for the bottom right corner. If only "mag. number" was "mag number (abbr.)" instead. :)
5
@Aarglefarg
If there's an abbreviation in the clue, the answer is almost always an abbreviation.
@JayTee Yes, but what I mean is a 'mag' (with no period) is commonly understood as a magazine. As written, it lead me to wonder if it meant magic, magnetic or magnesium first.
4
@Aarglefarg I thought it was magic, too
Congratulations to Sally Hoelscher on her NYT debut and a great idea of bringing the First Ladies to the forefront.
I have to disagree with Deb, the crossings were not kind to me :-) The "S" in the MDSE vs ISS was a twelfth try on my QWERTY keyboard, and I still don't have a clue what either one of these words are, at least not clued like this.
11
@Bojan
MDSE is an abbreviation for merchandise, and ISS is short for issue, where for example issuer# 2 of a monthly magazine would be published for February.
5
@Bojan - in 20th-c. English, Mdse. was a standard abbreviation for "merchandise" = things for sale, though in the 21st century that is most definitely supplanted by "merch".
I like the Bush, Carter and Ford titles best. They seem straightforward and genuine, more so than the clever double entendres of Clinton and Obama.
I think that's because that's what I'm looking for in our politics today: straightforward and genuine.
That said, I like "when they go low, we go high." But I just don't think that's going to get us there in our present environment.
7
and Elke
Nice puzzle- lauding the FLOTI- i.e. the real powers behind the throne ?
Wish that the EJECTOR SEAT will find an appropriate use later this year...
28
Quick puzzle, fun theme!
2
Any puzzle that has my initials as an answer can't be all bad!!!
Especially when it's a straightforward solve in less than my Monday average!!
11
Splendid debut! Seven great women (ERMA helped suburban women especially survive the absurdity of living in a “post-women’s lib” age that was mired in sexism).
The Jam with a short burst of youthful discontent, “All MOD Cons”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUYbM6KiFB8
6
I’m embarrassed to say I had to A then B then C my way through on the app to get to ISS / MDSE. Another comment explains MDSE... but what is ISS? I know Mag. in the clue might mean abbreviation- so International Space Station... but then how does the clue work?
12
@Chris issue
1
Doh! Never mind. Got it.
Chris,
Mag. (abbr. clue) number = ISSue.
2
Was out, so did this on the phone and of course fell into the I'm SORRY trap as well as thinking saga before EPIC, but caught both of those quickly. Very apt puzzle for President's Day, especially with OLD GLORY smack in the middle.
Very nice debut, hope to see more!
6
Nice job, Sally! A very appropriate puzzle for Presidents' Day. I almost put I'M SORRY before OH SORRY but I looked at the crosses and didn't. When I see MODS I think Rockers, so you get a hint to my age. I got most of the puzzle from the Acrosses, so I didn't even notice many of the Down clues. But still, a good Monday.
2
Not crazy about 63A Mag. Number/ISS, but rather than take issue with it, I will post this instead from another first lady.
https://youtu.be/YdTA6eU0QPI
10
I suppose it's too early to congratulate Melania for Being There.
22
This was a fun one. The Rosalynn Carter was easy, although I misspelled her name initially. The others followed the husband's terms by just a few years in every case. Quick, good for a Monday.
12
MDSE? What does that even mean?
5
It’s a standard abbreviation for merchandise, used in retail and wholesale.
3
The proximity of AGING and AMESS is uneasy
10
Lest this be misunderstood, I’m on the verge of my eighth decade. Referring only to my own anxieties. YMMV
19
Youngster!
12
Lovely puzzle in every way. Now maybe do one for next year with the town where presidential libraries are located?
3
RWR’s in my town of Simi Valley CA.
We have a poster in West Branch IA (Hoover).
2
And I'm sure our constructor knows that!
(Nice job, Sally!)
1
Nubby and nubbly are connected by the idea of being covered by little bumps or knots - nubs, nubbins, or nubbles.
I've tried to come up with a parallel and can only think of two, both quite similar:
knobby vs. knobbly (this is essentially a variant spelling for the same thing)
and
stubby vs. stubbly. The stub is a tree stump after the tree is cut down - or any short sticking out thing, like the tail end of a smoked cigarette. Stubble is the same thing but on a smaller scale - like corn stalks after they've been cut near to the ground, or a beard that is a few days old. So a pony can have stubby legs, but a face has a stubbly beard.
In the same way: a rubber jar-lid opener is nubbly, but a sweater that has been worn out is nubby.
A tree trunk can be knobby, but a twig is knobbly.
English as a Germanic language, on display.
11
David,
In the context of fabric, I've only heard nubby. You?
1
@Barry Ancona - yep, that's what I wrote - fabric is nubby. Rubbery textured surfaces are nubbly. The word for the texturization of fabric is the very appropriate "hand." I have hands that are roughened by use in the garden and workshop - any fabric with too smooth a hand (like a silk tie) says "ow ow ow" every time I touch it. I can hear it complaining!
A late friend of mine invented the word gribbly/gribblies to designate the little bits of nonsense that result from erasing a lot of pencil marks, or the dog getting into the bathroom wastebasket. A noble word I've continued to use and promote. It does not, alas, have a gribby counterpart, though there's always room for some gribenes in this world.
2
David,
Sorry. I did read what you wrote.
"...a rubber jar-lid opener is nubbly, but a sweater that has been worn out is nubby."
Rubber is not a fabric, a sweater is made of fabric. The puzzle clue was "as fabric."
I repeat my question: "In the context of fabric, I've only heard nubby. You?"
Author of the memoir "Unbecoming" (2021).
39
@cmb13 don’t scare us like that :(
17
@cmb13 Why would you say that you doubt that she can write? I hope it's not due to the fact that she speaks your language with an accent.
5
@Andrew I'm not sure she can write. And besides, it's looking like 2025, as complete control of all three branches can create quite an advantage in an election. Maybe 2029 if they get rid of term limits.
7
For Sunday's LETTER BOXED:
PETUNIA, ANONYMIZED.
I’m sure there must’ve been shorter ones...
1
@pi my wife had pneumatized/dyon
1
@pi
I just wanted to mention that the customary protocol with the Letter Boxed thread has been to only post the first and last letters (and number of letters in each word), until the new puzzle is posted (3 am Eastern time). That way if anyone is still working on it in the evening there will not be any spoiler.
The posters' previous day's solution(s) are usually posted alongside the present day's hints.
1
@Andrew My bad, sorry about that.
What a great First (Lady) puzzle!
(You can read these memoirs at a moment's FLOTUS.)
25
Congrats on your first puzzle Sally. Good word choices.
12
Well, now my Monday times are messed up too. The app did not pause when I got a phone call in the middle of solving. This has happened before.
(I know I can get the Times to fix it but I don’t know what the right time was.)
3
@Mr. Mark I completed the Mini in zero seconds. Yay me!
4
@Mr. Mark
Next time try quickly rejecting the phone call and continue solving. One must have one's priorities straight!
1
@Mr. Mark
When the phone rings, before answering, click on the V in the upper left corner of the app, above the word ACROSS. It will take you out of the puzzle and stop the timer.
2
And congrats on your debut!
9
Pretty zippy
8