So so good!!! Definitely an archives gem!! ✨
this was well worth the POY designation!!!! Glad I came back to it!!! 🤩
1
I know I'm late to the party, but I have to give credit to the constructors for this one. I was already impressed with the theme as I understood it. Then I read Deb's column and realized I missed that the "missing" letters spelled MEOW - WOW!!! This is easily among the top puzzles I've ever completed and belongs in the (inner-circle) Crossword Hall of Fame (if such a thing exists [it should]). Simply incredible.
1
this was legitimately badass. kudos to the puzzle creators and the techies that made the animation happen in the app! BRAVO!
2
Probably one of the most satisfying puzzles I’ve ever solved in my life.
3
In a word, wow.
I also liked the retro radio clue.
3
No one takes a RADIO to the beach anymore. No one even OWNS a radio.
Grrrrr.
5
I do own a radio. Here in Vermont there are a lot of dead space as far as cellular is concerned so the only way I get to listen to Wait Wait or other great NPR shows is with my trusty little radio.
6
As the kid on the bike says near the end of the The Incredibles: That was totally wicked!!
Absolutely loved everything about this solve except NERTS. The animation at the solve will have me smiling all day.
Hopefully someone can help me with this: on my iPad, when I touch the imbedded links in a commenter’s posts, nothing happens.
3
I have had the same problem for over a year. Don’t know the answer.
Excellent puzzle!! I got the missing meow but not the rebus. And thanks for reminder that I have a few The Good Place episodes you enjoy!
1
So so good. I feel bad for all the people intimidated by crosswords! They are missing out on so much fun!!
3
We remember doing the Nov. 5 1996 Schrodinger puzzle and not believing the puzzle could exist in such a state! It was interesting at the time, that folks got so upset over the idea that the Times was making a prediction with its crossword puzzle, they didn't bother to study the puzzle further.
Love the Schrodinger puzzles!!
Is there a list of the other 11 Schrodingers out there?
2
@M&M
Answered my own question:
https://www.xwordinfo.com/Quantum
2
This has to go down as one of my all time favorite puzzles. It was challenging, fun, and extremely clever. A true gem of a grid. Bravo.
7
Agreed! Bright, sparkly, fun!
1
All hail the constructors.
6
Nerts? 😳
8
@cmcmx As to NERTS. A common expression of frustration in my circles (like "rats!"), but more of an oral tradition. I have never seen it spelled, but always pictured it ending with a Z. "Nertz." Who's to say? And it is most useful in the phrase "nertz to you!" Which is, on the edginess meter, solidly in between "too bad for you" and "sucks for you." Or in French, "tant pis."
1
Wow, this was just about the coolest puzzle ever! I had such a tiring day today, and I almost didn't do today's puzzle, but I am so glad I did. I knew it would be cool when I got SCHRODINGER'S CAT. I really surprised myself by solving that clue so early on. I had a few crosses, and it just fit. Of course I found the rebuses in the two-box spots. Then at the end, the animations that made the extra rebus letter be in two boxes at once so it could fit with two different clues and also give each clue two contradictory yet fitting meanings... genius!
I also enjoyed MASONS, UPENN, and especially ELOPE. Such clever misdirections. I hope this puzzle got a POW!
5
@OboeSteph I didn't notice the MEOW until I read Deb's column. One more aha moment! So clever.
2
Like Deb, I wish I could do this puzzle over because it was so much fun! Totally clever.
6
Some clever clues, some bizarre i.e. nerts?! Anticlimactic for me, just not a rebus fan
4
In the “some things never get old category,” I just did the 9/1/16 Schrödinger puzzle from the archive and read comments from Wordplay, and lo and behold:
Rich in Atlanta
Decatur, GeorgiaSept. 1, 2016
Two CiCs today. This one about the solve. But first, a joke (I've probably told this one before but I can't remember).
Schrodinger is pulled over by a police officer for driving erratically. The officer asks him a few question, looks around the inside of his car and finally asks him what's in his trunk. "A cat," Schrodinger tells him. The officer asks him to open it up so he can see. He looks in the trunk and says, "this cat is dead!" Schrodinger replies, "well, it is now."
5
@Puzzlemucker
Now that’s funny!
😂
@Puzzlemucker
Ha! and Ew!
Just did the 4/1/14 Schrödinger puzzle. Wow!
Finally took time to solve it today, and it was well worth the wait!!!! I loved it, and was SCHRÖDINGER’S CAT was purr-fect!!!
2
Some day, there will be another puzzle, "This puzzle has x solutions" (where x > 2) and it will be what I started looking for. Chemiical solutions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solution
7
Great puzzle!
Nitpick: the Lord of the Flies boys were not marooned -- no one left them there. They were there from a crash. I had castaways first which was more accurate.
4
Sarah,
The definition of maroon is not that limited...
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/maroon
6
I actually started with “sadists,” which did not fit either, except in my head.
2
@BCB "Primitivists" doesn't fit either, lol.
Very nicely done! I had no idea how it could have 16 answers until the different solutions started flashing back and forth in the web version once I completed (which was a very nice feature - if I done this on paper I would never have understood).
Clever puzzle, though other than the 16 answer trick it was an incredibly easy fill for a Thursday, more akin to a Monday or Tuesday minus the rebus. But I still really enjoyed it, and finished in half my average to boot!
2
OT: This pun championship happened in Durham, NC:
https://abc11.com/localish/durham-pun-championship-crowns-the-punny-and-the-absurd/5898870/
5
What, LF didn't compete? She would've won, five fingers down.
Clever puzzle, but in the app it wouldn't mark me complete even though it was flashing the possibilities for the two letter answers. I had to reset the puzzle and lose my Streak to refill it in.
@Leebenningfield If you contact support, by clicking on Send Feedback down the bottom of the main home page for puzzles, they sort that out for you. :)
1
I loved completing this puzzle! And I wasn’t even aware — until I completed it on my iPad — that the extra letter in each of the four 2-space answers could be used in either space!
Of course — I see it now. And by “see it” — I mean literally, as in, the middle letter changing to a blue color and jumping from one space to the next!
I haven’t been this happy upon completing a New York Times crossword since my iPad lit up in a shade of pink forming a flashing butterfly!
I am definitely a visual person :)
8
Had the exact same experience. In fact, I’m still sitting here, staring at the finished puzzle in awe. Bravo!
2
@Diane Schaefer
Me too
Me either
And me too!
:)
2
I finished quickly and got the Congratulations! window, but felt unsatisfied. The two-cell entries simply left out the middle letter. I was waiting for a revealer to explain. Not till I saw the clever animation in the finished puzzle did I realize the trick! Honestly, I don't think I deserve the solve. 🙄
Not only were the rebuses clever, but more so, that either of the two cells could contain the rebus. Great job, Mr. Kingsley and Mr. Lieb!
4
Nicely done - quite elegant in the construction
1
Did SCHRÖDINGER'S CAT meow?
It did and did not, at the same time.
7
On figuring the pairs out, I looked around the puzzle, eagerly, hoping for more of them.
2
A blast
@Juliana Sadock Savino btw, when I saw "this puzzle has 16 solutions", my first thought was chemical compounds.
Loved this puzzle. Am I wrong, or wasn’t Schrodinger’s Cat an answer very recently?
The streak continues.
2
@Horst Witherspoon yes, the cat came back ... @deb must have fed him
9
Those of us who studied computer science got an extra head start on figuring out the trick - even before getting the Schrodinger's Cat revealer, I thought: "16 possibilities, that's 2 to the fourth power. It must be that four answers have two possible solutions."
6
@AZ I'll add, though, that I did *not* notice that the movable letters spelled MEOW! (And me a cat person.) So thanks to Deb for the heads up on that.
5
Hi AZ and other Kids!
In the days before computer science classes, we ancients studied mathematics to learn probability.
3
This is my favorite crossword ever. I've always wanted more heisenpuzzles and this is just wonderful! Also I love cats and the MEOW was great!
7
WÖW .....
Filled all with just one lookup (the Nixon actress) and found four rebus letters that didn't seem almost all there -- until I read the column. Guess you might say the rebi are qubits .... simultaneously present in four location pairs and there -- or not there -- depending on how you read it.
Anyone else think Barney G--- re 40A? Maybe 45D is to blame.
Kudos**2
1
@Dr W Poor Joan. I couldn't remember her name either. She's so good, too.
Bravo! Great puzzle. Loved the multiple answers ... and the animation
2
A few commenters have mentioned that darn cat. Certainly some of us are old enough to remember the 1965 movie, and I thought some might get a kick out of viewing the trailer.
https://youtu.be/QfqVYCRdtdc
5
@vaer
Thanks for the link! I had replied to Steve L last night, whose post reminded me of that darn movie. I think I caught a glimpse of Frank Gorshin (aka the Riddler), as one of the kidnappers. Oh, those crazy '60s!
1
@Andrew
You did.
I enjoyed the puzzle for the most part, but I have one complaint. I finished it, but apparently had at least one wrong answer, and the trick squares started blinking back and forth. I'm solving on an Android device using the crossword app, and when I tried to clear those blinking squares, the blinking animation did not go away. It made me think that I had something wrong with those squares instead of an error somewhere else, and the only solution that came to mind was resetting the puzzle. it's not a huge issue as my streak wasn't all that long, but it was slightly annoying to lose my short streak in this manner. I did get the warning about losing my streak, but I tapped okay before I fully realized what was going to happen. So I do take a measure of responsibility for the lost streak. It would have been nice if the animation could have been cleared so that I could focus on finding my error, though.
2
@B.C. I also had trouble. Was down to the last few with the letters missing, tried every combination and nothing I tried worked! I just know the solution that came up was one that i had tried. Annoyed that it messed up my week-long streak!
B.C.,
Are you sure something was wrong? I solved offline, but from what I heard here I didn't think the "trick squares started blinking" until the puzzle was solved.
5
Deb's headline is quite apt as that's exactly what I did when I saw the comment at the top of the puzzle and got to 18A. I did as the Brits were advised to do in WWII -- "Don't Panic / Carry On" -- and assumed/hoped that the solution would reveal itself. This is one makes me very happy that I have a NYT subscription that includes the puzzle. I don't know how it looks on paper or Across Light but seeing those flashing letters when I finished shockingly quickly, really made my day.
Thank you, Andrew Kingsley and John Lieb.
4
If the Schrodinger's cat says meow then it is alive - hence there is no paradox! I am perplexed and not perplexed!
8
Stellar puzzle. Along with the theme, “Go off, but not without a hitch?” got an audible laugh from me and is immediately one of my fav clues
11
My apologies, as I don’t currently have time to read all the comments about this amazing puzzle, but after my successful solve, I only get a MEOW on the right half. Is that correct?
1
@Kate no. There is an M in the middle letter of top left Rebus, an E in middle letter of top right Rebus, an O in middle of next one and a W in last one. MIDDLE letters of 4 Rebus answers spell meow. Even tho reading the 2 eastern ones read meow backwards. My app the meow middle letters are colored blue, the other Rebus letters are black. Look again . I didn't know either .
1
@Kate
The four middle letters in each of the "two-letter" entries are M-E-O-W.
In case it was not clear to you, the middle letter of those two-letter entries can work in either square, creating duplicate down crosses.
I don't know if that clears anything up or not.
3
Santi and Andrew, thanks! I was possibly overthinking it—possibly underthinking it...I hadn’t noticed the different colors. Not seeing the forest for the trees, I guess.
2
I solved it, without checking, and still didn't get the full glory of the thing. But I'm happy to learn from Ms. Amlen's column that what I missed was cat-related.
3
This was a bright shiny spot in my day.
Aside from not knowing how to spell Carew (stabbed at Carou and knew I was dead wrong) I needed not outside help on one of the most clever rebus puzzles I've come across.
Additionally, I loved the cluing "layers of stone" as things not people even though it slowed me down.
Pretty sure if I hadn't gotten a phone call and forgotten to pause the puzzle this would be almost a full minute PR for my Thursday.
4
yes, great puzzle . . . but does anyone know why or how it became accepted usage to leave out the umlaut in the famous physicist's last name (surely not just for NYT crosswords -- it appeared this way in another puzzle within the last year or so, as i recall)
PS: Schroedinger and Schrodinger existing simultaneously? another quantum leap?
3
Hi @citizen,
If I understand correctly, you're asking why no umlaut was used in the puzzle itself.
In general, diacritical marks are ignored in online solving. It used to be because of the complexity of adding them to the keyboard, but now it's just a thing.
If you are solving in print, however, feel free to put them in. :)
4
@Deb Amlen and @citizen
Mind you, if you do decide to put in the umlaut, you may feel equally uncomfortable with NERÖ.
9
@Andrew
NÖNÖNÖÖÖÖ...................
7
This one blew my mind! It was clear that there were missing letters at those 4 spots, and I sort of randomly added them to FEM, OMS, etc,, as I hadn’t caught on to how they worked with the down crosses. But the rest of the fill was relatively easy, so when I filled my final square, the G in SIGN/RUG, I got the congratulatory message and the grid was suddenly animated!! With Ms, Es, Os and Ws hopping back and forth! Such a surprise and a delight!😃
2
Did anyone else get Rod Carew from the Hanukkah Song?
"OJ Simpson? Not a Jew, but you know who is, Hall of Famer Rod Carew!"
As it turns out after I looked into it when finishing the puzzle, this is not true, Carew never converted and let let Adam Sandler know this but also said he still thought the line was very funny.
8
@Oswald I have had the Hanukkah Song stuck in my head since my first pass of the across clues!
3
@Oswald I got Rod Carew because I was a big fan. I had a friend growing up named Becky Carew. I once asked her if she was related. She had to inform me that she, being white, was not related to Rod Carew, being black. I'm still somewhat pleased that somebody had to tell me that.
Sophia,
I applaud the color-blindness of your youth, but I also would point out that Becky was wrong.
5
Do I like puzzles about quantum mechanics? Eh... yes and no...
11
Dontcha hate when it’s the littlest error that messes up the entire solve? I was so proud—I got SCHRODINGERSCAT immediately and all of the rebuses. A first!!!! But why wouldn’t the puzzle solve??? Because I don’t know baseball players (I had CAREY) and, for me, OY is a perfectly acceptable response to a shock! GRRRRR.
LOVED the puzzle though!
5
Ms. Cat,
If you had gotten *all* of the rebus options, you would not have needed to know the baseball player: OYS does work, but WOYS does not.
(WOW)
4
@Barry Ancona but if she had TWEENS for the other down then she could have put OYS for the other and still had the rebus right! It's a tricky corner if you didn't have that name in your bank like I did from the Hanukkah Song as mentioned up thread.
1
Oswald,
Yes, I understand that. That's why I wrote "*all* of the rebus options."
My first Thursday puzzle solved without outside help. And what a memorable one! Big Schrödinger’s cat fan here (love Schrödinger’s Café at U Chicago). However... maybe you could say I only solved 1/16th of it. Didn’t quite get to the Schrödinger’s puzzle bit.
5
@David
Schrödinger’s Café? Is that where your cup is both full and empty at the same time?
5
@Steve L
Now you've got me thinking of Schrödinger’s bathtub ...
Props to the unsung app developers for adding in the customized animation feature just for this puzzle and to everyone for the neccessary coordination. Don't let me stop you from pumping out more of this.
17
@zzDoug It's almost sad how happy I get when there's a little animation at the end.
3
Like others, I didn't see the MEOW. While I was solving, my beloved Jessica was in her sleeping state. Had she the ability to be simultaneously in her waking state, I am sure she would have told me about it.
First glance at the empty grid brought me up short with the two-letter entries and the very segmented design. Read the note and figured it had to relate to the ultra-shorties. So, instead of starting at 1A as usual, I started at 18A, saw that it had to be OMS and checked out the Ds. WHO/WHOM was obvious.
That provided an entree into NW, which almost solved itself once I discarded the RIND in order to enter the discarded STEM. Thus, inevitably to BOOS/BOOMS, and entered OM-MS at 18A. This exposed the gimmick and made the other two-worders a snap.
But wait! There's more! What a delight to find SCHRODINGER'S CAT and its insight into the way the constructors' minds were working.
And Deb, thank you for the beautiful photo on the column. I wanted to reach into the computer to cuddle the little darling.
Thanks to all.
13
This was a brilliant puzzle.
I do have a quibble with @Deb’s characterization that, “Schrödinger did not believe his [thought] experiment to be true.” What Schrödinger aimed for was to highlight the disparity between the ontology of the physical reality of a quantum system and the epistemic model of the Copenhagen interpretation, which sees all quantum processes as stochastic.
Schrödinger entangled two systems described by two branches of physics:
1. The radioactive atoms inside the box will emit subatomic particles. WHEN it happens, they will behave acc. to quantum theory, i.e. as both particles and waves, and therefore not describable by classical physics equations. Their distribution (or the WHEN of the experiment) can only be predicted in terms of probability using quantum wavefunction equations.
2. The directly measurable, classical-physics-governed elements on which the quantum particle will have an effect WHEN it is discharged: the Geiger counter to detect WHEN it happens, the setup to kill the cat WHEN the Geiger counter “beeps,” the cat itself and, ultimately, the person that opens the box.
Neither classical physics nor quantum theory can pinpoint the WHEN in time. The Copenhagen approach takes all possible outcomes, or states, at any given time and superimposes them. With respect to the cat, there are only 2 possible states: dead or alive. (cont. below)
3
(Cont.) Since quantum theory cannot say WHEN the cat is one or the other, it places the cat in both states simultaneously.
WHEN the box is opened, the psi-function describing the quantum system inside collapses by the virtue of being observed, or measured, and now we’re looking at a classical physics system where the WHEN of the moment the first atom may have decayed and set off the Geiger counter and the subsequent cascade of events leading to the cat bring dead or alive is immaterial; we’re only viewing the binary result of that even either having happened or not. The quantum system that had governed the cat and its dead-and-alive superimposed state has been converted to a classical physics system in which the current observed state of the cat — dead or alive — governs the event of whether the quantum particle had either been released or not. We still don’t have a WHEN. We have a WHETHER.
The thought experiment isn’t designed to prove anything; its intent is to demonstrate the the inability of quantum theory to define a classical physics event as long as the classical physics system is isolated and entangled with a quantum system.
One more thing: it’s been over 20 years since I studied this in earnest and I apologize in advance to any physicists still up to snuff that may be reading this. Also, go cats!
7
@Sam Lyons
"What Schrödinger aimed for was to highlight the disparity between the ontology of the physical reality of a quantum system and the epistemic model of the Copenhagen interpretation, which sees all quantum processes as stochastic. "
Congrats, Sam! Rarely do I come upon a sentence containing at least five different words or phrases that I have to look up, and still have no idea what you're talking about after I do.
6
Sam,
I'm going to talk to Deb about having you do the Wordplay column for the next Schrodinger...
2
The Infinite Monkey Cage podcast (from BBC Radio) did a recent episode entitled "Quantum Worlds" in which they discuss Schrodinger's Cat and other quantum topics. Hilarious, and informative, and since I listened to it on Sunday, helpful when solving this puzzle:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00snr0w/episodes/downloads
2
TIL NERTS. My new favorite word!
5
I’m horrified to learn that Schrodinger’s cat is either alive or dead. I have always assumed contradiction is the fact that cats want to be both inside and outside at the same time. Mine will stand in the doorway for hours thinking about it unless I give her a nudge.
5
@Helen Miller yes, not very funny is it... My cat Betty sits with her whole face squashed up against the door. She's got a whole house to explore and sits in that one spot! She doesn't get to go out unless with a hooman and a leash, so she doesn't get to torture us with the in/out/in/out
1
@Sophia Leahy & Helen Miller
Seems like you both must have missed "Hamlet's Cat," although it's all over the internet.
https://bertc.com/subfour/truth/hamcat.htm
6
@Helen Miller no cats were zombified in the creation of this puzzle
1
A clever Thursday puzzle that actually makes me feel clever. Bravo! I’ve never seen blinking rebuses (rebusi?) before, so that was an extra treat. I only wish they had included GRIN as an answer somewhere, suggesting both the puzzle’s effect on the solver and a Cheshire origin for the mysterious cat!
11
So glad everyone loved this puzzle as much as I did. (With one exception I think). Like Liz, Leapy and others I got all the 16 solutions, but missed the MEOW.
As I use across Lite I didn’t get the flashing rebus, so went to the NYT page and tapped on reveal puzzle. Fun!
2
@suejean
FYI, there's also animation on xwordinfo.com, with letters hopping from one square to another.
Thanks, Deadline, a much better way to do it.
Nerts??
5
@Diana
Linda posted the identical comment last night, right down to the double question mark.
2
Andrew,
It's contagious, but we've got Pence on it.
20
Sliding rebuses...well that’s just plain cool! Zowie. My wife and I ping-ponged over one of them for at least ten minutes. (It’s probably the closest we’ll get to participating in an active sport today, btw.)
Thank you!
4
Fastest Thursday ever for me, and I too panicked when I saw the note Then the surprise at the end. 😊.
1
Seems there are really only eight possible solutions where the resulting acrosses and downs make sense in this otherwise wonderful puzzle.
18A's two squares can be filled as OM and S, or O and MS. They both can't be OM because 1D would then be BOOOMS. That's not merely a contradictory state, it's misspelling except in comic strips.
Similarly, the pairings FE EM, TO OP, and TW WO can't exist simultaneously as legitimate spellings with or without quantum mechanics. Yes/No?
@Etaoin Shrdlu, yep, but your total combos is then 2^4 (16), not 2*4. See threads below for a listing of the 16 combos.
3
@Margaret
Actually, each of the four locations has only two possible legitimate spelling outcomes. So, 4 x 2, unless spelling doesn't count.
@Etaoin Shrdlu, no it really is 2*2*2*2. One way to see that: write out all possible sequences you can get flipping a coin 4 times (HHHH, HHHT, etc) Each flip has 2 choices and there are 4 flips, but the total is 2*2*2*2.
Sorry if going too far down the nerd path....
4
Wow, I think this is one of my all-time favorite puzzles. I got the rebus straight away, filled in the rest of the grid relatively easily (for a Thursday anyway) but couldn't see how there would be 16 solutions. Then it hit me, and I just sat there for a couple of minutes astonished at the cleverness of it.
6
Brilliant puzzle - and I didn't even see the MEOW until reading Deb's column. Bravo, Andrew and John!
4
Radio in a beach bag?? What century !!
6
Robin,
When you're at the beach and you go in the water, where do you put your radio?
2
Talk about an awesome serving of MEOW mix! If the moving letters weren't impressive enough, spelling M E O W with the theme answers was the "cat's whiskers!"
Andrew and John, thank you creating such a clever, and more than that, thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable puzzle! MEOW! 🐈
6
Hey Deb, don't just mention there have been 13 Schrödinger's puzzles in the NYT without providing a link!
https://www.xwordinfo.com/Quantum
(full disclosure, I wrote one of them, so slightly biased, but still -- solvers new to this twist might like to try the others!)
3
@ethan f. - as was noted earlier in the comments - linking to that list links to solved puzzle grids. There is a list (below, if you are sorted by Newest) of the dates to access in the Archives if people want the pleasure of solving the puzzles.
The Archives are accessed by the Archive link at the top of the main puzzle page.
4
What made it clear for me was CROSS THE BORDER because the printed puzzle had Will Shortz's name partially obscured by the grid, and when I saw those clues, I thought, "This is the big hint!" So, I wrote my extra letters right on the lines between the boxes! Right solution, wrong reason!
I loved this puzzle, such fun!
"...the printed puzzle had Will Shortz's name partially obscured by the grid..."
Mary,
What edition do you get? The Late Edition doesn't have that, nor does the online newspaper PDF.
@Barry Ancona
Printed on my printer from the puzzle page, since you are so interested.
Mary,
I hope your printer feels better tomorrow.
Solved on the app and didn’t get the gimmick until I’d completed the puzzle and the grid started moving. Thought it might have to do with chemical solutions or something until the end, when all became clear. What fun!
1
I completely missed the note concerning 16 solutions. I am glad that I did because I still caught on fairly quickly without it, and it might have taken some of the challenge away if I had read it.
There seems to be a lot of convoluted math in these comments to come up with the 16 solutions. My simple mathematical mind tells me that there are eight squares, each of which has two possibilities (one letter or two letters). Therefore 8 X 2 = 16.
Andrew,
If there were *ten* squares, each of which had two possibilities, what would the total possibilities be?
@Barry Ancona
1. I was told there would be no math.
2. My disclaimer "simple mathematical mind" stands proven.
5
Letter Boxed
P - S (5), S - Y (9)
3
@EskieF
Would that be Schrödinger's P-S,S-Y?
2
@EskieF
Yesterday:
MANDOLINS SHUCK
Letter Boxed:
MANDOLIN NUNCHUK
@EskieF
Make that NUNCHUKS
You might say that the aha! moment could also be called an A(H)A moment. Satisfying and chuckle-producing anyway you look at it. It was extremely helpful that I came across Schrodinger's Cat in another puzzle I solved recently, composed by the late, beloved Merl Reagle.
5
Cute puzzle! I liked the animation at the end, too!
3
One for the record books, a shining example of intelligent and quirky wordplay!
12
I'm glad this showed up today and not next month at ACPT. I wonder how this would have been graded there if it had.
WOW, not OW. And I'm so, so glad the note said "This puzzle has 16 solutions." That's because, once I have an answer that's correct and works, I don't look for another answer possibility. So, without the note, I would have filled in the first answer I thought of, and I would have missed the whole thing.
I remember the CLINTON/BOB DOLE puzzle -- though it was long before I was on any puzzle blogs. I had CAT, not BAT for the Halloween animal, and therefore ended up with CLINTON and never gave any other possibility a thought. I forget how and when I learned about the SCHRODINGER trick, but it couldn't have been on a puzzle blog back then. Did I find out the next day or 20 years later when I read about that famous puzzle on an xword blog? I don't remember.
Anyway this is a brilliant puzzle that I was able to fully enjoy during the actual solve. Getting SCHRODINGER'S CAT into the grid is a coup. Thanks to WS for the note and to AK and JL for a great concept and terrific execution.
4
@Nancy
I remember solving that pre-election (Election Day?) puzzle. Some of the Downs I'd filled in fit with CLINTON, others fit with BOBDOLE, so I had to figure out what was going on and got to appreciate the shape-shifting on the spot.
I'm still impressed.
wow! what a great theme! I had to read @Deb's column to understand the Schrodinger connection but now i see it. kudos to the developers for the enhanced view of the solved app.
1
Like @Liz, I missed the missing MEOW, but that's probably bec I get a fill of MEOWs whenever I inherit Kat Police duty, like this week. The fattest cat has the littlest MEOW, the littlest cat has a rusty one, and the boycat can't keep quiet and is forever pushing his head under any unoccupied hand.
I guess I was being impatient, as I saw that BOOS/BOOMS, DROP/DROOP, MAIL/EMAIL and OWS/WOWS would work, but didn't make the leap (as it were) to seeing the WHO/WHOM FAST/FEAST etc that accompanied. I guess note seeing a note about 16 solutions accounts for not looking for them.
Maybe some advance apology is due for dampening the sweet 16 blanket, but it seems to me that, even though there are 16 different square-fills, the pairs are co-dependent, so only 8 possible configurations. Of course, as has been shown, Eight Is Enough.
A most excellently layered puzzle, gentlemen, with some curious life lines, and a subtle way to earn me ows.
4
@Leapfinger
Let A represent in each case the O-MS type solution; let B represent in each case the OM-S type solution. There are 16 combinations of each.
0 B's-1 case AAAA
1 B-4 cases AAAB, AABA, ABAA, BAAA
2 B's- 6 cases AABB, ABBA, BBAA, ABAB, BABA, BAAB
3 B's-4 cases BBBA, BBAB, BABB, ABBB
4 B's-1 case BBBB
All together, 16 combinations.
@Leapfinger - Combinatorics is not a specialty of mine, yet I would posit: Each of the 2-squares can be configured as either AB or BA (e.g. OM S or O MS). There are four such 2-square acrosses.
AB AB AB AB
BA AB AB AB
AB BA AB AB
AB AB BA AB
AB AB AB BA
BA BA AB AB
BA AB BA AB
BA AB AB BA
AB BA BA AB
AB BA AB BA
AB AB BA BA
BA BA BA AB
BA BA AB BA
BA AB BA BA
AB BA BA BA
BA BA BA BA
That gives sixteen configurations, without admitting the compromise where only the non-MEOW letters are entered.
3
Alternative computer-centric explanation to @Steve L's - let each pair of answers be one bit. 0=rebus in first square, 1=rebus in second square. There are 4-bits. 2^4 = 16.
5
Rave review for this one (even with the deceptive 2 square layout that turned out to be a crafty flair to the whole gestalt of the puzzle.) Agree with others that the final aha was one of the most satisfying I've had with these puzzles. Very neat seeing the solution auto flip between the rebus squares, like watching a mind experiment come to life, amplified the aha glow (other bus passengers wondering why I was chuckling at a Xword.)
7
Hey, this was fun! :-)
I've only been solving XWPs seriously (like several every day) for about two years now. I've been solving them since I was a kid, but only here and there when I'd see one or when I had my Games Magazine sub. Anyway, I had heard of these Schrodinger puzzles but this is the first one I've solved. They're definitely clever and fun, but I can see why they're not used more frequently. I haven't read the other comments yet today, but I'll be interested to see what others thought of this trick. Happy Thursday everyone!
2
@Steve Faiella - It seems that you might want to look up the Archived puzzle from November 5, 1996. That is the definitive Schrödinger puzzle and will likely remain the gold standard. Strongly encouraged!
2
@David Connell
That one's a classic for both constructors and solvers, so I've been familiar with it since I got into the game. You're right, though, that may have been the coolest puzzle of all time! :-)
@Steve Faiella
I've read all of the comments now... Universal acclaim!! :-)
It helps that the fill and clues were "softened" a bit as compared to the usual Thursday, so everyone was happy and several new "bests" were achieved. Well Played, Andrew and John!
1
Choices, choices!
WORTH was my first entry, so I went for the Down clue (immediately on alert thanks to the verboten two square space) and had a good chuckle.
Nobody should BOO this puzzle! It's at the TOP of my list for constructing feats.
Only "Aw, shucks" moment was seeing 6D again so soon.
(Yes, ANDREW, we noticed that you sneaked yr name in there.)
Extra points for the CAT photo.
3
Late to the comments - the puzzle was relatively quick to solve - less than half my average. I like these types of puzzles, but mainly for the admiration of feat of construction. On the solving experience side, there is the second layer of guessing the gimmick.
Once I got the revealer in 6D, I wondered how the gimmick would work. I had looked up to see there were 16 possible solutions, which actually wasn't useful to the solve. I ended up thinking that each one of 4 squares (not 8) could be either one letter or two: O/OM, T/TO, F/FE, O/WO. Didn't think more of it until the ending animation and the realization kicked in.
Liked the clues for MASONS, LASIKS, MAT.
Noticed a bunch of one-letter+word entries, what with E- this and I- that these days:
I-PAD, B-SIDES, U PENN, I NEED, I LOSE...L-SAT...A-CLU...R-VER...O-PALS. Well, you get the idea. :)
Feat of construction? Absolutely. Solving experience? Pretty solid - that it's Thursday and the two-letter across entries gave away there is a rebus gimmick. Difficulty - easy for Thursday. Fun? Yes!
4
As the board in a college physics class said one morning, “Schrondinger, did you feed your cat?”
3
This was the most enjoyable puzzle I've solved in a long time! I did it with my cat on my feet, checking periodically to make sure he was still there. (He was.)
2
NERTS is definitely an old time slang that you’d hear a lot in black and white films, e.g. Our Gang comedies: “ah, nerts!” My only problem with it was spelling it differently than the one used by the constructors but the crosses fixed that.
Being unfamiliar with Schrodinger’s Cat, I had filled the two word clues putting the rebus in the second square and thought no more about it - until the puzzle started moving on completion! Loved this one.
4
Darn it, that's all I had to say about this puzzle...what the heck is nerts? Lol.
1
@Karen I love, love, love that you're more familiar with NERTS than Schrodinger's cat. Especially from the Our Gang comedies. Now that's having your priorities right.
IMHO. ;)
1
This is NEW BLOOD! Didn't have trouble, but don't like 2-letter answers!
1
@judy d
"don't like 2-letter answers!'
Good thing there weren't any then!
1
Very, very cool. 😎
2
Really enjoyed figuring out the theme. A super satisfying aha. The rest of the puzzle was friendly too. Thanks!
2
Incredible!
2
Wow! With last week’s ATE/8 and this week’s border crossing, another new twist on the humble rebus. Keep ‘me coming!
4
Wow, blinking rebus fill. How enchanting mewled Tom maliciously
It is said that golf is the ruination of a good walk. Might it also be said that a rebus.....
Had LcAT for LSAT and I even took the darn thing. Early days with Justice a law degree was important, fortunately the Behavioral Science unit was spared. My Native American research partner was miffed as she wanted to be a doctor, lawyer and Indian chief. Sorry Linda.
Anyway corrected my mistake during my final walk through as I recognized the cat.
Would have liked to have seen 40A clued as bit of baby talk and post grunge band (Goo Goo Dolls).
Nice work 24A and John.
2
I’m going easy on myself today. This is my first Thursday after that 18-hour day wrapped around a 9-hour flight back from France - not to mention having to endure the CDG airport! (That’s my excuse and I’m sticking with it.)
So, in spite of having to read Deb’s WoW in order to get the “spine” for this puzzle, I’m going to call my effort a “solve” (no capital ‘S’).
My departure from advancements in Physics was about the time people started trying to explain the Theory of Relativity by talking about trains and/or flashlights moving at the speed of light so I never got into any cats more mysterious than Alice’s Cheshire friend.
I DID figure out the theme answers without having a CLUE about the theme - - but the multiplicity of acceptable answers didn’t dawn on me until Deb explained things.
My hat (if I wore one) would be doffed to the constructors and anyone who figured this one out by having an understanding about that famous cat. BRAVO!!
3
Whoa! The letters are moving!
3
Well, if that ain't the cat's pajamas! Some clever two-way clues, too, in addition to the 16 themers. STREAK for run gave me a smile.
Tried to squish MATTHEW into the space for ANDREW. We've got a few of each in our fam.
Appreciated seeing Joan ALLEN, one of my favorite actors.
3
Splendid explanation, Deb! And the news about the cat was the best part!
3
I knew I had a problem in the northeast and had just corrected "rip" to RUN at 9A and was amazed to get happy music with the word NERTS still in place at 11D. What?
Seems like a complete nonsense word to me, but I dug up an online reference to it meaning "crazy." Not sure how I was supposed to get to that from "Darn it." Is this some side door reference to the Jabberwock clue in 60A? A regionalism?
Color me mystified.
I did just have a random recollection from my youth playing Pony League baseball that may shed some light. A guy on my team fouled a ball down onto home plate with just he right spin to send it into the groinular region of the opposing catcher. Someone said, "Ow! Right in the nerts!" and many of us doubled over in sympathetic agony. I suppose this tied into "nuts" and is therefore related to "crazy."
But I still don't see the connection to "Darn it."
And I'm dying to see if this comment passes moderator review.
My dad used to say it all the time, a cute variation on “Nuts”. I’m going to revive it now and add it to my list of safe words!
@L DeVault
Right!
After rolling this over in my head for nearly an hour, I finally get it.
“Darn it!” == “Nuts!”
(Yes, that is a double “equals.” I unfortunately work in JavaScript sometimes.)
I hope the readership enjoyed watching me work through my bush league Thursday version of “First Pass Friday.”
1
Now that was something different ! Amazing. Fun solve. How do people come up with this stuff ?
1
My reaction upon seeing the 2-/3-letter squares:
https://youtu.be/FiG-ZfnYkl0
1
@Roger
I should say this was also NOT my reaction to the dancing squares.
I got the rebuses pretty quickly. I got stuck in the northeast because I could not accept NERTS. I'm 100% certain I have never seen or heard that word ever. I went to UPENN, so I wasn't changing that one, but I tried every combination of RU_ and MASON_. I gave up, and looked up NERTS. Wow, it's a word.
2
Nice puzzle and fairly smooth solve. Got hung up in the SW for a bit at the end until the intended meaning of 'listed' finally dawned on me. Didn't read the notepad until after I was done (and Across Lite didn't have an animation), so had no idea what SCHRODINGERSCAT had to do with the rebuses until after I was finished. That was one of the best after-the-fact 'aha' moments ever. Great theme once I saw it.
But I believe that's 3 days in a row when the theme did not contribute to my solve in any way, shape or form.
I think I linked some SCHRODINGER SCAT the last time it popped up, so won't do it again.
Answer history search today was for *REBUS* - i.e. REBUS embedded in any answer. Much to my surprised the only results were REBUS, REBUSES, PARTSOFAREBUS, REBUSH, EREBUS and MTEREBUS, I was specifically thinking of something like "all of our operators aREBUSy" or something like that. Kind of surprised that's never happened.
2
Great Thursday puzzle!
(See details from others).
Two notes on earlier threads:
1. The print version does not have animation.
2. Deb was told there would be no math.
10
@Barry Ancona
"1. The print version does not have animation."
Did you try moving the page left and right *really* fast? 😉
12
It's a Schrebus puzzle!
12
Brilliant, brilliant concept and execution. Lost in the wow factor may be how junk free the grid is.
This was a hoot to fill out, "hoot" being appropriate for a grid with five double-o's, and the clues for MASONS, UPENN, and ELOPE were icing on the cake.
Thank you, gents, and may your creations continue!
9
@Lewis
Don't you mean Schroebus?
1
@Andrew -- I think it could legitimately go either way; I lean toward the long e sound in this case.
I completed this delightful puzzle to a chorus of meows, thanks to our recent adoption of the world's noisiest cat. Casey, a 15 year old tuxedo cat of great agility and charm, never never never SsTFU, although this morning I failed to realize he was actually trying to help me with the puzzle. The incumbent cat, a frequent Spelling Bee favorite, Lulu, will never forgive us. She is the consummate only cat and is truly miserable--we have been forced to keep them completely separate because the one time they met the fur literally flew--am still finding little tufts--it was terrifying for all of us. When Lulu passes Casey's door, even if he is nowhere in sight, she hisses in his general direction (a lesser known Monty Python line). We only agreed to adopt him because he was my father's beloved cat and this was a promise I made to him in hospice (where Casey was allowed to live in his room, so wonderful). Advice welcome.
16
On introducing new cats:
It just takes time. Especially if the cats are older. Just let them get to know each other by smell (under the door is a risk free way they can interact). Be sure to shower your existing cat with affection. He/she needs to know you are not abandoning them.
The excessive vocalizations are because he is talking to humans, not cats. He may be used to it or he may be expressing distress. I am down to one cat now as two died within a short time and she, who was the queen who never deigned to speak, won’t shut up. She talks to me, herds me to do her bidding, etc.
They may never be best buddies, but eventually the fighting will stop when everyone claims their territory.
8
I have always had rescue cats (and dogs). Most often there is hissing, and often fur flying, at the beginning. It normally gets better and they become friends or
co-exist.
But sometimes you do need to keep them separated for longer.
Good for you that you adopted a senior cat, and how great that he was allowed in hospice.
6
@AudreyLM We had a similar situation. We have an older cat, who had always been an only cat, and quite content with that status. I brought home a stray during some extremely cold weather last year, thinking we'd eventually find him another home - until my husband and kids fell in love with him. The "incumbent cat" has adjusted. They aren't friends, but they coexist. That has taken the better part of this past year. I honestly didn't think it would ever happen. Good luck!
4
Here to ask what is NERTS? Do people say this? Where? Am I missing something clever or is it actually just NERTS?
2
I looked up the definition. It means phooey or balderdash, so that doesn’t match “Darn It,” so I’m assuming the use here is regional or bygone slang?
@grad The only time I ever heard NERTS was by Frank Burns in a M*A*S*H episode. I believe it's a goody two shoes version of "nuts."
7
Thank you! I saw a brief thread below but wasn’t ‘getting’ how it was a swear. My fault for doing this without my giant morning coffee 😂🤦♀️
This went so much faster for me than the average Thursday, with easier than usual clues. Extra charm for me: the puzzle contains one of my names (and it’s not Andrew). But I had to read Deb’s column to see the “meow.” By the way, the cat is alive. Always.
7
Personal Thursday best, at 12:33. Pretty cute. I came to the column to figure out the bit I didn’t get (it was MEOW). Now to try the mysterious linked one above.
2
Oh, ok. Yeah, that’s cute too.
SPELLING BEE GRID
H A C G I L R
WORDS: 23, POINTS: 91, PANGRAMS: 1
First character frequency:
A x 3
C x 11
H x 7
L x 1
R x 1
Word length frequency:
4L: 11
5L: 7
6L: 1
7L: 2
9L: 2
Grid:
4 5 6 7 9 TOT
A: 1 1 - 1 - 3
C: 4 4 1 1 1 11
H: 5 1 - - 1 7
L: - 1 - - - 1
R: 1 - - - - 1
TOT:11 7 1 2 2 23
Two letter list:
AA-1 AR-2
CH-11
HA-4 HI-3
LA-1
RI-1
59
I hope Mari is on the mend.
52
@Doug
Thanks for the grid and list! Needed Kevin’s hints for pangram and AA word. SPOILER ALERT: hints for those two below (upside down):
(ɯɐɹƃuɐd) sɹǝƃɹnq ɥʇᴉʍ pǝʇɐᴉɔossɐ pɹoʍ punodɯoƆ
pɹoʍ ǝʇɐɹᴉԀ
5
@Doug @Kevin Davis
Today's letter set closely matched one from earlier this month, so the LA-5 was a quick find. Not so with the final A-5. Thanks for your help in getting to QB.
Any bets that the Feb 29 Bee will contain the letters
L E A & P??
10
SPELLING BEE
23 words, 91 points, 1 pangram.
9
Hints:
Pirate exclamation
Old-fashioned, obsolete
Indian tea
Braided loaf
Quickly cook at very high heat, pangram, compound
(think BBQ meat for above word)
Trendy “pet” plant
Fashionable
Girl, Spanish
Pretentious & overelaborate refinement
Spicy pepper
Frozen rain or Caesar greeting
Kosher for Muslims
Baby dining seat, compound
Tree with cones & needles
31
@Kevin - Again pretty gettable but I got held up on the pirate exclamation.
4
I never would have gotten the pangram without "cheating." It's usually spelled with a hyphen, it starts with a 4 letter word in today's set akin to "sear," and is usually associated with preparing burgers.
As for the pirate word, I just had to narrow down which spelling was accepted. The same with the Jewish braided Sabbath bread. One is
an onomatopoeia, the other a foreign word.
5
app glitch and there goes the streak. everything was solved properly and correctly. but not according to the app.
I finished in under 18 minutes, without knowing the "trick" other than the expected rebuses on a Thursday. I haven't yet read @Deb's column, which I plan to do now.
There were some funny and clever clues, and the theme itself was pretty impressive, now that I see the app swapping the rebuses to adjacent squares when the puzzle is done.
The Northwest corner was the last one for me. I had peel then seed then STEM for discarded fruit part.
I also noticed a Bee word from today in the center right of the grid.
2
For once I was glad that the happy music didn’t go off right away... it forced me to look at all the rebuses again... and the different possible solutions! Lovely Aha! at that moment!
Didn’t notice the extra MEOW though.
The music? Just a typo that I saw soon enough. :)
Ugh, spent more than 20 minutes with BOOM in 1D and the animation running, but the end not triggering. Finally switched M to S on a hunch and it triggered
What a bad ending to an otherwise cool puzzle!
I guess Schrodinger has a rebus, too, because it was dead in my app.
2
Wow. Amazing, brilliant, creative... just wow.
8
To say everything I'd want to say about this puzzle would be a meowthful.
(But seriously, it was purrfect.)
22
@Mike
Well, wasn't that just catty!
3
@Mike
It was, fur sure, and I'm not kitten.
6
I. LOVE. THIS.
What a great Thursday! When I saw the note I thought there was no chance this would be as elegant as it turned out to be. I was quite disappointed initially to see two-tiled words, but I am amazed at how it worked out so well.
Hands down the best Thursday I've seen in my (short) time crosswording!
13
and Elke
This is really NEAT and the animation makes it TRUEly swell.
Re international travel, I want to POINT out that for the BORDER just north for you and south for us, no MASONS WERE NEEDed to ERECT it.
Since there is no wall or fence, if you cannot see it ,is it really a BORDER ?
Inquiring minds want to know- is that "oval" RUG on the floor or on the head of the occupant ?
15
(W)OW!
3
@Robert - The border you speak of at its cattiest:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EocJm3Dry4E
And here's a wonderful poem by the great Wisława Szymborska:
https://anthonywilsonpoetry.com/2013/09/28/lifesaving-poems-wislawa-szymborskas-psalm/
"Only what's human can be truly alien;
the rest is mixed forest, undermining moles, and wind."
(good catch about that rug!)
3
Hah!!!
1
Does anyone else who uses the iOS app find that they NEVER get the “Note,” or even any in indication that there is a puzzle Note? I mean, I know you can check fo it in the non-app, online version, but that’s not possible when doing an Archive puzzle, which is especially annoying for Sunday puzzles. And what’s this “happy music” and “animation” people keep bringing up?
2
@Suzan
If you look at the icons toward the right at the top of the screen. you should see a circle appear and disappear around the "i" (info) icon. This is the alert that a note or other important info is present, and can be seen by clicking on the "i".
2
@JayTee
Thanks! I never noticed that was blinking!
@Suzan mine never blinks and 97% of the time there is no note so I.dont routinely check. A few times a note would have helped.
PS I made up that stat, I have no idea how often there is a note, but it's not often
2
See this gets to Will S. and any puzzle historians,
• This reminds me of a puzzle game, I believe from the Washington Star newspaper, in the late 1960s-early 70s, perhaps.
• It was called The Pruzzle—why would it be called Pruzzle? I don’t know, but I remember the name clearly.
• It was a “reduced” Crossword, I’d call it, with fewer answers, but the whole point was that similarly spelled, yet different words could be filled in, but only one, exalted, combination was the winner.
• Then you had to cut out the Pruzzle, mucilage it to a 5”x3” index card, say, and mail it in, to see if your selection of the approximately ten answers was the intended solution.
• I don’t think my parents ever won the $100 prize, if that’s what it was, but I do remember vividly, when I was about 8, or 9, or 10, that they were REALLY into it!
• And I turned 60 on February 10th😉!
David
11
@David Scott Pearce happy birthday, ol chap!
1
I remember that in the '50s, The Long Island paper Newsday ran a puzzle, possibly called "Cashword," with a large cash prize for submitting the right solution, where many answer blanks were clued ambiguously so that a reasonable person could easily think of two or more answers differing by just one letter that all fit the clue. When the "answers" were published, a totally specious explanation was given for why the "wrong" answer(s) were wrong and the "correct" one was right. If there were, say, 30 of this kind of clue, that meant that fewer than one out of a billion "solves" were likely to be "correct" — thus avoiding payouts.
@polymath et al.
When I was a kid in the 1950s, there was a similar puzzle contest in one of the Detroit newspapers. My grandfather did the puzzle and entered his solution religiously. Don't remember whether he ever won. Also don't remember which paper (News, Times, or Free Press) or the amount of the prize, but it was money.
As soon as I came to 18A I knew it was an OM rebus, but I totally missed the point that it was also an MS rebus, and the same with the other three, until I saw the jumping squares after I got the music. I call this puzzle NEAT(O)!
8
This puzzle is the cat's whiskers!
5
I've always preferred Terry Pratchett's three possible states for the cat: alive, dead, and bloody furious. Possibly because I've spent most of my computer programming career dealing with SQL's three-value logic: true, false, null.
26
How awesome and clever is this puzzle! The multi-layered theme and the graphics were just ingenious. The other clues were quite amusing - UPENN, LEANED, MASONS, MAT.
Andrew Kingsley and John Lieb - thank you for this cat's MEOW of a puzzle!
2
As soon as I realized it was a rebus Thursday and figured out that darn cat, I grabbed it by the scruff of the neck, gave it a few scratches on the head and soon it was purring. Highly enjoyable, and the streak hits 49.
17
My thoughts are that I hate the rebus puzzles more than anything.
I do this to unwind, if I wanted to stress out I'd read the rest of the paper.
7
This was very clever. I think I was too tired to fully appreciate it when I solved it, but suspect it will hit me tomorrow just how clever it was. Well done!
Thursdays give me the most trouble as a rule, but the funny thing is that I only found four rebus squares -- I didn't see that the puzzle had 16 solutions until I finished. Makes perfect sense, and a fun sole.
1
OMG! I thought the puzzle was pretty easy for a Thursday, but what a great theme! To be honest, I totally did not get it until I saw the letters going back and forth, even then it took me a minute to realize the Schrodinger's Cat angle. Thanks again to Andrew Kingsley and John Lieb and the rest of the the constructors for their all their hard work just to give me a few minutes of joy each dayt!
4
An opportunity to tell my favorite science joke.
Heisenberg and Schrodinger are out for a drive in the Schwartzwald. Heisenberg is driving and he has a bit of a lead foot and of course they get pulled over.
"Do you know how fast you were going, sir?" says the cop.
"No, but I know where I am" says Heisenberg.
The cop is a little nonplussed but tells Heisenberg: "You were doing 140 kph!"
"Oh no!" wails Heisenberg. "Now I don't know where I am!"
The cop doesn't know what to make of this. He decides he'd better search the car, so he asks them to pop the trunk. He comes back to the pair in the front seat.
"Do you know you've got a dead cat in there?"
"Well now I do!" says Schrodinger.
I'm here all week.
68
@Andrew That deserves my favorite engineer joke:
It's the French Revolution, and the masses are sending the elites to the Guillotine.
First up is a lawyer, and the crowd is howling for his head, but when the blade comes down, it stops inches from his neck, and the executioner pronounces that he has been spared by God's will.
Next up is a doctor. The same thing happens, and the doctor is also pronounced spared by God's will.
Then, an engineer is led to the chopping block. He looks up at the Guillotine, and says to the executioner, "I think I see the problem."
35
@Andrew - And Ohm was sitting quietly in the back seat until the cop tried to place them all under arrest. Then he resisted.
11
“Try the veal.”
3
I really enjoyed this one!
2
This was amazingly easy for a Thursday! I loved the concept, which I spotted very quickly, and I loved it even more when I looked back at the puzzle after finishing it -- the aab/abb sets rearranging themselves was a lot of fun to look at!
So thank you to the constructors for an amusing and clever conceit and I assume I owe a separate thank you to the techie folks who made the visual magic happen at the end. (I haven't read Deb's column yet, maybe it is all explained there.)
5
Meh... no fun having SchrödingersCat again so soon. And no animation in my app so I didn't get the binary thing. Oh well, we can't all love all of the puzzles all of the time!
6
I loved the animation that appeared once I solved it online!
12
@Brian Abel Ragen YES, this was the a-ha moment for me!
4
@Brian Abel Ragen
Me too!
1
For me, this was a brilliantly conceived and constructed puzzle that somehow at the same time made for a rather ordinary solving experience -- which I guess fits the Schrödinger theme, too.
11
Wow!!! My fastest Thursday time! I adored this puzzle even though the MEOW went over my head until reading Deb’s column.
7
I caught on quickly with OMS, although at first I went with rebus left - WHOM and BOOS. It took me one or two others before I saw the SCHRODINGER element. I missed the MEOW completely, so was glad to have that explained to me. I enjoyed the animation at the end which had the middle letter CROSS THE BORDER, giving the terminals SOME SPACE.
First time I remember seeing my name in the puzzle, so extra fun for me. "Layers of stone" and "Listed" were particularly clever and misleading clues.
13
@Andrew
Not only did you make the puzzle, but there’s a SHRINE to you.
6
An admirable feat of construction, if not the most challenging puzzle for a Thursday. Someday I'd like to see the breakup line "It's not you, it's me" worked into a puzzle - that's the one that first popped into my head (and disappeared a nanosecond later).
10
@RichardZ
I'd love to see "It's Not P.M.S., It's You" in a puzzle.
(For those who don't get the reference, read to the very bottom of the column.)
4
From an episode of Seinfeld:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uAj4wBIU-8
Wow wow wow!I loved this puzzle. The rebus clues had multiple meanings and answers!!
I almost gave up on it but goals I stuck with it! feast/fast booms/boos. LOVE IT!!!
10
I really appreciate what the constructors were able to create. I am in the camp of got the happy music, but didn’t really “get it” upon solve. The MEOW was brilliant.
I think harder clueing for the “non-theme” answers would have made this epic. Because of the generous solve allowance, I think a lot of folks will be well under their thurs avg. Almost the opposite of that OO / 8 puzzle in terms of solve allowance.
Thank goodness we have so many creative people in this (puzzle) world. Fun,
7
Wow, really cool puzzle. Got hung up by the NW corner but the rest was a breeze. Love the theme! Well done!
2
sort of clever but easy
3
Wowza! Loved it!
1
Sorry, Deb, but your math is wrong.
Each of the four two-letter acrosses can have either of two answers - OM/S or O/MS and so on. Since each of the four can have two possible answers, the combinations of answers is 2x2x2x2 or 16. The 2 different answers for each of the 2 down crosses has nothing to do with the total number of possible solution combinations.
12
Great puzzle! But Deb’s explanation for how to get to 16 is not quite right. Each two letter slot has 2 possibilities—rebus left or rebus right, not 4. And then you multiply 2x2x2x2 and get 16.
15
I didn't read the note until after I was done. I'm a new solver it took me 32 minutes, and I got the music upon entering the final letter, which is a surprise- no typos or rebus errors! My time was fast for me for Thursday. I.didnt like the way each section was not connected to the others. I slowly did each section one by one, because on first pass I had 3 words.
I was disappointed in the puzzle as it looked boring when finished, like only 4 Rebus answers, but then I saw the blinking and read the note, so I think it's cool. But not needed for the solve.
Also the Schroedingers Cat was 2 weeks ago more or less.
Is this going to be one of those gimmicks that doesn't work on all platforms? My old Samsung 6, which never blinks to alert to me a puzzle note, did blink when I was done.
1
@Santi Bailor It seems that there are some cases where it won't work, unfortunately. I'm losing a 27 day streak because since I finished (but was told to keep trying) it will only do the blinking animation, not allowing me to enter the needed rebus answers. Even clearing the puzzle didn't stop the animation.
@Philip wow, I would think resetting the puzzle would work. Sorry that is bad luck
Simply the best puzzle ever!!!
7
Well I solved the puzzle, and it was fairly quick for a Thursday. However, I missed the exceptionally clever embedded ambiguity uuntil after I read Deb's column. Very clever construction, However the double answers were, sadly, lost on me.
1
Nerts??
15
@Linda Yeah, soitainly. A dialect form of Nuts!
5
@Linda
My sentiment exactly!
1
@Linda on an I Love Lucy episode, when the Ricardos were fighting with the Mertzes, they held up a sign: Nertz to Mertz! I don't know why I remember this! I doubt the constructor had that in mind.
7
Got a PR for today. It helps to solve with a real keyboard
2
PR for me on my phone, too! (But yours was probably faster with a real keyboard.)
2
Off-topic question here.
Has anyone here gone to this ACPT thingy in Stamford in March? Is it worth it? Is the extra $50 for the Friday evening extravaganza worth it?
Enquiring minds want to know!
Thanks for any advice.
I’ve only been to ACPT once, many years ago, and enjoyed it very much. (Placed in the top half of novices which felt respectable.) There was a tight-knit core of regulars, though; I went with a friend or might not have had as much fun. Meeting Will Shortz and a few other familiar names was part of the fun, too.
2
@Samira Phillips Thanks for your response.
I wonder if anyone else has gone more recently.
Go, go, go! And do the Friday night, and go to the pre-Friday night Cru Dinner if there’s still space, so you’ll meet some folks and know some names and faces for the rest of the weekend. If you’re on Facebook, there’s an ACPT attendees group that’s very useful. I went last year for the first time, can’t go this year but hope to return in future. It’s a blast!
3
This puzzle was way more clever than I first realized. When the happy music played and some of the blocks started switching places, I saw the brilliance. Truly well done. I have to say my favorite answer was ELOPE. Really enjoyed this one. Kudos to the authors.
22
This was lots of fun. Too fast though! I'd have liked to chew through the rest of it a bit more.
The little animation at the end is a cute bonus.
4
Gosh, the last (recent) time “SchrödingersCat” appeared as an answer, I inquired if that had ever been used along with a Schrödinger trick in the theme, and here it is!
Lots of fun, though I needed to read Deb to get the MEOW.
6
@Margaret
Courtesy of Xwordinfo.com, here are past Schrödinger puzzles: 5/5/96; 11/5/96; 7/9/03; 7/27/06; 3/3/11; 9/5/13 (POW!); 1/30/14; 4/1/14 (POW!); 12/4/14; 9/1/16 (POW!); 3/1/18; 8/2/18
1
@Puzzlemucker
Why not just post the link to 14 Schrödinger puzzles?
https://www.xwordinfo.com/Quantum
2
@Puzzlemucker, yes. In my foraging back through the archives, it might be best to encounter them one at a time. Bingeing too many might “overwhelm my poor brain”, to borrow @joyfulee’s phrase.
I'll just echo 54D right now... either way! 😮
This was fun! But over too soon. I eventually started realizing that there were alternate possibilities for some of the answers, but didn't put it all together until the animation.
5
About to close out my birthday and think i just got my best Thursday time ever - and had fun doing it! What a lovely treat! Thank you so much Deb for pointing out the "meow." I was wondering if there'd be a word in there, but once my screen started showing the rebuses (rebi?) moving my poor brain got overwhelmed. Huzzah to all who made for such fun!
20
@joyfulee
🎂 Happy Birthday!
6
@JayTee Thanks!
Very clever! Loved it.
3
SCHRÖDINGER'S CAT again and the early realization that there had to be four binary choices moved this interesting puzzle earlier in the week for me. I realized that Across Lite could only show one of each pair, so after figuring both out I did reveals of the two-letter words containing them. Two-letter words were in themselves revealers since they are rarities for NYT.
3
@Kiki Rijkstra
I am an AcrossLite loyalist, and chose to enter two letters in each of the rebus boxes -- e.g., OM and MS; FE and EM -- fully prepared for Mr. Happy Pencil to stay inside his box. I was delighted when he came popping out all cheerful and satisfied when I entered the last letter of my solve.
Great fun! I saw that the rebuses could go in either square, but I didn't notice that the missing letters spelled MEOW. That was a great touch. Enjoyed it tremendously.
34
Meow! Really. I was awed by this one.
7
Great construction, big fan of 11D as a reminder of my youth, and also reminded me of the epic poem http://holyjoe.org/poetry/adams.htm
6
Lots of dark energy and dark matter floating around in this puzzle. Well done.
4
I loved the animation when I completed it, that gave me some of the trick. But I didn't connect it with SCHRODINGERSCAT and the meow until I read the column. Cute puzzle and great construction.
28
That darn cat again? I thought we got rid of him last week! Oh, I forgot, he can go back and forth from one puzzle to another.
Oh, wow! A time-traveling Schrodinger's Cat! That's a level only Will Shortz could come up with!
18
@Steve L
I know that we are of similar ages, so I am sure "that darn cat" must be a reference to a movie I had all but forgotten from my childhood. As I had a Siamese cat myself, I had found the film most enjoyable at the time. Your post sent me time-traveling as well!
1
The puzzle techies get a lot of grief. Cheers to them for highlighting the Schrödinger answers to this puzzle! A fun run of a Thursday. One to remember.
62
@Puzzlemucker
Another big thumbs up here. The animations really bring the theme to life and death.
Eagerly awaiting comments from those solving on other platforms.
11
@Al in Pittsburgh
I checked my iPhone and iPad app and they both do the animation at the end.
2
I wish the NYT wouldn't treat just the first letter of a rebus answer as correct. I had no idea what the theme was, and didn't write the correct rebus answers in, and "solved" the puzzle. All of the down clues made sense, none of the 2-letter across answers made sense. Given some time, I think I would have come to it.
The theme was wonderful, I just wish I hadn't been given the gold star without actually solving it.
10
Tyler - I have good news for you. Just the first letters is actually a valid answer to this crossword! Reread the wordplay blog - the across answers make sense missing the middle letters if you think of it as being both with and without the “meow”!
4
@Tyler D. I noticed that the middle letter was left out in those two letter words, but I didn't think to put them in as a rebus.
1
@Zoe From that perspective where there is a third possibility in each 'section', wouldn't the puzzle then have 81 possibilities (3x3x3x3)? :)
5