About 0.4% in the human body; that's salt. There's nothing to indicate that it's an abbreviation much less something from the periodic table. perhaps the words according to Mendeleev should have been added to the clue. We need some rules to be observed here folks (Wil) even on the misleading Friday and Saturday puzzles
2
This was one of those fortunate days where I was very much on the same wavelength with the clue writer. Long answers like DEATHTRAPS, EARTH SHATTERING, BINGE WATCH and EVANGELIST fell very easily with only 2 or 3 crosses. (Even though I studiously avoid death traps, am suspicious of evangelicals, never binge watch, and prefer that New York Times headlines to NOT be earth shattering.
Finished nearly 15 min. faster than my Friday average. A good way to wind down the week.
2
Enjoyed this puzzle a lot but a small quibble from a baker: I don't think of bran as "enriching" bread. Enriched dough has a specific meaning, the addition of fats (usually butter and eggs) or sugar, as in brioche. Slowed me down in that corner!
7
I had the same reaction. Agreed: Enriching food normally means adding fats and/or sugar.
1
"Enriched" flour also means flour that has had certain nutrients added, including B vitamins and iron. So my first guess was iron.
2
How bout flax, an enriching seed in a good fresh bread.
Where are the walruses? In yesterday’s comments, there were two walruses, one named @Suddenly Walrus and the other simply @walrus, who left back-to-back comments despite hailing from different countries. Today, no walruses in sight.
(Unless . . . I am the walrus?)
4
@Puzzlemucker Goo goo g'joob ....
@Puzzlemucker: It’s Friday, anything could happen 😊
It's true that POTHOLES can be driving hazards, but what I find to be just as hazardous are ___HOLES.
9
Great job on your first themeless for the Times, Aimee! I'd say you achieved your goal of making the puzzle feel "voice-y and fresh, while still feeling clean and enjoyable to solve." I enjoyed your luns. My favorite clue was the one for BINGE-WATCHING. 😆
2
@OboeSteph puns not luns
foals can be males, but I think you mean "fillies".
1
Apparently SHARKNADO was much more successful than the original version TOADNADO.
6
I liked this puzzle. It took me almost an hour to solve it but it was an enjoyable solve. And I didn’t have to look up any answers. I had never heard the term “make it rain” but I like it! #ilearnedsomethingnew
3
@Jaime
It took me more than an hour, but I consider that to mean that I had more fun than the ones who solved it in 10 minutes!
4
I’d say you hit the nail on the head, Aimee Lucido, as this was indeed “voice-y and fresh, while still feeling clean and enjoyable to solve.” Some great puns and misdirects, and the kind of challenging long fill that benefitted from putting the puzzle aside for awhile and coming back to it with a fresh mind. Winnie-the-Pooh’s missing PANTS pretty much made my day😂. Like Caitlin, I’m really surprised that BINGE WATCH is a debut, as it seems so ubiquitous now. My last area to fall was the SE, maybe because I held onto the idea that “Pine, for one” had to be Chris! Getting attached to an entry is usually a mistake. And Caitlin, I am one of those people who pictured a “girl tied to the tracks” for mustache twirling EVIL. In fact I pictured Snidely Whiplash. Anyone else?
9
In my wheelhouse -- a Friday PR! 🥳
(Can't believe I got EPH at 5D right off the bat. Those years of Bible indoctrination as a young teen paid off!)
5
@Ron
“Bible indoctrination as a young teen”
I’m glad you survived.
1
I'm new to crosswords and this discussion. I have a per peeve. I don't like when people post a comment about a clue or answer and only use the clue number. For example: I really hated 41d. The clue for 7A was terrible!
I didn't memorize the clue numbers and answers. The only way for me to know what you are talking about is to hit my back button 3 Times to get back to the puzzle and then search for the number. Then click 3 more pages to get back to your post. It's too much so I tend to ignore your post. This seems very common and is this normal for solvers to learn all the clue numbers as they are solving?
8
@Santi Bailor
Welcome. I too found that annoying when I first joined in. It's a long-established habit that's not likely to go away. The work around is to open one tab for the puzzle then one for Wordplay in the same window.
6
Santi,
There are periodic requests here to spell out the clue and/or answer, not just use a clue number, and a fair number of posters do that. But, as Keta has noted...
2
Santi Bailor: I know what you mean. I can’t imagine anyone memorizing clue numbers. My method for dealing with the issue is that (using the NYT app) I do the puzzle on my iPad, but have my phone nearby with the completed grid, for reference when reading comments.
2
After I finally let go of IM NOT GONNA for 55A, everything fell nicely into place. And is there a better way to start the day than with a chuckle over Winnie’s missing bottoms—or just thinking about Pooh in general?!
5
Still feeling guilty about yesterday. “Completed” the puzzle but didn’t fill in rebus(es). Got music for just the 8 downs. I know, not EARTHSHATTERING . . .
@Mae Don't beat yourself up. I finished it by thinking there was some other 'fiddle' like using a letter from another row that completed a word... so live and learn. And I'd call that a solve.
Letter Boxed
T-M (8), M-H (8)
Yesterday:
PLODS STARFISHY (thought that answer was more than a little fishy)
Letter Boxed solution:
HARPISTS SOLIDIFY
@Lou
Trouble counting today
T-M (8), M-H (7)
1
With all due respect, "NAVEL" was not a "misdirect" for Winnie the Pooh - it may be true but who would think that first? At that rate I can think of another fill that's technically apt but also horrifying.
1
@Oswald I was convinced it was WAIST.
1
@MSS Me, too!
@Oswald On the topic of body parts, at first I thought it was brain, since Pooh claims to be a "bear of very little brain." Fortunately I corrected my error before I got too attached to brain (or any other five-letter body part).
4
My fastest Friday so far. Not as spine tingly fun as yesterday. It was a really fun solve. My big mystery is that I knew 8D and have absolutely no memory of WHY I knew that!
1
Something that requires thinking inside the box? Hmm, Schrödinger's cat doesn't fit...
8
My last fill, was the S in GATS when I thought of SEAS! It was fun, free of proper names, and IDONTWANNA stop. Thanks Aimee Lucido.
5
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
Today's additions: "Smack That" by Akon w. Eminem and "Desafinado" by Joao Gilberto
I've also set up a spreadsheet that anyone can comment to add a new song, following the template I've set up. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13Ld8gVTHnIOMN0ePvgmPue7lyYi054TSPnkgd2e275A/edit?usp=sharing
8
Very surprised to learn that SHARKNADO made its debut today. Even for the popular-culture-impaired solvers like me it's a film that I've heard about numerous times. What I had never heard before was MAKE IT RAIN but it makes perfect sense. Really liked SOS. Fun Friday overall.
3
Hello - I don't understand 32D - EGAD?
Hello, Chicago!
EGAD is a point on the continuum:
[mmfph]
Wow!
Holy Moly!
Egad!
Gadzooks!
Prithee, m'Lud!
[clutch pearls or equivalent]
17
@Leapfinger Interesting - thank you!
2
Oh Leapy... (May I call you Leapy? Have I frequented this cyber corner long enough for such familiarity?)
I just looked at the comments while cooling down from a run in the park and started laughing so hard at this that I startled two unsuspecting dogs and the humans on the other end of their respective leashes. Egads, there was definitely some clutching there, too, though not of pearls. It looked more like pocket-sized pepper spray.
11
Some fun answers but too easy for a Friday. Finished in 9 mins, 17 faster than my average. Didn’t second guess any; just left a few blank as I went on and filled them in after a few more.
NaCl (salt) really threw me
6
@SunnyP me too. I kept trying nail, which is the only body part that fit. NaCl isn’t technically an abbreviation for table salt so the clue doesn’t have one, but it feels like the clue should have.
1
@Joseph
I was pretty sure that it was going to be an "ingredient" rather than a body part, but my first (very brief) thought (given the N and three blanks) was NEON.
1
@SunnyP believe it or not, BMWS threw me! It just didn't look right and I didn't know the clue (above my car buying abilities!). Knowing the downs were correct, I just shrugged and moved on until I finally saw it correctly. Minds' eyes are funny sometimes.
3
SE corner fell quickly to reveal SHARKNADO. Speed finish from there. Liked the FOALS/FEMALES crossing. The NW corner evokes the Jody Foster movie “Escape Room” that could have ended up as a death trap.
1
@Paladin
It certainly does! A good movie that was, but I'm starting to believe that Jodie Foster doesn't make any that aren't.
As someone who devoured all of Agatha Christie as a child, I really didn’t want 15A to be what it was. Some very nice fill but a little too quick.
2
@Frances
The clue immediately brought Hercule Poirot to my mind, too, and I needed a cross before the association of EVIL instead emerged from my “little grey cells.”
3
I think I started with TOAD crossing NADA, and expanded down and out. Resisted EVIL for a bit because it seemed too obvious, unlike most of the puzzle.
This went quickly for me, but never felt easy and always was amusing. I think I laughed out loud at BINGEWATCH.
An excellent first themeless, IMNSHO. Thanks Aimee!
2
This puzzle was a delight. Well done Ms. Lucido!
Coming on the heels of yesterday's sparkler, that's two masterful puzzles in a row.
7
Great sense of satisfaction after having written the final entry to solve this puzzle. My French wasn’t good enough to recognize celle-la, so Google Assistant came to my rescue. Otherwise no lookups. AKON fell into place, though I have been spared of having to listen to Smack That. EMAIL crossed FEMALES. And PANTS as well as MAXI. Just coincidences?
2
Very enjoyable puzzle!
I didn't sleep soundly last night, so got up at 4 am and tried to tackle the puzzle. It went all right until stalling with a big hole in the NW and almost nothing in the SE. Finally the NW fell but the SE wouldn't budge after almost 10 more minutes, so finally got to sleep again. Never gave it another thought until finishing my morning beverage (chai tea), and suddenly saw Lolita, which led to finishing pronto. (Not knowing that Wynn-Dixie is really Winn-Dixie was part of the problem.) Hadn't known Akon, or make it rain for a money handout. Nice deception — favorite clue was "See the seasons pass quickly?" for binge watch. (Or is that now bingewatch?)
Hope to see more puzzles from this constructor!
Oddly, all the puzzles this week have had a diagonal corridor with no black squares ... except for Sunday, which did have a very small number of them. Anyone else notice this? And was it an accident ... or a coincidence?
3
Today I learned a valuable lesson: Cheaters never prosper.
I was completely bogged down in the NW and going nowhere fast. I decided that one tiny little lookup wouldn't really hurt. My knowledge of the order of books of the Bible is minimal, so that seemed like a good choice. Foolishly, when I went to Mr. Google, I was confused and thought I was looking for the book *before* Galatians. Aha! Corinthians - I promptly entered COR and figured the rest would be child's play. Well, nothing worked, needless to say, and, (as I solve on the iPhone app), I didn't really see the clue again, until out of final desperation I went over the whole corner. D'oh! Back to Google - EPH was entered, and the rest fell promptly (?) into place.
Exit with tail between legs...
8
A fine, smooth Friday morning solve with a wealth of satisfying, long entries. No DEATHTRAPS — or even SNAGs — just a sparkly, nay, OPALescent fill. Thank you, Aimee.
5
SHARKNADO! (Speaking of DEATHTRAPS.) I loved that movie!
You might even call a shark a HEAD HUNTER.
Thank you, Aimee Lucido, for this delightful Friday puzzle. You MADE IT RAIN, not with money, but with fresh words and fun!
2
TIL that EMAIL is a new field on the 1040 form for 2019. Which is a little surprising, as I am a certified Tax Preparer for the AARP Foundation Tax Aide program, and I've already done dozens of returns this year. Our software (TaxSlayer) apparently does not include any mechanism for including this info on the returns that we do.
4
So far the only email query I've encountered was on the Form 1096, Annual Summary and Transmittal of U.S. Information Returns. Have yet to look at p.1 or 2 of 1040.
2
@Don Topaz
TaxSlayer is a product of the IRS itself (or a contractor).
The most “not ready for prime time” software I’ve seen during almost 53 years in the “computer” business (developing, documenting, supporting, selling, using).
Need I say more???
1
Don,
I learned it when I read the 1040 instructions.
Email address. An optional field for your email address has been added to Forms 1040 and 1040-SR.
PeterW,
TaxSlayer is a privately held company.
https://www.taxslayer.com/taxslayer-history?rdr=/mediaroom/companyinfo
OooooKay!
All of my first guesses were wrong, and when they were right, I took them out because the letter combos were non-starters. Then the TOAD came to my rescue, assisted by LOLITA, and this turned out to be a quick solve after all.
I'm still mad because the Wee Bee didn't allow ORMOLU. I'm at Genius + and doubt I'll be back (must ferry the DHubby to PT and so on) ...
Deb: break a leg! (or whatever it is we should say to a speaker)
4
@Mean Old Lady - and I always enjoy the MOUFLON exhibit at the zoo!
1
Totally agree on ORMOLU. As a person whose tastes tend toward Jane Austen and not toward things NOOB, my vocabulary just doesn't align with the Bee's.
3
@Mean Old Lady et alii
My kind of people!! I didn't have much time for the Bee this morning, but ORMOLU and MOUFLON were two words I wrote down in caps with !!!!! to follow.
(I did make time to look them up, so learned some of the metallurgy behind ORMOLU, and sadly found that many of the MOUFLON images deal with hunting them)
... but not all
https://images.app.goo.gl/39wTYhqmrmB8h4mNA
So I'm thinking: What a beautiful, clean puzzle with no pop culture knowledge required...and then I get to the SE. A didn't know the one-named singer, the movie, or the cars (thought they were AMCS). I did know the title of the 1955 book, but not the first line, and since I had NECK, not NACL at 45A, my novel was ?OK?TA -- keeping me from seeing LOLITA. (I had already cheated on the NADO of SHARKNADO, having had SHARK. SHARK GAME? SHARK FAME? SHARK TANK? It's a "cult movie", but evidently I'm not part of the cult.)
I was torn between I AINT GONNA and I'M NOT GONNA and only saw I DON'T WANNA once I'd cheated on SHARKNADO. The expression MAKE IT RAIN for give out cash freely never occurred to me. It's an expression I've seldom heard, if ever.
And finally, I had had SPACE BAR for 20D (Controls of a sort). Well it is a sort of keyboard control. When I corrected to PLACEB??, I was thinking of PLACE ??? as two words. I never once thought of PLACEBOS. Don't much like that clue: it's the patients taking the PLACEBOS who are the "controls".
But despite my DDNF, I enjoyed the puzzle a lot and found it quite engrossing. Especially before I got to the SE corner.
4
@Nancy Count yourself lucky if you've never heard of Sharknado. I was visiting a family member who was watching it, and I promptly removed myself from the room. It is so awful it's hard to imagine why anyone would spend the time and money making it. The only (very thin) silver lining to having heard of the wretched movie was that I understood to meme (Hurricane) "Irma now contains sharks." https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hurricane-now-contains-sharks/ I can't believe they had to debunk this on Snopes. Did some people really not understand that this was a joke? Even if you're fortunate enough to be unfamiliar with SHARKNADO, it seems pretty clearly a spoof.
Aimee Lucido also has today's New Yorker puzzle. You can decide which publication got the better puzzle:
https://www.newyorker.com/crossword/puzzles-dept/2020/02/28
7
@Steve L
Both very enjoyable puzzles. I did the New Yorker one 1:49 faster. They do share an (obvious) answer.
"They do share an (obvious) answer."
[Clutches pearls.]
2
@Steve L
I won't allow me to print it....sob!
1
I had NAIL in the puzzle for the longest time and couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t completing the puzzle. Then I realized SIENT wasn’t a word and my brain fog finally ended.
6
@Shawn I had to fight the urge to stick NAiL in there, as well, and it was my last trouble spot before solving. I had halfway convinced myself that SiENT was some synonym for pine that I'd never heard of...
1
My experience exactly.
@Shawn - me three.
Had to learn Morse Code in Boy Scouts and then to be a College DJ. SOS was always code never a sign, mumbled Tom morosely.
Favorite I am an Idiot moment was poking my nose into a business, College Escape Rooms, and asking: Why college escape rooms, is crime high on the campus? Receptionist looks at me with undisguised pity and responds: Sir, we are located across from the college, in the college area or the college part of town, ergo we named our business..... I thought Acme could help here with naming and for me, there was no hope.
Placebox for PLACEBOS proved to be an interesting challenge, otherwise a smooth solve.
TGIF as I ponder licking OREOS with LOLITA while twirling my pretend mustache.... evilly of course.
4
@dk
I put an X in there, too, before having to take it back out.
2
"SOS was always code never a sign..."
dk,
Think of SOS stamped in footprints in the snow or sand to attract passing aircraft...
(also 3rd class with broadcast endorsement)
1
At first glance, nada. The evil puzzle was a death trap and there was no escape room. “Oh, stop,” I thought. “I don’t wanna go on!” But then, ever so slowly and persistently, nothing earth shattering you understand, the light came on, the sun came out, the rain went away and my sixth sense kicked in! Oh, oh, I see! There’s an art to this puzzle after all. And so, I drove past all the potholes and proved that I could finish. Thank you, Aimee and Will.
5
Great puzzle! It made me think of "Rockin' around the Pole" from the Mean Girls musical*. It's sung instead of "Jingle Bell Rock". It has this line: "Santa shouts, 'Hey, Mrs. Clause! You rock the pole, and I'll make it rain, dear!" (reindeer)
*I'm not sure if it's actually in the musical as it's not on the album on Spotify. It seems to be a separate single.
3
Aimee and I will be friends, I see. Bufo bufo was fun because I recalled all the zoo visits with my kids. I put “Chris” for 43D and stubbornly held on because I was sure that’s what Aimee meant.
AKON crossing with MAKINGITRAIN was kind of funny because he’s been known to provide a fair amount of “dollar showers.”
It’s always chuckle-worthy for us that our pets walk around naked. If we put one of those doggy or kitty shirts on one of them, we say they’re POOHing!
Loved this Friday puzzle. Thanks, Aimee.
3
After reading the previous comments, I'm not surprised I did this well on a Friday. Only had to look up a couple of thins, bufo bufo and Akon to get really started and then finished. Really enjoyed this but can someone explain "I see" for "Gotcha"?
@Anne Schultz "so in order to solve this problem, you need to do this this and this..." / "Gotcha/ISEE"
@Anne Schultz Gotcha = "I get what you are saying". I see = "I see what you are saying".
Voici mon secret, dit le Renard: On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.
Here's my secret, said the fox: you can't see well except with your heart. The important things are invisible to the eye.
My favorite chapter! XXI.
4
Very nice puzzle and a good, long and challenging workout for me. Multiple nice 'aha' moments as I worked the crosses and considered possibilities and then had something finally dawn on me.
In the end I had 4 look-ups and one failed check early on (which was probably unnecessary in retrospect). So, I won't count it as a successful solve, but still had an enjoyable time.
3
This might be TMI, but I chuckled as I filled in PANTS. My husband prefers to sleep in the nude. On cold nights he reluctantly puts on a shirt to keep the un-blanketed part of his body warm, and much to his chagrin I call him Winnie-the-Pooh :-)
18
@Alyssa, I learned in this entertaining interview
https://apple.news/ACVBk4SjNTb-qgR3qmZwbAA
that Scrooge MacDuck also wears no pants. That could give you another nickname choice!
2
@Alyssa
Porky Pig. Squidward. Donald Duck. Huey, Louie and Dewey. Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble (although their tunics cover enough). Yogi Bear (collar and tie only, no shirt). Chip and Dale. Darkwing Duck. The White Rabbit. Top Cat. Plus a slew of characters you'd only recognize if you are, or have, a kid age 8 or under.
Lots of cartoon characters don't wear pants. You have a load of potential names to call him.
3
@Alyssa Here's a question: Why do many cartoon characters who don't wear pants, or clothes, wear bathing suits at the beach?
Tom and Jerry
Bugsy Bunny
Daffy Duck
Etc.
Etc.
2
Like a good cup of coffee, this puzzle was warm, smooth, interesting, with no bitter aftertaste. If there was a tip jar for our constructor, I'd be putting some serious change in it this morning.
13
LOLITA was about a raped child. This entry ruined the puzzle.
7
@Marjorie
You DO know that Lolita was fiction, right?
2
@Marjorie
Great works of fiction rarely deal with palatable subjects. Their greatness frequently lies in their deft, novel treatment of the darker parts of the human psyche. Have you read “Lolita?” Nabokov’s nuanced artistry offers so much more than your two-word summary gives it credit for. And at any rate, I’d say there’s more objectionable material in an average Netflix movie these days than in this timeless classic.
9
@Marjorie While it didn't ruin the puzzle for me (nothing ever has, nor will), I believe you know LOLITA was fiction and get that you would rather avoid it. People have railed on this forum for things far less objectionable.
2
I chuckled to myself when the last clue to fall was my correction of SOTS (so obviously correct), to SEAS.
6
Winnie the Pooh also lacks honey most of the time. I was so satisfied to fill that and so devastated for it to be incorrect.
I'm assuming NACL is a chemical? NaCl? Not a fan of these entries honestly. It just seems so inelegant compared to the impressive long fills. Seeing the clever 10 letter entries fall into place is an amazing feeling. Getting hung up on three and four letter acronyms/abbreviations that look as much like nonsense on paper as I regard them in crossword grids not so much.
That's just me though. I really enjoyed it otherwise.
1
Andrew,
Sorry you didn't know NaCl.
(I don't want to rub salt in your wounds.)
16
My first guess on what Winnie lacked was GUILE.
5
@Lewis
Mine was Waist.
7
Fun and challenging puzzle. Lots of answers that made me smile (but not SNEER). The top left was blank for a while as I worked my way around clockwise from the upper right. But got there, finally. LOVE to see more such CLEAR puzzles from this author.
1
Ahh. This puzzle had everything:
* Freshness. Four of my favorite answers were NYT debuts (BINGE WATCH, COPARENTS, DEATH TRAPS, MAKE IT RAIN).
* Paucity of ugly answers, that is, a LJQ (Low Junk Quotient ©).
* Pockets of toughness (the glorious rub).
* Clever clues (SOS, NCAA, ESCAPE ROOM, SEAS).
* Mini theme of animals (ROO, SHARK, FOALS, TOAD).
What a joy! Aimee, regarding puzzles in the future, please, please, MAKE IT RAIN!
12
Note to Caitlin: Credit for that terrific BINGE WATCH clue pun should go to Tom McCoy, who clued BINGE on 9/29/19, "Quickly go through the seasons, say".
2
Borrowing heavily from that other blog (it was embedded in the write-up), here's H.E.R. with "MAKE IT RAIN":
https://youtu.be/ybGX43zYVAM
The reason for this inclusion, other than the obvious title, is to point out to those from the other day's discussion who have no use for current popular music that there's some really great talent out there.
Gabriella Wilson (H.E.R.) can sing rings around Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell (yup, that's her real name). And which one, of course, got all the Grammys (c.f. my rant of that day)?
6
@Steve L
Now I get @Johanna’s comment the other day. Thanks! And @Johanna was right. H.E.R. is great.
3
@Steve L Thanks for the link. I'm a Billie Eilish fan but think that H.E.R. is great, too. I don't know how you compare the two, and I'm not big on having "winners". I'd rather have the top 3 in a category perform so I can be aware of them.
3
@Steve L. Thanks for posting! Man, she can sing. Plus play a mean guitar. Piano, too. I imagine that's not all. Super talented!
2
Excellent Friday, Aimee! Glad you went themeless. There were a few delightfully doomy entries which seem to fit the general mood although of course this puzzle was constructed before the recent headlines. And of course for every DEATHTRAP there is a HEALER (just depends on which I choose to focus on) (DEATHTRAP).
3
having become an addicted bingewatcher, i enjoyed this one from square one. but i’m really chuffed at having finished the new acrostic in 18:55. i know that if i could do that, the champs’ll crush it...but still. 😎
2
@Laurence of Bessarabia Congrats! I'm an acrostic lover but have never done one that fast.
@LoB/A,
I cannot believe how big those boys are now!!
@Leapfinger
yes, they are 8 1/2 and 5 11/12ths. way past time to put myself through the torture of updating my avatar (izzat what it’s called?).
Good luck to Deb and congratulations! I’m always grateful to get a little help here when I need it from time to time. Sometimes you’re in a bind .
2
SPELLING BEE GRID
M F L N O R U
WORDS: 22, POINTS: 80, PANGRAMS: 1
First character frequency:
F x 3
L x 1
M x 13
N x 1
R x 3
U x 1
Word length frequency:
4L: 12
5L: 4
6L: 3
7L: 1
8L: 2
Grid:
4 5 6 7 8 TOT
F: 2 1 - - - 3
L: 1 - - - - 1
M: 7 2 2 - 2 13
N: 1 - - - - 1
R: 1 1 - 1 - 3
U: - - 1 - - 1
TOT:12 4 3 1 2 22
Two letter list:
FO-2 FR-1
LO-1
MO-9 MU-4
NO-1
RO-2 RU-1
UN-1
59
@Doug
Glorious morning/evening to you. Thanks for the grid and list! Fought temptation to peek at Kevin’s hints till the very end, which was an MU6 I tend to forget and which came to me just before I went searching for Kevin’s post.
3
@Doug Thx for the grid and list; they got me to a very accessible QB. Nothing obscure here.
2
@Doug thank you for grid/list and thank you @Kevin Davis.
Was missing 3 words. Felt like a/an M5 when I finally got the M5 that isn’t about grieving.
7
SPELLING BEE
22 words, 80 points, 1 pangram.
2
@Kevin - I kept fighting for a shorter spelling for one of the M6 entries.
5
Only 1 UN- word.
Hints:
Mobster girlfriend
One-channel sound, or kissing disease
Car ceiling tinted window, compound
Tie a boat to a pier or anchor
Poetic “ere noon”
Grieve for a loss, noun & adj. pangram
Scarf for your hands, or handle badly
Ponder, or warm spiced wine or cider
Garbled distant sound, or abnormal heart sound
Loose bright Hawaiian dress
Chamber, & chamber at capacity
Release the ropes for a boat
35
@Doug The M6 dress is another foreign word with more than 1 English spelling. Words I tried that weren't accepted were the Yiddish "frum" & the subatomic particle "muon."
7
Really fun clues in this one! Almost got myself tripped up with high TEAS instead of SEAS, but was able to right the ship and end up with a zippy time for a Friday.
3
Give out plumbing advice freely: MAKE IT DRAIN
(I'd better pipe down.)
18
Being a COPARENT, 9D was my entrance and things just fell into place from there. Tons of fun and 12 minutes under my Friday average. If you're scoring at home, or even if you're by yourself, the PR streak has hit the half-century mark, and by this time next week I hope to be celebrating eclipsing Di Maggio's record.
2
@NickS
I was wondering, aren't a still-married couple with a child just as much CO-PARENTS as a divorced couple with a child?
5
Steve,
In theory, presumably so, but as defined herein, apparently not:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/co-parent
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/co-parent
2
@Barry Ancona
I guess that it's like when people say "New York State" (e.g. "I live in New York State") to mean not in New York City, even though we all know that NYC is in NYS.
If you're talking about John being CO-PARENTS with Mary, they're probably not married anymore (or perhaps never were). If they were still married to each other, we'd just be calling them PARENTS.
1
Very satisfying puzzle, though it took me a while at the end to realize it wasn't LEo, oGoD no, but LEE, EGADs. You're not the BOSSA me!
7
I am a newcomer to this page and had no idea that so many answers to clues would be here. Where's the challenge in that? For decades I have relied on the Friday puzzle to be a brain cruncher and it takes the joy away when the answers are so readily available. Yes, yes. I know I don't have to open this page if I don't want to, but I had finished the puzzle and wanted to spend a little more time with it.
@dutchiris
Welcome!
3
@dutchiris
I think the assumption is that participation in the forum is contingent upon finishing the puzzle, giving up, or looking for help. You've answered your own question; you certainly shouldn't join in until you're ready (having met one of the above criteria).
How else would you be able to say anything meaningful about the puzzle without talking about the clues and their answers?
9
@dutchiris - (Iris, my favorite flower)
The generally agreed on convention is that, as Steve L says, people come here after a full solve (esp. to get help understanding why it worked, or how the theme worked, etc.), or after they've reached an impasse and want to get a little help (esp. by reading the main column where those trickiest clues are addressed), or after they've thrown in the towel or thrown away a puzzle they don't like. So the commenters are free to use the words and clues.
That said - an equally important convention is to try not to provide spoilers for any other puzzles - the Acrostics, the Variety puzzles, the Spelling Bee work on a different set of rules for each.
The Mini puzzle is in limbo - last week it floated to the surface that some folks would like to treat the Mini also as off-limits for spoilers and others were treating it just like the main puzzle.
6
17 minute solve :O really fun. Loved the oreo cluing and the note that cow is the feminine (most of us in the Western states don't seem to know that)
1
I've had some spare time lately (fear of nCov has kept most people inside and curtailed commercial activity), so I've tried my hand at constructing. The biggest challenge seems to be filling and cluing satisfying long non-theme answers. I can't help but Marie Kondo such answers while doing puzzles now, and let me tell you - - just about every one of the 10 letter answers in this puzzle sparked joy.
18
Automatically entered SOTS for sometimes high but never dry. Must admit the correct answer is a better fit. Kudos to the constructor!
12
@Guy Quay
I had TEAS before SEAS.
6
But SOTS is a great answer!
1
@Guy Quay
Yes, my first thought as well. Sometimes we can be too clever by half;-)
and Elke
14A reminds me of Schrodinger's Cat that is thinking inside the box: " I DON'T WANNA go out in case "they" can MAKE IT RAIN and I'll have a WETNAP...."
Theme has TUT close to that LOOTED pyramid.
Won't complain about the SNAG of NACL for NaCl-
Amitai how are you?
Good Night all.
4
Definitely clean and enjoyable. Agree with Caitlyn, I love the way clues and answers seemed to reverberate around the puzzle. Like a call and response. Nice way to start Friday. Thanks for this work.
3
6-A in the Mini is a brilliant clue.
2
@alex -- YES! I loved that clue!
I only had 1 error after I was done. I wasn’t sure if the word in the northeast corner was eso or ese, but elist & olist didn’t make sense. It’s been a while since I studied Spanish.
1
@Kevin Davis
Getting this one depended on your knowledge of both French and Spanish.The form "Celle-là" is feminine, and the "là" part (note the accent mark) indicates not femininity, but rather distance ("that", not "this".)
So ESA rather than ESO or ESE, and definitely not ESTO, ESTE or ESTA.
3
Steve,
For me, getting that one depended on my knowledge that stars would be on an A list.
(Quien sabe, oui?)
4
@Barry Ancona
Well, that, too.
1
Ro Co Co
Here we go
Gal EPH Phi
Eat some pie
Col Thes Thes
What a Mess
Tim Tim Ti
Eat more pie
Phil Heb James
Know these names
Pete Pete John
Let’s go on
John John Jude
What a dude
I learned a lot of things in Catholic school, mostly about mean girls and cliques and income inequality, and I’ve tried to block out most of that. But I’ll never, ever forget the books of the New Testament, thanks to this fun chant from JoAnn Crinieri’s seventh grade class.
25
@Jenna G. - What a Revelation!
10
@Jenna G. That's great! Thank you. Anyone else have any of these (what are they called?)? The only one I remember is for Linnaeus classification. Kings Play Cards On Fiber Glass Stools.
2
Anne,
PEWSAGL
(Seven deadly sins)
2
I'm always so thrilled to see long stacks. It's amazing construction! I know there was no theme, but DEATHTRAP, ESCAPEROOM, EVIL, and HEADHUNTERS felt like a mini theme to me. I loved this puzzle!
:-)
13
As someone who was born in October, it's great to see OPALS in two consecutive puzzles.
Even better when the solve is much much faster than my Friday average!!!
3
Dear god on heaven, is this what Edie Gorme was known for?! I blame it on Caitlin. https://youtu.be/PaRlW-jz1QQ
1
@K Barrett
It's BETTER in Spanish
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxkDvfYfDgg
3
Finally! Other than the one with Francis Albert Sinatra, there might be something for the Spotify playlist here: https://www.npr.org/2008/06/02/91087907/the-birth-of-bossa-nova
@RAH Ack! My ears! LOL! She used to show up on the variety shows when I was a kid and I never knew why. Same with Steve Lawrence. SMH. I guess you had to be there.....
2
TIL “Bufo” is Latin for toad :-)
4
Nice one!
I'm definitely on the same wavelength of the constructor, cause I think I am able to solve her puzzles faster than others.
I don't think the stats actually tell you how many solves for a certain day one has. For me, f Friday, that number is most likely under 5.
But today, gold star. Thanks Aimee!
1Across was a great clue. Was totally thinking about nature'y seasons. I think I got her wordplay right away on almost every other clue.
I'm no expert (at I won't admit it publicly), but I believe ALL of the "rain money" is intended for the person dancing on the stage. Not for bystanders who aren't shakin' their moneymakers.
6
@Newbie
In several professional occupations a "rainmaker" is one who brings a lot of new business and money into the firm.
Just FYI - (Dame but not then) June Whitfield in the pic was the mother/grandma in Absolutely Fabulous and she was superb. Good comedians are good actors and she was one of the best. She died in 2018: much missed.
Eddie (Jennifer Saunders): "Inside me there's a thin woman screaming to get out."
Mother (June Whitfield): "Just the one, dear?"
22
@Andrew Loved her too!
1
@Andrew Even though I could hear it perfectly in my mind's ear, I still had to hunt down the clip to hear it again. She was a gem. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JT1LDByklQ
1
30d. I admit to being in the Sharknado cult. It was a hoot.
4
Maybe some day I'll have UTEP at the TIP of my tongue when it comes up again, as it surely will, and not have to rediscover it yet again from the crosses....
1
It was almost half my average for Friday. I'm one of those people that never manages to fill out the long entries until there are crossings. All 17 of those longer entries had to wait for the shorter crossings. But my, how I loved all of those long ones.
Gimmes - EVIL, NADA, BMWS (I know, right?), A-LIST, EMIT, WINN, SNAG, MIC. Had NAVEL but then changed my mind immediately to PANTS. The C in NACL (I had thought NAIL) was the last square to be correctly filled in. BINGE WATCH, I DON'T WANNA were the toeholds in their respective areas.
Liked the clues for NCAA and SOS.
3
@Wen NAIL to NACL was also my last square to be filled in correctly.
I’m not surprised that this was a fast one for others. I’m a relatively new solver and this was my first themeless puzzle without Googling or looking anything up! Made my day :)
2
Eph can't be easily clued except as the abbreviation for the Epistle to the Ephesians - and just about the easiest way to clue it is as "the one after Galatians" - but still, I suspect most got the "eph" from the crossings.
I use the mnemonic "Galephilcol" to remember the shorter Epistles after Romans and 1/2 Corinthians.
Galatians - Ephesians - Philippians - Colossians.
___
"Deathtrap" I remember vividly, from seeing it at the movies 38 years ago (wow) - Christopher Reeve hit the spot for me then, much more than when he was Supermanning it up.
6
@David Connell
I've never needed to know the names of the epistles in any order whatsoever so did not need a mnemonic for them, but I do admire yours.
3
@David Connell
Now I just have to find a way to remember your mnemonic and I will be all set!
Thanks for sharing your trick. I definitely needed crossings & guessing.
3
@Ann
Since David is such a sports/junk food fan, I’m guessing that he uses: GALE Sayers. PHIL Jackson. COL Sanders.
4
Over too fast, but a very nice puzzle. I more-or-less finished in the first pass and got a bit held up in the southeast corner.
1
As AudreyLM, Gretchen, Chief Quahog and others will know: the *real* driving hazards, this time of year, are not POTHOLES, but Frost Heaves. That would be fun to see in a puzzle sometime...
7
@Margaret You should see the 9 miles of road I have to travel to get in and out of my place. I'm at the end of a nine-mile road with no other way out, except for one road that takes you several miles in the wrong direction to get anywhere. About 4 miles of the paved part is heaves and holes. I broke a spring three years back, and it's worse this year.
We carry chain saws in our trunks to clear fallen trees that block the road.The last three miles are private and unpaved.
Even worse than the frost heaves was the 1 mile of road that the people along that part decided to "pave" with reclaimed asphalt. It was great through most of the first winter, and then, when the thaws came... I think I preferred the mud.
3
@Chief Quahog - Mud knows its limitations! I hope you're doing okay after these past two days of windy mcWind face. We had so many trees down here, it was - not a joke.
@Chief Quahog
Have you considered moving? After all, Planet Earth can be a pretty nasty place...
Second day in a row where I finished and thought, “This must be the POW!” Second day in a row I’ve been wrong. Which means Saturday or Sunday’s puzzle must be a true SHARKNADO! I mean, really EARTH SHATTERING (in a good way if there is such a thing)! Because yesterday was special. And, this one MAdE IT RAIN. It even had a clever clue for our long-lost friend, OREO. The stacks made me smile. HEAD HUNTER, EVANGELIST, MAKE IT RAIN, BINGE WATCH . . . Nice!
6
One of the bonuses of Wordplay/Xwords is that I check out music I might not otherwise. Here’s AKON’s “Lonely,” featuring sped up samples of Bobby Vinton’s “Mr. Lonely.” Vinton was given songwriting credit. It was AKON’s first big hit. A sweet video too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EEW-9NDM5k
5
For some reason, when I saw the moustache twirling clue, I not only thought of evil, but also I also thought to myself, "I'll bet she uses that for the illustration"
6
EGAD that was a fun one! Those three word stacks in the NW and SE looked like DEATHTRAPS, but if you listen to your SIXTHSENSE you might just MAKEITRAIN. Not quite an EARTHSHATTERING fill but a fun puzzle!
9
I DON'T WANNA be the first to comment, but I waited a little too long. This seemed more like a Wednesday to me as it went fast with little difficulty. Are some pyramids FOOTED? Well, that's what I had until LOLITA came along.
5
@Kiki Rijkstra
Hand (foot?) up here!
2
went quickly -- in my wheelhouse, I guess! I love my new Smart TV for BINGE WATCHING my operas!
2
A record time for me! 11:45!
14
A record time for me, too. I made a few calculated guesses on my first pass, and they all paid off. 
1
Record for me, three! ;)
13:11. I’ll take it!
2