Being admittedly too literal instead of numerical, I put in the ATE everywhere instead of the number 8. I knew I had it solved but it kept telling me at least one letter wrong. Panicking because I have a 431 day streak going, I knew that the double OO was the alternate rebus and voilá. I think you could call this a double Thursday-a rebus within a rebus.
Just dutifully read through all the comments—a lot of lively discussion today! This puzzle was challenging for me, and I solved it without the theme like (many?) others. This morning, I only had time to hear the festive music and get on with my day. After reading Deb’s column, I appreciated it much more. Very clever! Hoping for cleaner success tomorrow, my new favorite puzzle day!
3
I swipe left on this puzzle....
8
Intrigued that this is one of your favorite crossword authors. Any chance the app could allow us to click on an author's name and see other puzzles from the archive by that person?
2
Daniel,
You can do that here: https://www.xwordinfo.com/
1
I had so much trouble with 1A. For the longest time, I had FLUB. Because 1D was FAIL, which I got, I was convinced that since the F was good, the LUB was also good. The rest of the puzzle, I flew through (if "flying" means "didn't crash"). Finally, I gave up and asked my friend, and FISH it was. And then the top corner was a breeze. The end.
Very nice puzzle - fun and clever!
3
I'm too old and too young for this puzzle. I've never heard of KEYSTONE KOPs. KOJAK is also before my time, but I have heard of him, and the lollipop-sucking rung a bell for some reason. I am very grateful and relieved that I met my husband long before dating apps were a thing, and I never had to suffer that indignity. I am familiar with TIKTOK, but it's not something that's particularly interesting to me. So, this puzzle wasn't really my cup of tea. My favorite clue today was from the mini: Elbows on the table? PASTA
2
I don’t get :15 or brb?
2
@Marciagarcia III is the roman numeral for three on a clock, which is also the spot for 15 past the hour. BRB is "be right back."
1
@Marciagarcia I could not figure this one out either but I found the answer further down in the comments. :15 refers to quarter past the hour or III on an old Roman numeral clock face. I’m satisfied. ( brb is texters shorthand for be right back)
1
@OboeSteph
Thank you. This was my first time writing a comment and i was pleasantly surprised to see it show up. Plus the quick response. I’ll be sharing some more now.
Golly, I really wanted TARP to be TENT but sorted it quickly enough. The streak continues.
4
@Horst Witherspoon 🙋♀️ I had tarp for tent also. Strike that, reverse it.
1
After all the whipping, nae naeing, bopping and stanky legging, I am too exhausted to even try the puzzle! I have got to stop watching these videos Deb posts.
3
@Jennene Colky Ugh I hate that song so much! I remember a few years ago when it was popular I'd hear it at every school function, and it drove me nuts. Finally, it vanished from popularity and I thought I'd heard the last of it. Then just Saturday night they played it (at deafening volume) at the skating rink and now it's in the puzzle! Argh! I can't get away from it!
@OboeSteph The Chanukah version is pretty great, though.
https://youtu.be/goE4tVIM3vk
3
@OboeSteph, very nice! I particularly liked the little Lhasa ap-jew at 2:13. On the otter hand, since I've only seen/heard the NAE NAE once or twice before, I enjoyed the re-clip this time also.
1
Anyone else have dICES before RICES? (Didn't know what 1D was.)
I've been watching British crime dramas for ages, but was unaware of "nick." 🙄
1
@Ron A few people said they had dICES first. My error was RIpup.
I feel like at age 60 I'm a good age for these puzzles. I know the 1960'and 1970s shows and references and some earlier stuff from my parents. My kids are Millennials and I keep up with their apps, slang and music. I read all the Harry Potter books to them. I've lived long enough that I've run into lots of stuff, much of it only in the past 10 years. An example I heard of TinTin the Belgian French comic strip because 15 years ago I met a guy who was obsessed with it. I haven't heard of it before or since. I like when you can remember why or how you happen to know some random trivial thing. When a puzzle skews young, people complain, when skews old they complain. This one has both, they complain. I used to watch Kojak and I know brb and Tinder, Issa Rae and Bette Davis, rappers and old coroners, I Love Lucy and Game of Thrones. Bring it all on. I struggle most with crosswordese but I'm learning it: ETUI OENO EWER OTOE NENE OBI NANA NGO ECLAT OGEE ESTA SXSW ASSAM EOCENE OCULI TREF NEMEA AGAR ORNE all new to me and learned.
22
A votre Santi, Monsieur! (Mam'zelle?)
Bail or bust obviously not in your lexicon. Helas, bienvenue!!
2
@Santi Bailor I agree wholeheartedly. I'm 52, and have no idea who TRINI Lopez or PATTI LUPONE are/were, but I recognize the names from frequent solving. This week, I have added CHILDISH GAMBINO to my list of people I am unaware of, but will recognize as "a thing." Be prepared for BILLIE EILISH entries to follow.
Re: Tintin, there was a Tintin movie several years ago, directed by Steven Spielberg.
1
@Grant yes I didn't know about the movie but I'm a huge Patti Lupone fan because when I was in high school I used to sing along to the Evita commercials so my mom got me the album for Xmas which memorized. I was able to visit Evita's grave in Argentina. My kids love rap and hip hopand awhile back when they were pre teens I took them to a big concert and they met a bunch of their idols. We have a photo of them with WU TANG CLAN.
1
I only know about SWIPE RIGHT from a previous puzzle. Makes sense there's a SWIPE LEFT.
There's a lot going on in this puzzle!
KNICK/nick was new to me as a term meaning cop/KOP.
I wanted to love this because so much thought and effort went into it, but in the end I was just LEFT feeling robbed.
6
@Johanna Nick is common British slang.
2
Santi Bailor, also, in BBC police shows I've heard them use the phrase "the nick" to mean the police station.
2
Today happens to be the second anniversary of our first date (my girlfriend and I met on a dating app, of course). So imagine our joy when we did the crossword together this morning and found SWIPE RIGHT as the main clue. Thanks!
6
@Allen Marsh
Of course to get to SWIPE RIGHT you had to get past SWIPE LEFT!!! :) Congrats on your anniversary!
3
@Allen Marsh Aww, that's sweet! Great timing for you and your girlfriend. It's a modern love story. You should write a movie called "swipe right. "
1
Thinking of the impending weather forecast (even writing this from a college campus) I had FAIR before FAIL (both work in the definition, just not with the cross). I had a hard time parsing the ":15 number" clue as I started thinking ratio at first. Then when I had 2 I's, the third I made sense.
The cursing from 9D would be more common than the groaning of 43A as a reaction to a computer crash!
I saw this shirt on campus today shortly before solving and it helped! https://tinyurl.com/KaleShirt
Fun fun.
4
@BrbPanoff
With you on the cursing/groaning continuum, as well as the ai-ai-ai of :15
KALE sweatshirt a hoot! Isn't that the New Haven Kollege? Koola Koola, Klass of '20!!
2
Leapy,
You and Bob should present David with that sweatshirt the next time he's in Carolina.
3
@Leapfinger
I liked the BrbPanoff...was that because of today's puzzle?
2
I’m among those who finished the puzzle quickly (under my average Wednesday time) but didn’t get the theme until I read Deb’s column. I still enjoyed the puzzle. DEWAR flask was my new word for the day. (The only Dewar I knew of was the whiskey.) As for “pony keg”, I knew it from the June Carter/Johnny Cash song “Jackson”, where June sings:
Well they’ll laugh at you in Jackson
And I’ll be dancing on a pony keg.
6
Bit of a navel-gazing exercise for the constructor, and far too dependent on uninspiring clues for glue answers for a midweek puzzle. The bottom is an uninspired slog - sometimes themes inspire good puzzle construction, other times a theme seems like a good idea but the refusal to concede that it's too convoluted to smoothly implement results in a puzzle that from very early on feels that the tail is wagging the dog.
14
In the spirit of enjoying the cultural references in the NYTXW, I've started a to build a playlist on Spotify of songs referenced in the daily puzzle. The Playlist is https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0vxpMh06oxbZz1YCwGfiic?si=ZV1yMHw6SRawTMJGujeasw
I've also set up a spreadsheet that anyone can comment to add a new song, following the template I've set up. I think it'd be fun to see what kind of list each year puts together
8
@Sam T Here's the google sheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13Ld8gVTHnIOMN0ePvgmPue7lyYi054TSPnkgd2e275A/edit?usp=sharing
3
@Sam T nice, thanks I'm gonna print that out and commit to memory
1
From the dad of a WPU grad that appreciates the link, thank-you so much for the compilation.
1
I'm gonna SWIPE LEFT on this puzzle.
In woodworking there's a term, "designer firewood." This is a project or a piece of a project that you work on, fix, rework, sand to fit, rework again...and finally chuck into the burn bin. No matter how much (more) effort you put into the thing it's just not going to work out. It can be heart-breaking. From the constructor's notes it appears they were determined not to make designer firewood, so finished it best they could and slapped a coat of polyurethane on it.
Just to be clear: I finished the puzzle is just over my Wednesday average. I'm familiar with swiping left/right, Lyft, TikTok, etc. *and* the KEYSTONE KOPs, KOJAK, etc. It wasn't too difficult, it just had too much glue and wood putty and a few awkwardly reinforced butt joints.
18
@Adina, I liked the puzzle, but I’m glad to learn the term “designer firewood”.
I will adapt it for what I used to call my “extended compost” program. That’s where you sow seeds, transplant seedlings, water, weed, feed, tend, harvest, cook up a fabulous dish and THEN forget about the leftovers until too late and you have to SWIPE the LEFTovers into the compost.
6
@Adina
Must say that I take exception to your reinforced butt joints, which I would say are somewhat of a roach too far.
3
It would have been more clever to have phrases that are synonyms for Attraction and Rejection to correspond with SWIPE LEFT AND RIGHT. I was looking for that. I thought maybe KNICK somehow had Kick in it. When I did see that it was synonyms for SWIPE it was a letdown. I'm new at this so 22 minutes might be a Wednesday record for me.
1
Here just to give a voice to the handful of people who got the theme and used it to solve the other clues based on SWIPE-ing synonyms. Maybe there are a handful of us? My mileage varied!
2
Didn't get the fullness of the theme until I read Deb's column. This is mostly because of my own careless reading of the clues for the revealers.
I knew about SWIPE RIGHT/LEFT on dating (or whatever) apps, but I didn't pay enough attention to the second revealer and looked for something pithy at the *ends* of the cited clues and was still stuck on the positive side.
I didn't have any trouble finishing the puzzle without the theme though, but it still didn't sing to me. Maybe that's because the whole concept of dating (or whatever) apps and their ilk is so repugnant to me.
Of course, that could be a funciton of age/generation, but I don't really think so. On reflection, I think the dating (or whatever) apps are just a trendy/techy wrinkle on my generation's blind dates. Since I found the concept of blind dates repugnant even back then, it's no wonder that I feel the same about dating (or whatever) apps.
Before I got to the bottom and the revealers, I thought the theme was going to be two-word phrases with each word beginning with a K.
Post-solve Google for Pony KEG, which I'd never heard of. Wasn't too sure about the H in the 48 square. Never heard of the tennis player, and wasn't sure whether we were supposed to read [Pulp] as a verb or a noun. Finally decided that MASH sort of worked either way.
Don't think there should be a generational difference in knowing KEYSTONE KOPS, unless there is a large group of centenarian solvers.
Thursday tomorrow! Yay!
4
@Deadline, thank you for reminding me of my one blind date ever, when dinner out ended with his reaching over his ice cream sundae resulted in a scoop of whipped cream up his jacket sleeve, and him leaving me in the restaurant while he ran home to change jackets, after which we went to see an art film which turned out to be Last Year at Marienbad, especially enigmatic without subtitles. I've never had a drink with a little umbrella in it since that distant night, but hope devoutly that poor Zeno has been somewhere living happily ever after.
4
@Leapfinger
No thanks for reminding me of that movie. I saw it with subtitles, and I still hated it. (Except it was my first exposure to that game, the name of which I forget.)
2
@DEADLINE, I, too, abhor online dating apps and blind dates. However, I’ve participated in two blind dates so far. The first was disastrous but the second resulted in a marriage which has now lasted just over 22 years! So, in baseball terms - which I know you love (not) I’m batting .500. Oh, and the game is NIM I believe.
2
I too had to resort to this column to understand the theme... even after the puzzle was completely filled, I was still scratching my head over it. Super clever though, I admire it in hindsight.
5
I'm feeling rather annoyed about this puzzle. I solved it completely, via crosses, without even twigging onto the theme. Then after the last entry was in I get the message of 'incompletion'. I then pore over the puzzle for another 15 minutes and find nothing. Then finally I click 'reveal' and the puzzle indicates that the first 'S' of SODAS was the problem - - but I had that entry in there correctly in the first place. I don't get it.I even cleared the puzzle completely and filled it in again, to find the same exact outcome. What's going on with this?
Chris,
We certainly don't know. I hope you've directed your inquiry to the NYT XWP people.
1
I'm so glad this puzzle got a positive response from so many solvers, because Alex deserves that after all the hard work of composing. Personally, I enjoyed the challenge, even though it was one of those Friday-Saturday kinds of challenge for me.
I mean, TINDER is an app I know only by name. Until today, I didn't even know it was a match-making thing. (I'm long married, and I just turned 80 two days ago, so I think you know where I'm going with this.) After solving, I tried to make sense of the phonetic hints and all I could find for KOP-STEEL was "Cop a feel" and for KNICK-LYFT I came up empty. One problem was I never saw the SWIPE synonyms, plus I never heard of NICK being used in that sense. Then there's my unfamiliarity problems. Only gimmes were PEROT, RAVEN, OPERA, HANA, and KOJAK. Potato pancakes didn't fit for 35A so I didn't fall into the KNICKKNACKS unfamiliarity trap. Also -- never heard of pony KEG or TIKTOK or Warren Earp, but Wyatt was a big help so I guess I'll stop complaining.
6
@twoberry
Happy 2-days after Birthday wishes, and many more to come!
The pony pair had me non-plussed also, and I thought I was heading for a RIKRAK TIKROK TIKTOK
1
I was so far out in left field on the theme that I couldn't even see the back side of Wooly Bully blowing smoke.
Somewhere along the way, I thought that SWIPE LEFT/RIGHT meant making off with with the left or right-hand words, and combining them to reject or show interest romantically. That got me to BLUE KEYS which was just close enough to BLEW [a] KISS to keep me safely down that rabbit hole.
A long last, I needed Deb's write-up to reach Ka-Ching! which should've been so plain that I'm sure the reason I missed it has to do with an unfortunate incident involving an 8-year old Leapfinger, a roll of film and a store detective. [Note that was a 'Leapfinger' and not a 'Lightfinger'] There's definitely something to be said for 'scared straight'.
Have to say I was impressed with IN_CUSTODY when it first came up, and even moreso on seeing it partnered with COOKIEJAR. Some may miss de meaner possibilities of the theme, but I'm all for Alex E-S and his grand take on pretty larceny.
8
Alex E-S doesn't mention IN_CUSTODY and the hand-in-the-COOKIE_JAR as a deliberate tie-ins with the fundamental thievery of the theme, so if it was coincidental, I'll accept it as some fine serendipity.
I spose the misdemeanor and the grand/petty larceny flying beneath the radar is just smore STEALTH for today
2
As I have zero experience or knowledge of dating apps, this theme is utterly opaque to me. I can't even tell how many theme answers there are! But that made the solve even more interesting, as it It felt like a slightly easy Saturday themeless.
7
Letter Boxed
H - S (8), S - K (5)
Yesterday, 02/18/20:
CULTIVARS SMITHY
2
@EskieF
Yesterday:
CULTIVAR RHYTHMS
@EskieF
H-S(8), S-Y(6)
A goodish puzzle. Not dumbed up at!
@pmb *at all
1
I looked at the revealer and theme answers one final time before I came here, and caught the sign (to steal, right?).
So I laughed.
And I thought 66D was pretty clever.
So I had two minor, look at things a little sideways, aha moments, which is pretty good for a Wednesday.
I also got to "drop a line" for FISH and SPY with my little I, HANA Mandlikova.
All of these things made it a good puzzle, IMHO.
YMMV.
1
This was a mess.
1
@Brandon
You should elaborate. I don't agree with you, so I'd like to know what makes you say that.
8
Though this puzzle wasn’t really for me, when I finally puzzled out the :15 clue I thought it was good. That was a rocky area among rocky areas, but overall the crossings felt fair. Spent a little time with IN durance instead of CUSTODY.
Two general thoughts on the comments:
1. There have been several complaints, mostly by people whose names I don't recognize, about the ":15 number:" clue.
This is where you grow your crossword chops. Think of the character set ":15". What possible meanings can it have? Granted, it looks odd without the hour showing, but I can only think of one thing: clock time. That being the case, there's only one answer. Of course, you might not come up with it immediately, but if you got at least one I from the crosses, it should occur to you and make sense.
2. SWIPE RIGHT/LEFT: This is a perfect example of what I often say (not meant literally): Read the rest of the paper. In other words, become familiar with the things that exist in the world around you, in all areas of interest. I don't Tinder; don't have to, thank Heavens, and hopefully I never will. (May the Mrs. and I both live long enough that neither will need a new mate!) Some people use it extensively. Some are older folks; most are younger. None of that matters. If you're aware of what's going on in the world, you at least understand the context of SWIPE RIGHT/LEFT. Even if you're not sure which one is good and which one is bad.
Now this is not a dig at anyone specific, though I will say I find it quite amusing when certain people come on and say, "I've never heard of..." for two dozen things in the puzzle.
Read the rest of the paper!
19
@Steve L I had the Aha! moment regarding :15 after getting two of the letter "I"s. I understood it, but thought tricky (but clever) for a Wednesday. But really, you're going to tell me what I should do with my time (unless you're paying me, of course)? People know what they know. I was able to soldier through the puzzle and get it filled in correctly without help, and now I know "swipe left, swipe right".
4
@Jim
Jim, you can do whatever you'd like with your time, but if you're interested in doing well with crosswords, you'd do well to follow my advice. (And apparently, at least 11 people agree with me.)
(Much like the athlete spends hours in the weight room in order to improve his/her performance. I doubt very many people do that because it's the most fun one can have.)
Plus you look smart at parties.
@Steve L I do fine, thanks. I have been a NYT xword subscriber about 3 years, but used to get Wednesday and Sunday puzzles for free in the local paper for much longer. Once a subscriber, I got in the habit of only doing Wednesday through Sunday due to time constraints. Although I am not out to win any speed records, I complete them all correctly about 90-95% of the time without any help. Typically when I do falter it is a single square I guessed wrong on. Obviously others do better, but I think I am doing well with crosswords.
5
What the h is :15 number? Why is it III? Is this some weird biblical reference?
I flew through this puzzle but struggled at :15 number because senioritis was IMHO a crumby clue. Still, it was all that worked and proved correct.
Not Shortz's best effort.
@James Thomas
Fifteen seconds on the clock, a roman III?
1
@Ma AM,
Fifteen minutes on the clock, a quarter past the hour, as I'm sure you meant to say.
Another trick to remember is that some clock faces with Roman numerals will have IIII instead of IV at the position.
@Leapfinger
No, no, no. I definitely never intend to say anything is a quarter past or til anything.
My clocks have a second hand that hits III as well. ":xx" is also a fairly common designation for "xx seconds," I suppose in areas where seconds count.
I came here to find out what on earth was going on with the theme answers -- which I didn't understand in the least. Now that I've found out what the ridiculously convoluted and weird explanation is, I see why I didn't get it in the first place. But it doesn't matter -- I solved the puzzle as a themeless and it provided plenty of challenge for a Wednesday.
The NW corner was a bear for me -- a sheet of pure white -- and I had to go RIGHT, then down, then LEFT and then back up to that corner to have any crosses at all. I was initially thinking of OMIT or EDIT or DELE, rather than FISH, for 1A. (Good clue). For 1D, I was thinking of DIE YOUNG rather than FAIL. I didn't know BRB (darn those text abbrevs.) nor HUSSAR nor BLUE STEEL. I never thought of the laconic and understated STEEP for 3D -- it didn't sound nearly DEADLY or EXPERT or ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR EVERLOVIN' MIND enough. (None of those fit, so no writeovers.)
By ignoring the theme, I enjoyed this puzzle a lot -- an approach I highly recommend to everyone.
9
Glad you explained the theme. I solved the puzzle and figured out SwipeLeft and SwipeRight, but I absolutely did not figure out the homonyms for swiping. This was more irritating than fun.
4
Ok, first: the theme was thoroughly unhelpful. Even if I did figure out the “klever” puns for swipe, I already had them filled on the crosses. Thanks for nothing.
Second: TOT. There’s no indication in the clue that this is an abbreviation. I had “sum” in there forever, because that is a three letter word that means “Add (up).” In fact, the entire top left corner was filled with misleading clues. Physics 101 does not deal with ATOMs, that’s advanced physics. And SPAR? Nobody would refer to a mast as a spar. Just frustrating, not fun.
2
TOT is not an abbreviation. For example, the OED def reads "add up numbers or amounts" (chiefly British).
4
@Mike ATOM is a Chem 101 topic. But regardless, the clue is poor.
@Mike
Masts are definitely SPARs, as are booms. I’ve sailed a lot of small boats and I don’t think you would use it while sailing just maybe doing special riggings? Maybe some sailors can weigh in.
1
Never heard of tchotchke, but that won't stop me from telling you about a similarly sounding word and a beautiful tradition.
TXOTX is a Basque word and is used to describe serving Sagardoa (apple cider) directly from a huge cask. This is done in Sagardotegi (House of Apple Cider), typically a big cellar with long tables and benches on each side, where you are served very limited choices of food (normally either a two-inch thick steak that has seen a grill from afar or cod omelette). Every now and then, the owner will cry out TXOTX! and everybody will grab their glass, run to a cask and well, do something like this:
https://youtu.be/Lumq-qpTzh0?t=53
Then you will drink your glass up, return to your table and continue eating until the next TXOTX.
17
By the way, Basques have an almost religious relationship with their apples and the cider it gives them. While researching for an article, I found copies of 15th century law that made it punishable to fell an apple tree or to spill sagardoa. The only exception was if it were used to put out a fire within city limits.
9
@Bojan - I've posted this link before but welcome your invitation to link it again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DFGWMXMrGs
That's the Basque traditional instrument txalaparta, played expertly and in the "wild." The instrument is entirely derived from and inspired by the mashing of apples into cider with traditional wooden mallets. It belongs to a class of musical instruments derived from non-musical origins.
Go to YouTube and search on txalaparta, and you'll find many other examples.
5
@David Connell I love both txalaparta and txistu. Until my nieces decide they should practice it at home.
3
No joy in Minneapolis today! Found many of these “clues“ to be quite misleading – – especially IIII I I I I I!!iiiiii. Thanks for your help Deb.
2
Like @deb I was a bit flummoxed by this theme. But I think that was because I thought both clue entries for the theme referred to the first word in the theme entries which was really confusing. So really more of a failure of reading comprehension on my part.
I also expected the theme should be geared more toward the relationship/romantic aspect than the "swiping".
Finally, can someone please explain the answer "III" for "66D 0:15 number"?...Nevermind, I'll leave the question but realized the answer as I was typing it out. It refers to quarter past the hour on certain clocks, right?
3
“:15 number” being “III” is ridiculous without the crosswords, of course.
2
Arcturus,
While you may have found it difficult to parse without the crossing words, what is "ridiculous" about "quarter after" as a clue for III on a clock?
5
@Barry Ancona I didn't think it was ridiculous, but I did have to spend some time thinking about how the answer and clue fit together.
It finally came to me, but I was mentally stuck on ":15" being 15 seconds rather than minutes, let alone on the increasingly rare analog clock face.
Appears I wasn't alone.
"It finally came to me..."
Rob,
I'm glad.
(That's why it's called a puzzle.)
3
I wanted to read your original column on the Cruciverbal Rules of Justice (which tickled my fancy); could you possibly supply the link?
Diana,
Here it is...
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/08/crosswords/daily-puzzle-2019-04-09.html
1
It took forever for me to find my mistake and change dices to rices. To a surgeon, the abbreviation BRB stands for “bright red blood”.
Fitting, since I was seeing red searching for my error!
8
Fun fast puzzle. I got hung up on the upper left sides. But the swipe left right was cute and I noticed the preponderance of Ks in the grid. I wonder if they caused the constructor to seek out different programs to find useable words to complete the grid, or whether his own word list was sufficient. Nice that he was allowed to modify the grid to accommodate them. As someone already said, he sweated for months to come up with something finished in minutes. Ah! Such is the life of a constructor! :)
5
Quite a lot out of my wheelhouse including the reveal S, but decided to go all out and avoid checking. I did google check quite a lot, ie I entered HUSSAR and BANTU, but then google d to see if I’d remembered correctly.
I finally got enough crosses to get 60A, checked to see if that was a thing, then cleverly filled in the rest of 65A., at which point I noted the sound alikes for SWIPE.
4
Incongruous; unless you’re Tinder and NAE NAE savvy. This Nick has not the knack for either one. It was kind of a drag not sussing out the theme. I’ll take my comfort from a correctly filled grid. The resultant enRAPturing left me with this cyber-deduction: all swipes are drags. The converse, not so much...Dating APPS; they make “A Simple Twist Of FATE” feel so rangy.
https://youtu.be/oXlkwHECabU
Sealed With A SNOG,
Bru
3
Some theme-related fill:
MASH
GROAN
SNOG
WHIP
UNSNAP
SEEKER
FATE
(might have missed a couple)
5
MASH notes were Beta-Beta-Beta Tinder.
4
DEWAR flask? Never heard of it, droned Tom drunkenly.
The Muse named streets of the Lower Garden District save the day.... again. Off to Uptown tomorrow to see the parades on Magazine and to see my bartendress crush at The Kingpin. Her husband laughingly told me to “take a number.” It seems her appeal is universal. I suggested she reprise the roll of the bar maid from The Student Prince. This caused a few of the regulars to break into Drink Drink Drink, it is that kind of place.
Andrea (aka my dove) and I were musing about how San Francisco and New Orleans have gone from fun and affordable to fun and barely affordable cities to eke out one’s existence.
Puzzle was fun. ROFL moment was recalling HS Physics were we attempted to test the universal application of wave theory with a tray of jello. The experiment failed as the jello kept melting. But we got the prize for the most obscure test of a principal of physics. Later I will review launching frogs in rockets. I wonder what the frog thought as it sped through the air and gently parachuted to the ground. Note: No amphibians were harmed.
Thanks Alex
2
A leisurely stroll through City Park is an affordable day and a relief from all of those touristy trappings. But Carousel Gardens is closed ‘til the 1st weekend after Fat Tuesday. Just thought I’d throw you something, dk.
@dk I use Dewar flasks in my work nearly daily, and still took a few crosses to key in to that one. Definitely obscure for the layman (and even this scientist apparently)
2
Like Rob, I used to use Dewar flasks on a pretty much daily basis. (Did you know that the Thermos Bottle™is a type of Dewar?)
Fun story: there is a type of Dewar called a shipping Dewar -- the liquid nitrogen (LN2) is soaked into a sort of spongy metallic layer in the sides. The LN2 cannot spill out. I had to get specimens I collected from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean to a lab in Iowa. I had to travel with the Dewar from Maine to LA, where I got on a research vessel, collected samples, returned to port after 6 weeks at sea, and then ship the charged (with LN2) Dewar holding my specimens ahead of me to Iowa. I had checked with the airline before leaving on this trip, and they told me I couldn't carry or check a charged shipping Dewar, but an empty one was OK. I checked the Dewar (which was fun -- they had no idea how to tell if there was any LN2 in it -- I stuck my hand in it to show that it wasn't cold, invited them to do the same. They declined.). I saw the Dewar being loaded into the cargo hold, and it was detained for a while while the baggage handlers scratched their heads for a few minutes. They may have called for advice.
How did I get the samples to Iowa? Turns out FedEx was more than happy to put it on one of their planes for the usual shipping fee + a $5 handling charge.
For several years thereafter, whenever I checked into a flight, no matter the airline, I was immediately asked if I was carrying any liquid nitrogen.
3
This has to be the longest time I've ever spent on a Wednesday puzzle. And I was quite surprised to finish it successfully with no cheating, so I guess I ought to be happy. But - relieved is probably a more appropriate descriptor.
First, I was among those not familiar with the SWIPE terminology, so that all came from the crosses. Second - my short term memory. I just couldn't remember which answers the reveals referred to, so I had to keep re-reading those; felt like dozens of times.
And then the theme answers. STEEL? Of course. Lift - yeah, I guess so. But COP? Well, besides a plea I can think of one other term that I probably shouldn't repeat, but which involves some unwanted contact. Beyond that I'm just not aware of the usage. And NICK? No - not vaguely familiar with that.
I don't like to be negative about a puzzle, so - a bit frustrated about the theme, but still a good long workout and my 3 day streak survives. Happy with that.
8
@Rich in Atlanta Funny, I came in five minutes under my average! I guess I am just the right age to know about old stuff like KOJAK and new...
3
@Rich in Atlanta There is also a way that card cheats can steal a card and hide it in their hand (the actual body part), called a "gambler's cop".
Maybe "Nick" is more regional (not sure) but it seems common in British English? An etymology source says that its use goes back to 1869.
1
Angela,
I don't think age, per se, has anything to do with it.
Tough for a Wednesday - wanted TRUE STEEL , BRT ( be right there ) and Fair for 60 ( weather ) not BLUE STEEL . I admit- I've never heard of BLUE STEEL !
2
@Cathy P I can’t think of BLUE STEEL without thinking of Zoolander. Pity me.
4
60 got me to thinking too, Cath. When I was back there in seminary school, you had better hit 70 to avoid a FAILing mark. On BLUE STEEL;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempering_(metallurgy)
Sheesh! I hope the above link did not cause anybody to lose their temper. 🥶 Here’s a snippet from the Wiki page.
Differentially tempered steel. The various colors produced indicate the temperature to which the steel was heated. Light-straw indicates 204 °C (399 °F) and light blue indicates 337 °C (639 °F).[1][2]
1
It's hard to say why this puzzle didn't butter my parsnips. Maybe partly because the theme didn't strike me as graceful, just a bit too complicated to sit back and admire after finishing. And a few clue/answer combos seemed just a trifle off: Eastern Standard Time is not really a "zone," and "flora" doesn't quite seem to be what herbivores eat. And "starless" doesn't mean starless. Some puzzles' entries seem like a lovely profusion of disparate words, but this puzzles' entries came across to me as just thrown together willy-nilly. I'm not sure I can explain the difference. Needless to say, these are purely personal prejudices.
6
And also: Swiping right or left doesn't rise to the level of a romantic judgment, because the people haven't even met each other yet.
4
@polymath - just last night I had a parking lot conversation in a light drizzle. The cloud cover was so low and so complete that planes circling for a New York landing 40 miles or more away were all flying right over the top of our heads. The sky we saw was utterly starless, and moonless. The only lights in our sky were those of airplanes. Starless means starless. A room can be without natural light - sunless - it doesn't mean that the sun has ceased to exist.
5
@polymath I had to look up "fine words butter no parsnips". Never heard it before; dates back to 17th century England when parsnips mashed with other root vegetables definitely need butter...
Unlovely puzzle. Dorky words and strained theme. The “III” esp. bad.
7
Enjoyable puzzle, but as an Army veteran, I have a bone to pick with 60D. To wit; non-commissioned officers (i.e. Sergeants) are not "inferior" to commissioned officers (i.e. Captains.) The correct description is "subordinate."
9
Grant,
Would you have been fine with the clue if the answer had been 2LTS or 1LTS?
@Grant You might enjoy this story (which I think I may have shared before).
In training I was cleaning the floor at battalion headquarters (a bit of extra duty) when a young lieutenant came in, walked up to the desk and said,
"I'd like to see the colonel, sergeant."
Without looking up, the NCO replied,
"That's sergeant MAJOR, sir."
2
@Rich in Atlanta
Great story. First Sergeants and Sergeant Majors would never be considered "inferior" to captains and would always be referred to by their full rank titles (except maybe "Top"). Subordinate yes, but barely.
I found the puzzle a little vexing, with some of the fill unknown to me. Never heard of a DEWAR flask, although I used to partake of that Scotch brand and SNOG is unknown to me. Old enough to have seen KOJAK, although Telly Savalas was more memorable for the Dirty Dozen, and watched silents with the KEYSTONES KOPS on tv. Have vaguely heard of the swiping, but only enough to guess the answers to 60A and65A.
2
Clever wordplay in the theme. The "phonetically" angle pushed this puzzle into Wednesday territory. If the answers simply had synonyms for "steal", say, PINCH HITTER, this would have been a Monday/Tuesday theme, I believe. The SWIPE LEFT and SWIPE RIGHT was a lot more fun than if AES instead used a SIDE SWIPE approach.
I didn't need the theme for my solve -- did anyone, I wonder? I enjoyed sussing it out, though, afterward, where it became a little bonus mini-poser. It hit me with a pop of pleasure.
And, with apologies in advance for saying this, that's my takeaway.
5
Lewis,
Need the theme for the solve? I doubt it. Use it to help solve? Only a few bottom-up solvers, maybe.
I found the theme clever, but -- not to SWIPE at the puzzle -- I prefer themes that do help.
3
good puzzle! liked to see TIK TOK -- my little 12-year-old niece is quite addicted to it!
2
I enjoyed this puzzle! Most of the fill felt easy to me as a near-70ish person. But SO STUMPED on the theme and 66D. Sort of like a polar plunge following a sauna....
2
It is interesting that a lot of people found this puzzle easy whereas this was for me one of the most difficult Wednesday puzzles in memory. Not knowing the swipe left swipe right terminology was a stumbling block.
7
Terrific! KOPs and KOJAK, TIKTOK and NAEnae - I'm old enough to know the old stuff, but lucky enough to have Zoomers in my life to keep me current. Got stuck in the SW after confidently entering "cross" for SPIRE and "hydro" for DEWAR, so that slowed me up. Slowed me Down? Left? Right? Let's call the whole thing off!
5
@Ann
TIL hydro from the comments.
3
@vaer
We have an assortment of Hydroflasks in various sizes and colors in our thirsty house; REI had a sale.
1
@Ann 🙋♀️ I also had cross and hydro.
Is today's Vertex slightly off? Completed the picture but zeroes
remain in the body of the beast and the number 2 is still underneath with no apparent unfilled nodes.
6
@Robin R. I've managed to fill the bottom, so I'm not sure about the 2 you see, but I am left with four zeros in the centre of the image, all surrounded by filled in shapes.
Furthermore, if you double click the numbers to remove any uncompleted shapes, nothing happens, which suggests there's an issue.
@Robin R. Exactly the same for me. Definitely appears to be off.
@Martin Me, too.
I must be missing something - can someone explain 66D to me?
@Dfkinjer read Millie’s identical question at the start of the thread.
@Kevin Davis Thanks! - I was being lazy and didn’t look at all the comments first. Like Millie, I did not identify the : with clock time.
1
Been doing the Times crossword on my IPad for a couple of years and this is the first time I’ve solved a Wednesday puzzle without looking anything up. Very proud. Can I swipe myself right?
30
You absolutely can, @Mark Littman! Congratulations!
5
@Mark Littman
Of course you can, but dude, tmi!
:)
7
Thanks Deb!
Excellent Wednesday with a beguiling hint of impending Thursday. My only complaint is that GROAN is far too benign a response to a computer crash, but the more appropriate CALLSUICIDEHOTLINE didn't fit.
Never have I ever seen the Tinder app IRL. That is of course in part because I am happily married to my second and final husband. But even if I were consciously uncoupled, it would horrify me. In my day, although certainly not immune to more superficial attractions, we at least pretended to give some weight to other aspects of our fellow human beings (when we weren't trudging uphill both ways to the one room schoolhouse, that is).
10
@AudreyLM
In the snow! Barefoot!
4
@AudreyLM
Agree that GROAN is entirely too benign.
4
SPELLING BEE THREAD
02/19/20
Center Letter: R
6 Letters: A I M N T V
39 WORDS, 209 POINTS, 1 PANGRAM - Perfect, BINGO
First letters:
A x 6, I x 2, M x 8, N x 1, R x 6, T x 14, V x 2
Word Lengths:
L4 x 9, L5 x 6, L6 x 11, L7 x 8, L8 x 4, L8 x 1
Grid
4 5 6 7 8 9 Tot
A 1 2 3 - - - 6
I - - - - 1 1 2
M 2 - 3 2 1 - 8
N - - - 1 - - 1
R 3 1 1 1 - - 6
T 3 3 4 2 2 - 14
V - - - 2 - - 2
Tot 9 6 11 8 4 1 39
58
@Greg Correction: word length :L9 x 1
2
@Greg 2 -man suffixes in word set, boat harbor becomes tomato sauce, movie set on Pandora, plus an alien enemy of Bugs Bunny.
Other hints:
Complete, utter (archaic)
Flower oil for perfume
Archaic variant of term of respect for a woman
Bird with man’s name
Cobain band
Indian yogurt dip
Something that differs (noun), & its opposite
What Yosemite Sam calls Bugs Bunny, pangram
S Amer. monkey
Latin trumpet fanfare
Hindu sacred text or doctrine
3-hulled boat
23
@Kevin Davis The hints are not in alphabetical order. That was not intentional. I had such a clever clue for the pangram than I wrote it first, then things got out of order after that. Sorry.
10
I had sum for Add (up). The answer was TOT, which I still don't get. Is it slang that I haven't heard of, or an abbreviation for total? If the latter, shouldn't the clue have been an abbreviation also?
3
@Kevin Davis you can definitely tot up a bill, etc, so I think it's just slang you haven't heard.
7
@Kevin Davis I had never heard of that as well. so I went to Merriam-Webster and there it is, down the list of definitions. It also means "a small drink or allowance of liquor," like a shot. Don't think I'll try using it in my local bar!
2
[For future use: Any time that there is a preposition in (parentheses) in the clue - it indicates that the only way the word in the clue and the word in the fill correspond is when that preposition is included. The (up) is key to this one. Add and tot don't correspond; add up and tot up do. Sometimes this is rendered as "with 'up'" instead.]
2
Loved, loved, loved this puzzle, Mr. Eaton-Salners, and how your mind works: surprising, quirky, lots of fun!
5
I'm not getting any matches. It's the Tinder of my discontent.
(Maybe the app's out of date.)
13
Didn’t get the theme until I read Deb’s explanation, but enjoyed the clue “Elbows on the table” in the Mini today! Have a nice day everyone!
11
and Elke
GROAN , I feel as if my brain was SWIPED.
Or a serious, acute case of seniorITIS prevented me from enjoying this puzzle as much as I ought to have.
7
Had Nader for 9A, off by eight years. On the bright side, I guess I’m not as old as I imagine.
Interesting to hear some found this to be a struggle- as a 26 year old, fairly new to crosswords this one came easier than most- and I’ve never used tinder haha. Always love a good puzzle not chalk full of names I have no hope of conjuring.
4
@Gwen Fraser
Admit it. You had HYDRO for the 53down flask clue, didn’t you...?
1
@Newbie
I'm almost 60, and I had HYDRO. DEWAR?
1
@Ann
The original vacuum flask was invented by the Scottish chemist Sir James Dewar in 1892. It was (is) known by his name in scientific circles. The design was never patented so a couple of Germans realising that the design had commercial potential outside of the laboratory were able to trademark their product as Thermos in the 1900’s.
3
Nice puzzle, good mix of "young" and "old". I sadly had a DNF. The cross of bantU and hUssar got me. Can I call that a Natick?
I definitely overthought the theme.
For SWIPERIGHT, I was thinking the theme was phrases like "STEEL a kiss" and "KOP a feel". But I couldn't figure out how LYFT and KNICK were phrases for rejecting. I was thinking "getting knicked" as in cut by a razor.
I must say, while sadly I'm familiar with TIKTOK, has it stood "the test of time" enough to actually be a NYT answer? I thought super-trendy answers (yes kids, I consider it super-current) were not allowed. I'm not mad at it, just curious. So would VSCO be an allowable answer? COFFEEMEETSBAGEL?
I am definitely a fan of Alex's puzzles though.
3
@Newbie
That's the deep philosophical question of the crossword community. Personally, this boomer agrees with you. I think the test should be that if it goes into a puzzle book, will someone ten years from now have any idea what it was? If the answer is still to be determined, it should be left out.
I also feel that if only a small portion of the population has adopted a word or phrase, it should be left out, and Will does a pretty good job with those. I do a lot of other puzzles, and they do help me broaden my vocabulary. When I find an entry in one of them that, if I did learn it, I couldn't use it with anyone I knew, including my grown kids, I think that the constructor has used (and the editor has allowed) an unfair word.
2
@Newbie
As I said in an earlier reply, I've heard of that swiping business and most of the apps that are generally out there in the atmosphere. But I had to Google VSCO and COFFEEMEETSBAGEL.
So maybe this pre-boomer should be a test for how trendy is too obscure.
@Newbie Young meets old indeed, but GenX is overlooked as usual.
HUSZAR. Actually, huszár. However the Anglicized spelling is so firmly encrusted, it would be a STEEP uphill battle to convince Martin. I won't even try.
I had fun with this puzzle. There was peut-ÊTRE an overabundant sprinkling of TIK-TOK and TAT-TOT, RAP-REUP and ITSY-ISPY INIT, but ITIS what ITIS. The COOKIE JAR and KOJAK's lollipop won me over, crowned by the CAKE in the middle and ERATO swiped right.
Is 10 a record for the most K's in a 15x15 grid, even if it's 15x16? It seemed to have more of them than a wall full of kukukloks in a Kecksburg kiosk owned by Kukulkan.
Happy Wednesday.
14
@Laszlo
Huszár is Hungarian for hussar. No convincing needed.
Both come from corsair/corsaro/corsaire, which supply us with wonderful music, inspired by Byron.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWU8_EtdvRs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UQwMRaCyBw
4
@Laszlo
Apparently, the tamale trap holds, even for Hungarian horsemen.
3
@Martin, I think you've got it backwards. Hussar is English for huszár. Unnamed sources familiar with the issue trace it back to the light cavalry of 15th century Hungary during the rule of King Matthias (1458-1490). Merriam-Webster is one of them, this NY Times puzzle is another.
Corsair is pirate. I thought pirates rode mostly on ships, not horses. But that's just me.
See, I knew it's going to be a STEEP uphill battle.
Let's hear it for the light cavalry:
https://tinyurl.com/wfgpvj4
Cheers!
2
If swiping left or right on a phone screen has anything to do with romance, it is a pretty safe bet romance is dead.
8
Okay boomer :)
16
@Gwen Fraser
Hey millennial, it’s “ok boomer”. Get your memes right..
14
@Newbie, they're polite enough to not abbrev in Canada, so 'Okay boomer' it is.
Hard to get much more Canadian than 'Fraser', at least in Upper Canada
I didn't get the theme. I was looking for two answers to be associated with "accepting" and two answers to be associated with "rejecting."
And it's only the *begining* of the answers which are, phonetically, hints. So I don't feel bad about not getting it. ;)
11
I dunno, I thought SWIPE LEFT/RIGHT were pretty well embedded in pop culture, and the homophones popped right out for me too. All in all, pretty easy for a Wednesday. And I am a big fan of KNICKKNACKS with its 4 Ks. Nice one.
3
I finished the puzzle, but had to come here to get the theme. Are there really a lot of people out there who both do the NYT puzzle and know how dating apps work?
15
@Wags
Maybe or maybe not, but the SWIPE LEFT/RIGHT notion has entered the realm of general knowledge in the same way that Tiger Woods is a familiar name even to those who don't follow golf.
12
@Wags
I'm on social media enough keeping track of the doings of scattered family to have run into comments about swiping right or left, so that wasn't a problem for this retiree.
1
@Al in Pittsburgh until today swipe left and swipe right had not entered my realm of general knowledge
2
TIL I learned that DEWAR Flask is another name for a vacuum flask, which was invented by James Dewar, not to be confused with John Dewar, Sr., founder of the Dewar's brand of Scotch, or a different James Dewar, a Canadian! who invented the Twinkie. Thanks Wikipedia.
Oh, the puzzle. Managed to get all the 21st century pop culture and tech clues to solve without too much trauma only to almost be done in by DICES before RICES. I think I like Wednesday AES.
5
@vaer
TIL, too
@Ann new one on me, too.
Shouldn't Thermos be capitalized in the clue since its a brand name? Like Kleenex, or Jell-o...
The best sense I could make of the theme hint, until reading it here, was that that maybe LYFT was a clue for LEFT. Very subtle.
Did anyone else miss the first S in 'Reduces to bits' and go with RIPUP?
One last thing, I'm not sure why 'Go the distance?' has the question mark for TREK.
2
@Aarglefarg - I'm guessing it's because the primary use of "go the distance" as a phrase is metaphorical and has no reference to an actual journey in physical space, meaning something more like "last until the end." But that's just a guess.
3
A nice Wednesday. Better than average time but not close to my best so I enjoyed it. Lots of stuff I had to think about because it wasn't obvious to me at my advanced age.
2
Love it when a puzzle is biased toward younger solvers for once!
2
@Zoe
I see a third-party presidential candidate from the early 90s, a tennis star from the 80s, a TV detective from the 70s, silent movie characters of the early 20th century, Wild West brothers from around the turn of the 20th century. Certainly enough to balance what "younger solvers" might know.
24
This wasn't a particularly easy puzzle for me, but I completed it in record time for a Wednesday. TIL that KALE is in the cabbage family... Not that I really ever wondered.
Well, I must admit that I didn't see the theme until reading Deb's column. It also gave me greater appreciation for the construction of this gem.
:-)
4
Nice little puzzle. For whatever reason, I zipped through itt much faster than usual for a Wednesday. Very enjoyable.
1
DICES for RICES was my only speed bump.
Not familiar with Tinder at all.
I believe the original spelling of KEYSTONE KOP was with COP. Eventually alliteration won out!
Interesting. I had only seen the "Kops" spelling, so when the post office came out with a stamp based on them in the '90s, I thought its "Cops" spelling was a mistake.
Can someone explain 66D, clued ":15 number"? I got it from the crosses but I do not get it. I see a possible Roman number 3, but what is it really? (hanging my head in embarrassment to have to ask)
15
A minute hand will point at the 3 or III when at 15 minutes past the hour.
12
Try III as the three on a clock face, the 15 minute past position.
2
The Roman numeral on a clock when the time is ##:15 is III.
1
The pair of Pony clues are also a right and a left - though when you pony up it's kind of the opposite of swiping!
6
@David C
and thereby hangs yet another pony tale...
2
Fast solve (for me) with a bit of random flyspecking and a few beats to fully get the theme post-solve.
Debated whether to leave a laudatory review. AES is one of my favorite constructors and this theme was very clever with some offbeat entries, from HUSSAR to KNICK KNACK. But ultimately I didn’t find it quite as satisfying as I thought I would. Probably an old-fashioned bias against Tinder/Grindr culture. A bit of a puritanical streak raring its head perhaps.
MASH made me think of Sam Lyons and hope to see her back in the comments soon.
15
I had to stare at the theme answers for a while until it sank in that they were all phonetic synonyms for SWIPE. I'm just happy that I was able to get to the puzzle and do it, and to get here and comment. Now back to watching the computer upgrade slowly process itself into usability!
4
Can't believe blue steel is such a rarity, and when are we gonna get a Zoolander clue debut?
23
Delightfully crunchy for a Wednesday. Nice puzzle.
6