Wow I don't see the big deal. First time that I can remember in years that I finished a Thursday in less than 30 minutes. EZ
I knew when I read Deb's comment about the NRA that all the gun nuts would be totally triggered.
I was not wrong about that!
6
@Chief Quahog And you've been triggered by their being triggered.
See how easy that is?
2
@Jake Nah, just looking in upon their predictable hypocrisy with a big grin on my face.
1
@Chief Quahog One person's "predictable hypocrisy" is another's "righteous indignation". Cut's both ways. I like talking mostly to people who get that.
1
Quoting Deb Amlen:
"19A. I’m told that the N.R.A. is going to be in The New York Times Crossword once in a while because it’s a thing and the editors feel that crosswords should reflect real life. Flippant, wordplay clues about it, however, are not appropriate. I asked the editors about it, and the consensus was that going forward, that sort of thing will not happen again."
I'm prepared to get flamed for what I'll now say:
You sound snowflake-y and microaggressed by the clue,
and its solve.
While I am as unhappy with what the NRA now promulgates under the cover of the Second Amendment as I am with what the Christian Right espouses in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, it's really no solution to declare that you have huddled with editors and "going forward, this sort of thing will not happen again".
What sort of thing will not happen again?
The phrase 'stick to their guns' was used in the clue.
It's appropriate. What did it want, to be righted?
The verb 'cling' for 'stick'?
The adverb 'unreasonably' tacked on?
I didn't find the clue 'flippant'
and 'flippant' doesn't want a comma after it.
92
@jnathanj I sure hope no one in a school shooting site does crosswords. They'd be so "microaggressed."
11
So if I'm reading this correctly, "In deep with Russia to get the *president elected" would not be an acceptable clue for NRA?
11
“Solve” is a verb, not a noun.
3
I will (politely) opine that you should avoid rules that allow something in the puzzle but limit the way in which they can be clued. If NRA can appear but cannot be a fun-solve then it will affect the quality of the puzzle. For instance if it must be used on a Saturday and it can't be a certain kind of tricky then you may end up with a milquetoast easy clue. If we must ban words because they offend (and we must) then let us make it a bright line. Especially for a three-letter as useful for fills as this one. In or out.
6
56A stipulates hint to 11 answers. You and I only found 9.Where are the other 2? 16A (AM I late) and 51A (AMelia)?
1A (MA)DE FACES
8A WEB(MA)STER
40A (MA)STIFFS
41A (MA)LADIES
70A (MA)LINGERS
71A (MA)INROADS
1D (MA)DONNA
12D TA(MA)LE
32D (RE(MA)IN
36D (MA)LICE
58D LAW(MA)N
5
I got like three fourths of the way through, found the trick to it, then got stuck again, I assumed it was like the Wednesday one where you had to leave one letter in cause I couldn't figure out whether or not I was supposed to use the rebus tool. I figured out the revealer, NOMAS, and so eventually I got MASTIFF or I guess just STIFF in this case, so I questioned my previous solve of SAC connecting to it since the rebus wouldn't work. Still kind of lost as to how to approach these sorts of puzzles where there's a rebus element to one direction but not the other, so I guess today's will just have to be a partial solve and a learning experience.
1
Kudos to the constructor. Cue the complainers. :)
4
First chance to come to WordPlay (7:30 p.m. CST) and there are 377 Comments, which means I am Not Alone. BASTA! was really the only sensible response (to no avail.)
This was a brain-twister, because the entries really did NOT satisfy the clues in a consistent way, IMHO. As I commented to the DHubby, "I got the puzzle, but I really don't get it." And then we left for his 8:30 a.m. ortho appt. I haven't sat down since... now.
I 'm so tired ("Blazing Saddles"_)
Here a MA, there a MA, everywhere a MAMA. (BoPeep and Old MacDonald)
Bah (Black Sheep and Mr. Scrooge)
Farmer in the Del)
Too clever by half (or more.)
2
I never thought there would be puzzles that made me long for a rebus. And a stiff drink. It seems to me that there have been a lot of these lately -- like the one that dropped off the across line and continued onto the down line. Maybe, just maybe, we could have a puzzle where all the words are spelled, you now, just like real words. Also, Deb, sorry about the lice.
3
Clever puzzle - however I strongly disagree with the translation of “No más” as “Enough”. In spite of my Anglo name, I am fully bilingual (was born and grew up in Caracas). The English is “No more”. “Enough” is “basta” or “suficiente” or something like that. I never would have figured this out from the revealing clue (though maybe I should have from the rest of them!). Back to square 1 on my streak - which is ok.
1
@Alec McLure
But the clue was "Enough!" - with the bang at the end. It's not simply a word meaning "a sufficient quantity," it's a (somewhat idiomatic, I guess) demand for an end to something causing frustration, annoyance, or discomfort.
1
Two thumbs very much up, despite the fact that I completely failed to catch the MA hint. Perhaps it's because I was trying so hard to fit basta into that slot that when I finally entered NO MAS I just saw the Spanish word instead of the letters. Kudos, Ms. Burnikel for a very challenging experience.
3
@Keta Hodgson
I had basta too, which also worked with ESa crossing it at 61A.
1
The idea of using a rebus (in general, not today) is poor in my opinion. One box, one letter. But then to have a puzzle on a day in which there is often a rebus, and have a rebus seem appropriate in the very first box, but this time decide you don’t use a rebus even though there are still letters missing (even when those letters are superfluous in the other direction, sometimes but not always), just makes this not really a crossword puzzle. It’s some other kind of puzzle game.
8
@Mr. Mark - the puzzle is a puzzle? Horreurs!
5
That clue for NRA was great. I couldn't see anything inappropriate about it.
I'm certain an NRA member would chuckle at it
14
This puzzle took me around 15 minutes but the timer says more than 16 hours. I promise that’s not true. How can I get it fixed?
I did a brief search and can't find this comment already posted, either by me (last night) or someone today. But I enjoyed not only the NO MA's, but several hidden MA's ) they were reversed:
AMilate
AMelia
pangrAM
dAMn
4
For the second day in a row I completed the puzzle but no “congratulations” pop-up. So I thought i was missing something.Spent over an hour reviewing and then hit the reveal button and THEN the congrats popped up. Anyone else have that problem lately?
@Cap’n Crunch I have had that happen in the past, but not today. I dealt with it the same as you, just figured it was a computer glitch.
Anyone else have BASTA as the revealer (which obviously sunk me for the longest time)?
2
@Bob yes a lot of us that know real Spanish had basta.
1
Yes... and I don’t agree at all with “no más” as an accurate translation (I grew up bilingual and have done a fair amount of translation - the clue is off)
@Alec McLure
Exactly! "Uncle" wd work for "NO MAS"....better, anyway.
A very enjoyable puzzle. No mas? MAS!
I noticed the MA omission early on, and not making any sense of how to fill it, ignored it. What a surprise to get the happy music on my last fill! I'm probably missing something, maybe a third dimension explanation?
@Name
56D, duh. Here I was hoping for something more magical than the reality I clearly saw.
That was challenging but really fun. My brain just resisted the theme this time. Still faster than my average, but just by seconds. Some really sticky ones:
I just couldn’t get the image of a dancer blowing a bloody bugle from my mind; never considered a reindeer!
I (wrongly) has the S from PSAT in the second space of 7D, so the final few letters of 15A were ADS. What kind of ads precede hockey games? Silly.
The streak continues.
Tl;dr: I liked the puzzle, I like Deb, and I like hearing what she has to say.
Do I personally agree with her actual sentiments? Well, there’s a long, complicated answer to that, but 1,500 characters and two thumbs isn’t gonna get us there.
But I will say, if you’re into learning about common sense reform that isn’t anti-gun owner, stop by your local chapter of Moms Demand Action. You might be surprised by what you don’t know (I was, on many levels).
6
This puzzle had me on cloud nine - the focus of some of the comments, not so much.
So, let me just note that NO MAS grows on a Rolling Stone and add this message:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmFvK4WjeiE
..
1
Rich,
Well said ... and well linked.
I think I figured out the non-posting: maybe it will show up later. But I pointed out 4 words that had MA hidden by including it reversed:
AMilate
AMelia
pangrAM
and . . . (try it this way) 60D.
2
@Robert Michael Panoff
Yuppah, that did it! Enjoy!
1
Oh, I didn’t even notice! Good catch!
And yeah, I used 60d the other day and my comment, as far as I know, is still hanging in space over Lake Michigan.
1
28D immediately brought to my mind the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance, a traditional English folk dance from the Middle Ages.
3
@Den
Me too! (Also ECD’er).
What does OTB mean?
@Dodi Off Track Betting
3
@AudreyLM and @Dodi I only knew the answer to that because there was a House episode where he picks up a patient (Cynthia Nixon) at an OTB place.
1
Great puzzle! I'm especially enjoying this "Women's Week", because it seems to me we are getting some refreshing new ideas and new takes on familiar words.
Since I never open the blog before I have completed the puzzle, I was flailing for a bit because I couldn't quite figure out what was going on. Finally Wyatt Earp convinced me that I had to go back and delete all those rebuses. Nice one.
3
Great puzzle! I'm especially enjoying this "Women's Week", because it seems to me we are getting some refreshing new ideas and new takes on familiar words.
Since I never open the blog before I have completed the puzzle, I was flailing for a bit because I couldn't quite figure out what was going on. Finally Wyatt Earp convinced me that I had to go back and delete all those rebuses. Nice one.
The "tl;dr" Deb refers to sounds like a good idea to me, even though I never come to Wordplay until after I have finished the puzzle.
I was tempted to take that route with the comments today -- 273 when I finished the puzzle and columns, probably a bunch more now. But I did read them all (except the spelling bee threads). Judging from the amount of repetition in the comments, not many posters read them all.
I (almost) always start at 1A, so I fell into the rebus trap. When I got to 8A, that started causing trouble, and at 40A I figured out that there was no rebus, just missing MAs. Took the revealer for me to get the theme in its entirety. (As much as I avoid anything about boxing, even I had heard of that term and that use. And a lot of offensive sneering at the man who uttered it.
Didn't know SELINA, had forgotten AMELIA.
Spent a long time trying to figure out where to put MA into DRAW to make it make sense, since I'd never heard that usage. Spent an even longer time trying to fit that same MA into ALDI, trying to make it into a supermarket I'd heard of. Post-solve Google and some of the comments told me about it. In NYC we are no longer getting plastic bags, which I think is a good thing. But a deposit on the shopping carts? Really? Why? If ALDI has a problem with people stealing the things, wouldn't a larger deposit be a better deterrent?
Nice to have a women constructors' week. Why not the whole month?
3
The deposit is not to deter theft, it’s to get customers to return carts, thereby saving Aldi labor costs to pass onto its customers.
2
cart pusher,
As in return them from the far reaches of the parking lot to the front of the store? Please forgive us city folk, who are not well versed in these matters.
2
I’d love to have carts with refundable deposits in Texas so that when I arrive at the grocery store I don’t have to spend 10 minutes looking for a spot where my car is least likely to get hit by one of the dozens of abandoned carts littering the parking lot. I’ve seen these in Europe: shoppers don’t have to push their cart all the way back to the store when they’re done — just to a cart return station. For some reason that’s an unreasonable expectation in my fair state. I get that some folks may not want to leave their babies and/or frozen peas while they traverse the vast territory that separates a Texas grocery store from the back of its parking lot in 110-degree heat, but would it kill ya to mosey over to the cart return 10 feet away?
Whoever adds the deposit requirement as a legislative rider on, well, anything has got my vote in November.
Oh yeah, and get off my lawn, y’all. [walks away muttering to self]
5
Wow!!! That was dastardly—and genius!
As someone into the second half of my first year of full-time daily solving, I want to encourage those just getting started to prepare to love Thursdays. Do some mental calisthenics, crack your knuckles, and go into the solve like you’re prepared for battle (with nerf toys, of course). Just know that there will likely be a twist; that way you won’t get discouraged when an answer that you know is correct will not fit. When that happens, you know you’re just starting to crack the code!
10
Love the article. You always catch things I miss, like the Schrodinger's Cat bouncing letters spelled "MEOW" last week. However, it's an absolute joke that the editors will not have creative clues regarding the NRA or guns. I don't own a gun. I am for stronger gun laws. But being offended by that clue is exactly what is wrong with this country right now.
10
@Kevin
I pretty much agree with what you said, but, dude, THAT'S what's wrong with this country now?
6
Better to ask "Who is what's wrong with this country now?". No reason to hide the question. Most of us know.
4
I got the hint to the theme, but initially took it to mean that MAS was to be omitted. That threw me for quite a while.
1
I really enjoyed this one. It took me a while to get the hang of Thursdays—I never figured them out in a decade of desultory solving (I mainly subscribe for the Acrostics), until I discovered Wordplay and learned there was always a "trick" and it could be just about anything. Now they're my favorite day of the week, and I'm always happy to see a variation on the more common Thursday shenanigans.
I thought the theme and its execution were beautiful for the theme week: On the surface, everything appears normal...but there's a subtle wrongness. Without all the "Ma"s, nothing quite makes sense. As a mother and a daughter, and a granddaughter who has lost both grandmothers, that really resonated for me. YMMV, of course.
Having said all that, I certainly understand if folks who are not fully clued in about Thursdays don't love this one. Without the "inside scoop", doing a Thursday puzzle can feel like playing a game where someone has changed the rules without telling you. I've heard it compared to a rookie moving up to the majors in baseball, but I think it's more like showing up to play football and discovering that they meant *American* football—when you've never seen a game of American football before. What do you mean, you can pick up the ball? Why isn't it round? AAAAH! Someone just jumped on me!!! Etc. Bewildering and not much fun, no matter how good a sport you are.
15
Ugh ... brilliant puzzle but I spent twenty minutes disbelieving REIN / AREA / WAS.
Is there a “MA” somewhere in there?
Cheers!
1
@Michael
There is and it's in the middle of REIN.
9
My first thought was that the puzzle would have no MAS, meaning the three letters would be omitted, but i was confused as to why the S was left in WEBSTER. It took me a bit to “aha!”, but eventually realized that the puzzle would have no MAs. Well done. Loved the puzzle.
1
The online printout of puzzle says there are eleven "MA" answers - I found only 10, as does the Wordplay column today. What is missing?
DrMike,
1, 8, 40, 41, 70, 71 Across; 1, 12, 32 ,36, 58 Down.
3
Can someone help me out with the 70-across ma? I just don't see it
MAlingers
I look forward to the NYTXword every day, and I look forward to Deb's column every day, too. I'm old enough to remember when we didn't have her column, when we didn't have a place for puzzlers to connect so easily. For these reasons, I say "Preach on, Sister!" Deb has more than earned the right to say what she wants.
PS: this was a whopper-difficult Wednesday puzzle. Loved it!
12
@archaeoprof
There's actually a reason for the difficulty: it's a Thursday.
5
@archaeoprof
tee hee, professor
I know a lot of NRA members, but I’m not one. I never will be. I don’t own a gun. I don’t have any interest in having one. I’ve never lost anyone in a shooting, mass or otherwise. I can only offer sympathy to anyone who has — I hope I never acquire real understanding of what that’s like. I’ll move on.
The Times published an excellent story this week in which reporters and editors talk about how and why they maintain their objectivity (https://nyti.ms/2wvaSjl). Objectivity is important to the Times and to the many, many other excellent reporters and editors working elsewhere. Elizabeth Dias’ comment was outstanding: “[Objectivity] is about trust. I think about my readers a lot. I want them to trust me.”
You need to understand, tho’, that @Deb is a columnist, not a reporter, and it’s an important distinction. Columnists aren’t paid to be objective. They’re supposed to have a point of view. It’s their job to risk disagreeing with you. It’s good to listen to people who disagree with you — listen to them, not just hear them. You aren’t living a self-examined life if you don’t.
So, it’s okay to disagree with @Deb’s feelings about the NRA, or to even to take offense. Or just to think it’s weird to see those feelings manifest in a crossword column that’s never going to offer real context or serious discussion for it.
But don’t hold it against the Times’ reporters and editors who _are_ paid to be objective. Take the time to understand the difference between their roles and Deb’s.
12
Fair distinction between journalist and columnist. However, the crossword blog is not an opinion column in the traditional sense. I cannot speak for others, but I personally do not read the blog so I can consider Ms. Amlen's political views in the same way I would a column by, say, Michelle Goldberg. I'm primarily interested in insights into the puzzle answers and theming. As such, it's always a bit of cold water in the face when Ms. Amlen uses the blog as a soapbox, if only because I'm not expecting it - although perhaps by now I should.
Put another way, if I wanted to read political opinion, I would read a political opinion column. In this age of often stressful political factiousness, the NYT crossword and blog are two places where it would be nice to have a respite from such discussion. If Ms. Amlen fancies herself a political opinion writer, perhaps she should seek another venue for scratching that itch.
7
Nathan,
Even when Deb writes nothing about it, an NRA answer provokes plenty of "political" comments here, as do quite a number of other subjects. In fact, Deb was reporting today, not offering her political opinion.
4
@Nathan Amen!
2
Had ESA crossed with BASTA for the longest time. No más is not really the first thing that comes to mind for "enough", but a clever theme none the less!
3
Once again, I finished the puzzle but didn’t understand the theme until I read the column. I too tried the rebus button at first but quickly saw that wasn’t working. Even when I got to NO MAS and realized what it meant, I couldn’t see how it fit 11 answers. I finally had to go through line by line and make a list, which did the trick. Guess I was fooled by the fact that the missing MAs still left words that made sense. My hat is off to Ms. Burnikel!
3
Saw a news item this morning about a woman who has been on the news over and over again the last couple of months. This time I recognized the name Lori Loughlin because I had just learned it on NYTXW!
2
Good one, Zhouquin! Very enjoyable Thursday.
3
Nice puzzle -- and easier than expected. If ABBA's Mama Mia had been in it I wonder how it could have been clued ...
Anyway, regarding 28D, balletomanes should recall there is a real musical horn in Balanchine's "Prodigal Son" ballet.
Also, isn't 8A exactly as filled just as valid (if a bit slangy) a name of the job?
1
@Dr W
One-letter answers are not usually allowed.
I love words and language and puns and the like. Most of us probably do since we’re here. I have to say though there are a growing set of words that I really loath including:
* snowflake
* triggered
* micro aggression
* safe place
* etc
If you’re not a bot, please remember there are people on the other end of these names!
8
@pmb If you are a bot, please return to the factory for a system update. Early versions of the Three Laws had a bug whereby harm didn’t include words.
5
@pmb
Weren't those written by Isaac Iov ?
1
@pmb correction: I just seached -- it looks like only one commenter used the word "triggered" to describe Deb. Today.
But I think you can sense that others may feel the same way.
I don't know why the NRA should be treated differently. I grew up learning gun safety and respect though NRA safety courses, and own the NRA thanks for keeping me from making a grave mistake because of rule No. 1 "There is no such thing as an unloaded gun." When I was Teen and fooling around that adage saved two lives. There is a world of difference in learning about guns in real life instead of movies and video games. other than that a fun puzzle and a good column
3
@mike Back when I was a kid, the NRA was, indeed, a gun safety organization.
It stopped being that decades ago -- it's a gun-manufacturer's lobbying organization and, frankly, works very hard AGAINST gun safety these days -- and has been against gun safety for decades now, in spite of the veneer it tried to maintain to the contrary.
Watch what they do (pretty much just lobby against common-sense gun laws), not what they say.
14
Fun puzzle but an antler is not a horn.
1
@Krista
In ancient times they made trumpet-like instruments out of ram's horns. Male cattle, sheep and goats have horns;
so why not deer and elk?
2
Many dictionaries give antler as one definition of horn.
Doesn't NRA stand for FDR's National Recovery Administration? I've seen that in puzzles many times clued as New Deal Agency. This may be a bit trickier for younger solvers but oldtimers should have no problem.
3
@Tony S
At age 78, I'm sure I qualify as an "oldtimer," but the NRA predates me by at least a little bit. But I'd certainly heard of it long before I'd heard of that other use of the initials.
Deadline,
Both NRAs predate you. Which one had you heard of long before you heard of the other? Copy editors want to know.
@Barry Ancona
I'd always known of the Blue Eagle from a little tiny child, and always knew it was around during the Depression (which slightly predates me).
I don't remember when I first heard of the other one, and then later heard that it had once been an organization dedicated to the safe use of firearms. By that time, though, it had changed radically.
Oh, what the heck. With 200 comments already in, I won’t feel like I’m littering, so here’s my $0.02 on the NRA.
My home state was the first to adopt an official state gun. When I was growing up, if you had empty Coke cans, your grandpa gave you a rifle to use them for target practice with. Our country club abutted a shooting range and I’m pretty handy with a rifle.
Even so, I don’t know from the NRA, have never owned a gun as an adult, and the only thing I hunt for are deals on tofu.
At our place in NM, I have an 80-plus-year-old neighbor, whom I’ll call Kate. Kate is the kindest human being I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing. Cheerful and sprightly despite failing knees, she spends her days taking care of random people in need. At 5am after a snowstorm, she dons a pair of Sorrels and her cane and carefully ambles down the steep slope of our street to go throw salt on the driveway of her neighbor who might otherwise get stuck leaving it.
Kate keeps a handgun in her nightstand. Although our mutual neighbors will stop by unannounced just to say hi, the houses are quite isolated on large, wooded tracts of land. Crime is rising in the city just a few miles away, but a 911 call will not bring help to your door in minutes; not in winter. I know Kate’s got an NRA card, too, like her parents and grandparents before her. She’s also got her grandfather’s antique rifles.
You could say Kate sticks to her guns. Don’t say, though, that her NRA is a school shooter’s NRA.
7
Sigh. You need to spend a minute separating a gun owner from the NRA. Look into it when you get a chance. Look into how the NRA spends its money, and on what (or on whom).
8
@Sam Lyons When every second counts, the police are minutes away.
2
@David Connell
I am separating *some* NRA members from *everything* the NRA does. I do the same with respect to the ACLU. I’m not equating the two, by the way, but I am saying that organizations are not the sum total of all its members nationwide. Do NRA members stick to their guns? They sure do. Do we have insanely lax gun laws in this country with NRA pouring money into making sure it stays that way? We sure do. But saying that we can’t jokingly say something about NRA members in general because some of the NRA’s policies have contributed to horrible tragedies lumps responsible gun owners with people who buy their kids high-tech killing machines for their fifth birthday.
Babies and bathwater etc.
4
I filled in all the MA clues as rebuses and it cost me my days-in-a-row streak even tho all my answers were correct. Not fair, methinks. "But I'm from Canada and they think I'm slow, eh?"
Lousy rebuses.
2
@Canajun guy the missing MAs are not always in the same cell for across/down answers though, so doing a rebus fill would be incorrect.
1
I spotted all the themers except MADONNA, lol. I'm sitting here thinking, Who is St. DONNA?
For what it's worth, I enjoyed the NRA clue.
3
Hmm. Having the missing MAs randomly not apply to certain directions is kind of cheating.
2
Justin,
They don't "randomly not apply to certain directions." They also don't randomly apply to certain directions.
They apply specifically when MA must be added to an entry to have it answer a clue. That happens 11 times, as we are told in the revealer clue. Nothing random about it. And no cheating.
1
Hmm. Having the missing MAs randomly not apply to certain directions is kind of cheating.
1
OOF! That pic at the top is hard for me to look at.
Not so for the puzzle! You got me, CC! I fell into the rebus trap until that wasn't making any sense. When I finally realized what was going on, I couldn't believe how you put this all together. You are truly a puzzle master!
Thank you for making my head spin ... but not like that guy in the pic. OOF!
2
Yeah. I’m not so clever. I don’t get it. No more of these please.
Actually, I sat back and said "*Why* do constructors do that."
This theme had no consistency and made no sense.
Color me unimpressed.
@jkelm4 -
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/puzzle
just fyi
1
Just when I think I'm Mr. Rebus, along comes a puzzle with no rebus. How do the answers work without a rebus? DEFACES is not an answer to "Mugged for the camera, maybe". Nor, to my knowledge, is WEBSTER an answer to "Site administrator", nor are STIFFS "Large guard dogs", ETC. I get that if you add MA to these answers in the right places you get valid answers, but I thought the answers as written had to work. To be honest, I was a little DISYED by this one.
"To be honest, I was a little DISYED by this one."
Convinced,
I'm glad you got in the swing of things for your close!
I'm surprised to hear your "as written" comment about *today's* puzzle: the theme entries without MA did work as words; yesterday's without NE did not.
4
@Barry Ancona - Yesterday the full answers were on the grid, just located ONEUP from the missing letters. Today the full answers were not on the grid, only in one's IGINATION! I'm not bitter, just a little chuffed because this puzzle violates what I thought was a primary solving rule. I'll know better next time!
"I'll know better next time!"
Convinced,
Yes, you will!
2
@Deb, I have a question about the Tl;dr: It looks like only the paragraph about the revealer clue is hidden under the link; all of the actual theme answers are just out in the open, at the top of the column. Is that the intention? I don't mind, but from your intro I thought maybe that wasn't quite how it was supposed to work.
1
I first filled assuming I needed to enter the MA as rebus entries. Frustrated, even after solving 56D, took awhile for the lightbulb to go off, and finally finished when I'd removed the MAs! Streak intact though Thursday average took a little hit!
4
After finishing, I had to go back to be sure I got all eleven. Took a while. What a mind!
I find it too bad that Deb felt it necessary to explain and justify the use of NRA in the puzzle, even to the point of questioning the editors about it.
1
@Doggydoc - I find it too bad that the NRA felt it necessary to import busloads (literally) of non-residents to fight our town _police's_ proposed policy for registering guns, even to the point of supporting what happened just two towns over from us. Go figure.
By their fruits you shall know them.
16
In the Thursday puzzle (March 5) Why is the answer to “Aches and Pains” Ladies??
Ma-ladies
I just figured that out myself.
2
Ok I finished it but as a nitpicker, can someone bounce the obvious off my noggin and explain the answer DRAW for one-up
I could even see ____ one up -- but one-up means to best someone and a draw is usually a tie.
OK i know i'm gonna be embarrassed when someone splains it.
thanks
t-rubble
3
Trish,
I won't try to explain it or defend it, but I suggest you look at the different meanings under adjective:
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/one-up
“One up” is another way of saying “One all” or that the score is tied (i.e. a “draw”).
3
@Michael Lynch & Barry Ancona Thank you! I couldn't figure that one out for the life of me. The printing meaning of the phrase (one image per sheet) was really throwing me off, and I'm not sure I've ever heard the sports term in real life, unless you count the lemon-lime soft drink.
1
I had a bet with myself that ZB would do Thursday in this week of women constructors. But now I'm stymied trying to puzzle out who will go next? Anticipation!
1
Is the crossword puzzle moving to the opinion page? Believe it or not, some puzzle solvers own guns.
2
Diane,
Most of the gun owners I know despise the NRA.
Also, the crossword column and comments have always had opinions.
10
@Barry Ancona If you live in NYC, you probably don't know any gun owners.
Grant,
1. I have lived -- and have friends and family -- in many other parts of the country.
2. The NRA apparently thinks I *would* know many gun owners in NYC; they want carry reciprocity to protect themselves from my neighbors when they visit here.
3. Give my best to the DuPonts.
2
RE: Clearing the puzzle and starting over. I once discovered the hard way that will end your solving streak (if you care about such). I found another way Tuesday. We were so busy working the polls, I didn't have time to finish the puzzle until I got home at 10:00 p.m. Evidently, that is too late for the NYT website to count the puzzle as being solved that day, hence a 363 day streak wiped out. BOO-HOO!!
3
@Algernon C Smith I'm sorry for your lost streak! We know it's not the end of the world, but it's still a let-down. And thank you so much for your civic engagement—your streak was lost in a good cause, even if that's not much consolation.
9
@M I was gratified at the good tirnout!
4
@Algernon C Smith
What M said.
And I'm glad you had a good turnout, especially in the face of the acceleration of various voter suppression tactics of late.
2
Enjoyed until faced with 31A... Finally put in DRAW out of desperation, since how is a DRAW being "one up" on someone? Duh - one up, one all, tied, at a draw!
4
@Bruce H That made me laugh! It is how my brain has come to operate these days.
1
Deb: when I read that you put MAD in as a rebus, I thought, METHREE! And I liked that all the NOMAS entries were actual words without the MA...fun!
4
This was the most fun I've had doing the Times crossword in a while. I especially appreciated the Dancer's horn clue. Nice work.
4
There was either something very wrong with this puzzle or something very wrong with me. I came here to see who had the Epic Fail: Ms. Burnikel or me.
Alas, it's me.
You see, I was doing a rebus, and my rebus squares were all different: MAD; MAS; MAI and MAN. And then only the Across answers made sense. The revealer didn't help me because I was looking for "MAS", not for "MA"s.
Would this have come to me if I'd walked away for the day and looked at it again later with a fresh eye? Probably not. I had an idee fixe and I don't think it was going away any time soon.
I think this is quite a clever puzzle. I wish I'd enjoyed it while solving, but the problem is that I never felt I WAS solving. More frustration than pleasure, I'm afraid.
12
I was really on Ce Ce’s wavelength today. I had O CANADA straight away and very quickly the whole NW corner with its missing MA’s but held off on entering a rebus after yesterday. TA(MA)LE in the NE confirmed my suspicions, so just carried on looking for more MA’s to leave out eagerly awaiting the reveal which didn’t disappoint!
My first thought for 28D was ANTLER, so chuffed with that. (“It’s a clue, not a definition “ applies to that clue) IMO.
My first choice for a red is a CLARET, but I didn’t get that quickly today.
Another fine puzzle from Ce Ce!
6
I solve on paper, never checking my time because I find it an agreeable way to start the day and I don’t care how long it takes me. Probably as a result, I thought today’s puzzle was a great solve. I really had a lot of fun finding those sneaky MAs. That being said, I wonder if the people attempting this particular puzzle on line and/or folks who care about how long it took them might not agree with me. Do we have a split here?
4
@Susan
I’m a paper solver too. This one took a while, as many Thursday’s do, but the MADONNA/MADE FACES came fairly fast. Like some others said, thinking VP was SALENA was a snag.
Good puzzle for Thursday.
@Susan S.
Speaking as a sample of one who does keep a record of solve times,
recognizing that the rebus approach wasn't working and making the necessary deletions were just part of the process. I enjoyed the puzzle.
I think that I would have been a lot more upset when I was solving with pen and paper. Easy error correction is a major advantage of the online approach.
1
The tl;dr link and links to reveal the theme entries in Deb's post didn't show up for me in the Android NYTimes app.
2
@Doug
They did for me.
Didn’t show up in iOS either. 😕
The tl;dr link and links to reveal the theme entries in Deb's post didn't show up for me in the Android NYTimes app.
1
And forgot to say how much we have enjoyed the puzzles this week! We always love Me. Burnikel's puzzles. But today's, on a string of really exceptional puzzles, was magnificent.
5
Oh, I forgot to say, boxing fans of a certain age will remember Roberto Duran a.k.a. Manos de Piedra - Fists of Stone, when he lost his last fight, threw in the towel by saying, “No mas!” Ironic that the anagram of “manos” is “no mas”.
3
@Roger - there's a link to it in Deb's tl;dr revealer, which you may not have opened.
Well I proceeded as if this was the type of puzzle that shall not be named only to find the secret was nothing, whimpered Tom woefully.
Liked the mini-oater theme with LAWMAN, DRAW and the resulting STIFFS.
Thanks for nothing CeCe (insert WAG emoticon about here)
4
Tried to put in all the rebuses based on the past few Thursdays, kept saying “try again”, took them all out et voilá! (Ma)lice and (ma)ladies were “cute”!
1
Bummer--I put all of the (MA)s in the puzzle as a rebus, so it came up as error-ridden when I checked it finally--but I had it right all along. There goes my record....
3
Vern,
If you stop back, I'd be curious to know in which squares you put MA as a rebus. As best I can tell, the only square that could have taken a rebus was the 1 square, where Deb and others tried MAD.
3
@Barry Ancona Regardless of whether or not it is appropriate, can't one use the rebus button anywhere one feels like it?
Jim,
Well sure, and you can also put any single letter anywhere you feel like in the grid. But -- with one exception -- it would be wrong.
Oh, Deb, we do love your columns in this house! Doing the crossword together over breakfast has become a tradition, and no one is allowed to peak at Deb until after the puzzle is finished. And after a puzzle like this one, which had us scratching our heads and moaning until we simultaneously went "AHA!!", reading your comment was like whipped cream and a cherry on top of a spicy hot fudge sundae! I think we both have a crush on your witty self.
31
Thank you for reading, @Merry, and happy solving!
8
@Merry -- Furthermore, @deb has lice toward none, and charity for all.
29
@Lewis Pfft. Rumors.
4
Nice to see the "O Canada" clue (says the Canadian)! But I must call Deb out about the "roughly seven Canadian teams". There are exactly seven teams based in Canada! Unless you were thinking hockey can be a rough game.... :-)
11
@Jim Actually, I was so bamboozled by the number of theme entries that I was too exhausted to accurately count the number of teams when I looked them up.
But yes, let's go with your theory. :)
4
@Jim Years ago, I went to a Sabres vs Senators game in Buffalo - they played both anthems.
@Grant
Simultaneously?
I'm not even THAT old (turn 55 in a few weeks) but the lesson that life does NOT get simpler as we age seems to get hammered home every day.
To wit, listed below are but two of the many conflicts that roll around daily in my brain:
I grew up rural, and though never a hunter, target shooting was and still occasionally is a pastime enjoyed with my Dad. So I have conflicted feelings, being generally pro-gun rights, but fervently hoping for the day when NRA can be clued as "bygone defender of firearms industry profits."
I also grew up during the Cold War, and had to learn early how to sleep at night and focus in school even though a world-ending nuclear war could literally start TOMORROW. So, "trigger warnings" are not something I readily sympathize with.
One should only have to say, "The year is 2020. There's your trigger warning."
Wildfires, "novel" viruses, and gross political polarization are, I fear, here to stay. Just strap on your genital-protecting undergarments and wade into the fray.
I'm ready for my "OK, Boomer" now...
24
@Brian Drumm
FWIW, if you're turning 55 in 2020 (like I am) that means you were born in 1965, and thus a leading-edge Gen-Xer. Congrats!
https://www.kasasa.com/articles/generations/gen-x-gen-y-gen-z
Such a cute clue for NRA, what fun!
In fact I’m really saddened by any negative responses to Deb’s absolutely appropriate remarks on the subject of that kind of flippant clue.
I’ll make my comment on this otherwise terrific puzzle later.
14
I hate these puzzles. Answers make no sense to the clues. Please get back to REAL crosswords, using WORDS.
1
Rick,
Hate "these" puzzles if you wish, but please note that all of the answers are properly clued and everything in the grid is a word.
5
N.B. In Rick's ZODEFENSE, it should be noted that in the Wednesday puzzle not everything in the grid was a word.
@Rick So there was a time when the NYT only had REAL crosswords, using WORDS? When did that change?
so I'm relatively new to this, usually I just attempt Mondays and Tuesdays. I had NO idea there was a theme. I've seen the option for Rebus but have no idea what it does. imagine my multiple head scratching over Stiffs...all I could think was maybe there were dog statues guarding some NY building? but then when I saw the answer for aches and pains was Ladies, I was like that's it! how sexist! lol. Spent a few minutes googling and voila, here I am. I learned something new this morning. Thanks!
25
And it took me months to figure out what TIL meant.
3
Oh, good grief, my brain stubbornly insisted on somehow inserting all the letters ( on line) - with the rebus tool, with a slash to separate them ( as in ladies/remain = ma/i) . . . altho' aches and pains had me puzzled . . .
2
I’m honestly confused. What was flippant about the NRA clue? From the description I gather Deb would rather they not be mentioned at all, but the clue hardly endorses the group. BTW, last I checked, the NRA itself seemed to be doing more to take down the NRA than any other group in recent history.
16
P.S. I’m a huge ZB fan. As far as I’m concerned she can do no wrong.
6
Loved this puzzle. My subtitle: “Look hands, no Ma!”
53
On a side note, I love it when, for some reason, the comments default to "NYT Replies" view. I'm thinking, "Wow! Deb is really engaging the commenters today"... :-)
12
I, like so many fell, into the "this is gonna be easy" rebus trap at 1A/1D. What kept me going in the end and took a lot of time was looking for 11 of them as the 56D revealer implied. I had only 10. Where's the other one? It took me many minutes to realize that the revealer told me to look for 11 answers (not 11 rebi) [Deb - we need a ruling on this - what is the plural of rebus?] so 1A/1D counted as two.
That 11 was, in itself, a clue. Any traditional rebus will affect an even number of answers - so the sharper ones among us will have discerned immediately (rather than at 315 in the morning when I woke with a start) that of course this was not going to be a typical rebus Thursday.
2
There are are an even number (12) of theme answers, if you count the 11 entries with the missing MA and the revealer (NOMAs). As a bonus, there are six pairs at symmetrical locations in the grid.
Steve H,
FWIW, crossword convention does not count the revealer as a themer.
@Barry Ancona - not sure I buy that; I consider the revealer part of the theme content and am content to call it a themer on that basis. Some theme revealers (probably the minority) participate in the theme per se, so there's room for difference on this one. I'd put it as "the revealer is always part of the theme; it may or may not take part in the theme."
Sunday titles come to mind.
1
Caught on fast with STIFFS! Love ALDI with its mandatory "bring your own bags" and "pay a 25-cent cart deposit" rules!
2
CC on a Thursday! I enjoy employing some mental gymnastics when solving a puzzle, so having to think about whether MA would make an entry more accurate to its clue was fun for me! YMMV. Anyway, I'm enjoying this week of Women! David Steinberg over at Universal crosswords is going the entire month of March. I'm not certain, but I think we have most of the months covered now for "Honors" (Feb = Black History Month, Mar = Women in History Month, Jun = Pride Month, etc). Makes solving more fun when the puzzles are topical (IMHO). Happy Thursday all!!
3
I appreciate your comment on the NRA clue. I, too, felt it was inappropriate and flippant, especially given the amount of gun violence our nation faces on a daily basis. Obviously NRA might be used in a puzzle now and then, but the clues should be more appropriate.
11
@Elizabeth How about if we were to clue NSA as "Spies like US?" The NSA is a thing, it exists, but there is a large segment of the population who find its mission and activities abhorrent. Should it only be clued to reflect that negativity"? I say of course not.
The NRA does NOT support mass shootings. It supports and defends our constitutional right to own firearms. A right, by the way, that is actually spelled out in the constitution, unlike a right to privacy or a right to murder human beings through abortion. Those you are OK with though. No hand-wringing when those appear.
I said the other day that nothing IN the puzzle has ever bothered me nor will it ever and I stand by that. But the blog and this discussion forum certainly does. Deb et al., you want to have your opinion at the exclusion of an opposing point of view. That is not OK, and is antithetical to your oft stated "inclusive" worldview.
4
@Michael Brothers Another Amen!
1
@Michael Brothers
“The NRA does not support mass shooting” , but it enables them. And I think you just stated an “opposing point of view”.
2
Tough, tough puzzle and I loved every minute of it. Can't remember ever having so many 'aha' moments in the course of a solve. Like others, when I first caught on, I tried a rebus - specifically with MAStiffs. Then got stuck in that little area for quite a while. MASAC? Does the rebus just work one way? And then LICE? That doesn't make any sense. And then it finally dawned on me.
And then followed great 'aha' moments with every single one of the other theme answers. And lastly was noting that all of those answers were valid words with or without the MAS. That's just plain aMAzing.
Am I the first to note that there could have been one more theme answer at 67d? "Myopic Mr. _____" is one example of a clue for that.
This puzzle will remain one of my all time favorites.
13
@Rich in Atlanta
MASAC is where it hit home . . .
MA Goo would've been great.
2
@Rich in Atlanta -- Great catch on MAgoo!
4
I’m proud of myself that I didn’t have to reveal any of the hidden clues in @Deb’s column. I knew OCANADA immediately but though it was Oh, Canada. I never heard of ALDI supermarkets and was shocked to discover that there are 3 in my city when I looked them up. My last entry was WAG when wit didn’t work (that was the only 3-letter W word I could come up with for jokester).
2
Wow construction, with the theme answers symmetrical (Hi, Andrew!) and the MA-less words actual in-the-language words, and as always for CC, a junk-lite grid. Thank you, CC!
And si si, what a week! Greatly looking forward to nana!
3
Reading comments today? No mas.
8
A little confusing... the rebus worked on some clues but not others, using the across lite version. I got it and put in the missing letters, but about half showed errors.
Surprisingly this went pretty fast despite plenty of theme material and hence missing letters.
1
Stumped trying rebuses (rebi?) until the light went on. NO MAS!
1
SPELLING BEE GRID
A L M N O P R
WORDS: 63, POINTS: 253, PANGRAMS: 1, BINGO
First character frequency:
A x 11
L x 7
M x 15
N x 5
O x 2
P x 19
R x 4
Word length frequency:
4L: 25
5L: 19
6L: 13
7L: 2
8L: 3
10L: 1
Grid:
4 5 6 7 8 10 TOT
A: 3 5 3 - - - 11
L: 4 2 - 1 - - 7
M: 4 7 3 - 1 - 15
N: 2 - 2 - 1 - 5
O: 2 - - - - - 2
P: 6 5 5 1 1 1 19
R: 4 - - - - - 4
TOT:25 19 13 2 3 1 63
Two letter list:
AL-1 AM-2 AN-3 AP-3 AR-2
LA-3 LL-2 LO-2
MA-10 MO-5
NA-3 NO-2
OP-1 OR-1
PA-12 PL-2 PO-4 PR-1
RA-1 RO-3
60
@Doug Help, please. What does bingo mean? Also, Shunn sometimes lists “perfect”. What does perfect mean wrt the Spelling Bee?
4
@Cindy Bingo means all the set letters were used to start words. Perfect is a pangram using all letters only once.
13
@Kevin Davis Thank you!
1
No one seems to mention that all of the “theme” entries (including revealer) are symmetrically placed in the puzzle and not merely random. Perhaps that is a given in puzzle-making, but I found it extra satisfying.
This came very quickly to me, but, as I solved it during a bout of insomnia, I was convinced today was Friday, (perhaps due to yesterday’s Thursday-like puzzle), and was predicting a host of complaints about its inappropriateness.
I first tried ANTHEMS at 15A but I’m happy to settle for O CANADA.
2
12D got me thinking of that Margaret Atwood book, “The Handmade TAMALE”.
22
Great puzzle! I know it's in the puzzle all the time but I can't quite seem to remember that stinking Chicago airport code, LOL.
One question: is there any way to get notified when someone replies to one of your comments (on the app version)?
Also, on a separate note, is there any chance The New York Times would allow international readers to see the newly published crossword starting in the morning at their local time? In Japan I can't view it until about 12 noon or so. Nothing beats having a fresh puzzle ready to go when you get up in the morning.
1
@Toby
Does it help to know that O’Hare airport was originally named ORcharD Field?
18
Toby,
LOL is not the O'Hare airport code.
No.
No.
10
@Barry Ancona
Luckily, LOL does not describe my reaction to your post. What’s a catchy abbreviation for having a snorting, coffee-spewing, public attention-attracting laughing fit?
5
What was wrong with the NRA clue?
4
Didn’t need the editorial on the “flippant wordplay” on the NRA. There was nothing wrong with that clue.
30
@Paul Thompson
I agree, and I am rabidly anti-gun.
1
**S P E L L I N G B E E H I N T S**
63 words, 253 points, 1 pangram.
10
Hints: Only 1 NON- word.
Emergency signal
Gun food abbrev.
Uptight, slang, or anatomy word
Yearly journal, only recently allowed
Soon, poetic
NASA moon program
Horrify
Cooking clothing protector
Metal suit worn by knights
Smell
Tibetan priest
Harvard national humor magazine
Andean camel
S Amer. treeless grassy plain
Fertile soil
Funny word mix up
Female parent, slang (3 words)
Animal class that lactates
Evil wealth
Exodus food from the sky
Large country house with lands
Archaic schoolteacher nickname
Strand, or brownish-crimson
Back tooth
Money, slang
Indian bread
Grandma, slang
Flammable jelly weapon
Uncharged molecule
October birthstone
By mouth
Dark cloud, or cloth over a coffin
Unhealthy appearance
Pair of mollusk appendages
Extensive S Amer. grassy plain
Central Amer. canal country
Unbroken view of surroundings
Related to the pontiff
ESP or telekinesis, pangram
Formal sitting room
Legal term for “orally”
Flat surface, noun & adj. (2 words)
White bear
Fish, or city N of Ft. Lauderdale
Cottonwood tree type
Baby carriage
Mixed-color horse
42
Oops, I just realized I used a spoiler in a definition at the end of my list. I had forgotten it was a word in today's set, since there were so many.
2
There's a list word with A- added to make its opposite.
3
NRA is also the National Recovery Administration, "a prime New Deal agency established by U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933." (Wikipedia) If I remember correctly, it's been clued as such here, and not that long ago.
Always clueing NRA this way would avoid unpleasantness.
Speaking of which . . . Did anyone else find the photo at the head of Deb's column today a bit off-putting? (Boxing: BOO!)
9
NRA has also been used to mean the National (Industrial) Recovery Act, also called the NIRA.
@Paul Frommer
I don't think you always have to clue NRA as you suggest, or even mix it up a bit with Blue Eagle. In fact, I have no objection to its being clued with reference to the National Rifle Association. But not as yet another tasteless and cruel joke.
And yes, I was put off by the photo today. I like it when there are kittens or flowers or food or other pleasant stuff. I don't watch boxing, or boxing movies, avoid them as I would avoid gettikng hit in the face by one of the participants. I've never even seen "Rocky," although I hear it had an actual script.
1
In Mexico, a rolling stone gathers no más.
(Please, sir, I want some more puns.)
22
Am I the only one who thought WEBSTER was a slangy shortening of WEB(MA)STER before realizing it was one of the MA’s?
3
No, you are not.
3
I guess crossword clues are allowed to be slightly unscientific but ANTLERS are not HORNS. Did not slow me down though solving these puzzles have taught me to think broadly as to the meaning of a word in the clue. Overall thought this was an easy Thursday. Tamale primed me, nomas clinched.
2
Deb Actually there are exactly seven Canadian teams in the NHL, and they play no more or less "roughly" than the American teams.
2
28D made me smile even though I had a small nit: an ANTLER is not a horn. Antlers shed and horns don’t, to name one difference.
2
I liked everything very much, except please don't hide Deb's column! I know it's easy to access, but even easier is to have it on full display. I love it!
6
70 across: feigns sickness to avoid work = (ma)lingers.
Has that been previously mentioned ?
1
AM I LATE? Well, it could be on account of the wild goose chase CeCe sent me on to resolve a most perplexing set of rebuses.
When I saw that she had constructed the Thursday puzzle for Women Constructor's' week, I figured that my aging male wits would be put to the test. And I was not disappointed.
As many have no doubt found out for themselves, rebuses that worked in one direction did not work in the other. That is, after
MAD worked just fine in 1A/1d. A red herring, that!
In three other places, the MA in each rebus also had to be somewhere else for the clues to relate to their entries. Some major trickery is obviously afoot.
But it doesn't make me mad... just makes my grin wider.
Realizing that I had not noticed the revealer, I scanned the clues until finding 56d ...or a hint to 11 answers. NO MAS?? Indeed, NO MAs!! Took all the MAs out and BINGO.
Reminds me of that old TEST that tells you:
This is a timed TEST. Read all questions carefully before beginning.
1-9. (impossible challenges)
10. Do not answer any of the above questions. Put your name on the top of the page and turn in your test.
Perfect Thursday challenge. Enough for now, but I can't get enough of CeCe!
6
Crossing Spanish with Spanish was a bit tough!
But thanks to the Spelling Bee, PANGRAM was a gimme.
14
Wow! I felt doomed when I had to add the L to _AW(MA)N for Wyatt Earp, because surely if there were 1900 ALDIs I would have heard of them, but up popped the nicer message!
56D made this puzzle pretty easy for a Thursday, but I'm not complaining.
3
@kilaueabart
I wonder if they included Trader Joe's as part of the Aldi store count. I'm sure you've heard of them. Though I think technically, there are separate entities.
Gotta love their house brands (kinda racist? or just kinda funny)
Trader Giotto
Trader Jose
Trader Ming
2
@Newbie
According to the net (quoting aldi.history) there are over 1900 Aldi stores in the US as claimed in the clue. There are two Aldi companies in the US: Nord (runs Trader Joes ) and Süd (runs Aldis). The comment I read was that the companies are like estranged cousins.
2
@Newbie
Half of my two weekly shopping trips is* to Trader Joe's. Often get Trader Giotto pizza. I'll watch for "Aldi" when I go tomorrow.
*"Is" sounds odd here, but mathematically correct.
Before tonight I had never heard of ALDI stores, but come to find out there is one about 35 minutes from me. Go figure... I appreciated the ingenuity of the puzzle maker, but I really struggled with this mainly because it was hard to determine where the missing MA should be placed in the word. Also in the Southwest corner I had SULLIED for the reputation/towel clue, and I would have bet that it was correct...I would have lost ;>) .
3
@Robert Kern
There's one about 10 minutes from my house, and I hate it. Six aisles, they only sell what they want you to buy (the soda selection is limited to about three items), you don't get bags, and you have to put a quarter into a slot to get a cart. (You get it back when you leave.)
What surprised me that there are 1900 of them in the US.
1
@Steve L
They've also got good organic food for, sometimes, half the price of the "nicer" stores in my neighborhood. I appreciate their eye toward reducing waste (word is they are eliminating plastic packaging soon), and i like to pay it forward with my quarter. Takes some getting used to, but worth it!
3
So, Deb, if I'm understanding this correctly, the "theme" (or in my mind, honestly, gimmick) in this puzzle is that the "MA"'s are missing in all the fills that seemed wonky? And that's it? I didn't have any problem solving the puzzle without them (I'm used to missing the theme a lot sad to say and solving my way through) but I'll admit I kept thinking the missing MA were going to show up somewhere else as the "ON" did yesterday.
It was a little disappointing. I thought yesterday was much more difficult. Love your column which I always read after I've solved the puzzle so I can make sense of all the things I didn't understand. I love doing the puzzle just for the enjoyment of it but get frustrated when I see clues that seem kind of dumb or tortured into being just for the fill.
Not apropos of this puzzle but general comment, I wish the NYT would change the algorithm for rebuses so that if you didn't fill with the whole rebus, autocorrect didn't give you a correct/pass with just one letter. That makes it too easy! I want a red line unless I get the whole thing right because the algorithm does NOT let you go back and fill in the rebuses you missed once you get it. Very frustrating. Just venting, though. I do appreciate that constructing a puzzle is no easy task but easy to criticize.
Thanks for listening.
3
@Lin Kaatz Chary
"the "theme" (or in my mind, honestly, gimmick) in this puzzle is that the "MA"'s are missing in all the fills that seemed wonky?"
Part of the "gimmick" was also that the "wonky" words were still actually words, unlike yesterday. That was at least, kinda cool, amirite?
5
🎵No woMAn, no cry...🎵
9
Agree wholeheartedly about the (expletive) NRA clue. I could suggest some clues, and they would not be flippant. Is righteous anger acceptable?
Was any other female just a bit unhappy that “aches and pains” was (ma)LADIES?
9
yes yes, I thought the same thing!
and Elke
OK- it's Thursday, Elke- watch out.
So, a WAG(s?) or Steve L,made me fall into that TA(MA)LE trap. After all TALE(s) are cooked up in bars ,not corn husks.
Had "soiled" for reputations and kitchen towels and finally caught on at NO MAS.
The O CANADA reference is by serendipity appropriate since this is Women's History Month/Women's Puzzle Constructor Week :
CANADA's Anthem went through some gender reference issues :
One line now is ---"True patriot love in ALL OF US command"--but in 1908 it started out as "--thou dost IN US Command",---
then in 1914 it was changed to --"in ALL THY SONS"---
The gender neutral line was only adopted a generation ago.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Canada
I guess LATE is better than never.
Back to finding the last two missing MAS in this clever construction= thanks CC
I guess better LATE than never.
3
Subtle, clever, delightful. Thoroughly enjoyed this one. Wish I could figure out why the app sometimes changes my solve time; immediately upon finishing it will say one thing, then after returning to the opening page from the Stats section it has added several seconds, and stays there. Doesn’t happen all the time, but often enough to be a head-scratcher.
1
I filled in everything with rebuses and spent way too long trying to figure out the rule for the resulting anagrams. Turns out it's simpler: the clue doesn't have anything to do with the word you enter. Which is a little un-crossword-like, in my book, but you do you!
3
The clue describes the word with the added MA. eg Maladies instead of Ladies. Clever and charming, I liked this puzzle a lot. and 11x word plays was an impressive number, I thought.
1
Yesterday, Ms. Gray says ONEUP means Outdo.
Today, Ms. Burnikel says One-up means DRAW.
Which one is it ladies? Cause I ain't saying METHREE.
11
@Newbie
Somewhere a world famous cellist is crying because he was omitted from a puzzle custom made for him.
YO-YO
72
“One up” is sometimes used as a synonym for “one all.” I grew up hearing and saying only “up” and didn’t encounter “all” until college years at least.
5
@bratschegirl
Don't try to interject facts into my jokes. Not appreciated.
Just laugh and say how clever I am... :)
I need the validation.
I will submit to you, that I vaguely recall maybe saying "X-up" only when playing ping-pong back in the day?
3
Spotted the theme right away with 1D. Then it was a matter of finding others. But it took me a while as I got distracted watching the Nature show about humpback whales. So much we still don’t know about the magnificent mammals. Hopefully killing them? No MAs!
2
Have to admit being fooled at first, falling into the rebus trap at 1A/D. But when rebuses didn't pan out for WEB[MA]STER or TO[MA]LE I reconsidered and just filled in answers and wondered about the not-defined-by-the-clues words I was leaving behind. When I hit the revealer it was the big AHA moment, and I realized that the strange words met the clue definitions when the MAs were included.
Unique and ingenious construction, and a nice stretch-the-brain exercise for the themers. Had Wit before WAG briefly, and I watch little in the way of TV or movies, so SELINA and AMELIA had to come from the crosses. Thought some of the clues were pretty easy for a Thursday, but I did like the ones for ANTLER and O CANADA.
2
It would have been a bit more fun if the MAD rebus had not fit in the NW corner. That totally threw me off and I had to peek at Deb's column to see the "no rebus" hint which set me straight and I was able to finish it with a big Aha!
3
Am I making a connection where there is none?
I was enjoying the irony of this theme/Thursday gimmick in conjunction with the commemoration of Womens’ HIstory Month. Deb and several commenters have made reference to “No Mas,” but nobody has pointed out the theme derives not from the Spanish language from from the omission of “MA” from many words in the puzzle.
Where would we all be without our female progenitors (with “no Ma’s)?
Nowhere, that’s where.
11
Loved the Dancer's horn clue. I laughed when I finally figured it out. This puzzle was challenging enough to make it fun. I too thought it was some complex varying rebus, but worked my way to the "No Mas" and everything fell into place.
7
@Susan Bein
I knew where they were going with "Dancer" but I was still at the point where I didn't realize that the missing MA didn't have to be in both directions...I'd gotten MALADIES but couldn't figure out why ANTLERS didn't need the MA.
1
I don’t know what is wrong with my brain, but ANTLER was the first thing I thought of when I saw the clue, visualizing some kind of Celtic fertility rite. It must be spring.
1
Cool puzzle!
2
Smiled as soon as I saw the constructor's name. Really great and clever puzzle from CC. ANTLER was one of my favorites: I felt so good about myself when I figured it out! Two days running now, I have started filling in multiple letters in a square for the rebus, and two days running have I been fooled. And it's not even April yet!
4
Initially thought that MAS would be missing from eleven clues, but (MA)STIFFS got me on the right track.
Didn't worry about answers where the missing MA was in the center since the crosses made sense-- except in the NE corner. I stubbornly held onto ASSETS rather than ESTATE. GAG for WAG didn't help either.
18A prompts today's hi kids/hi mom question -- David Lee Roth or Louis Prima on your playlist ???
[Those who don't want to choose sides can always opt for Bing Crosby's recording (not paired with "I ain't got nobody")]
1
@RAH
Even David Lee Roth might be sliding into "Hi kids" territory. I will ask my 27-year old if she knows him. Louie Prima, now; I was so lucky to have had a Dad with the funnest record collection!
1
@Ann
I think the "kids" think VanHalen's lead singer was Sammy Hagar.
VanHalen I. One of the greatest albums...ever...
1
I'm a newbie of 4 months now? But even I knew CiCI was gonna make an appearance this week.
METHREE really took alot of my time. I was convinced there was MA in there somewhere. Same with that French clue (that would be super mean though, right?)
Deb, there were 11. You listed 7, I think you missed
WEB(MA)STER
TA(MA)LE
and now I can't find the other 2!
That crazy spelling for SHARPEI did me in. I had iMPORIA
1
Thanks, @Newbie. I did explain MADE FACES, MADONNA and WEBMASTER in the first part, so I just listed the rest. You were right about TAMALE, though, and I've fixed it in the column.
1
@Deb Amlen
Egads. I didn't even think about (MA)DONNA. I thought DONNA was just some Italian Catholic name for the Virgin Mary
2
@Newbie
Well, DONNA means "lady," and MADONNA means "my lady," via Latin and Italian. It's the same lady, and her name ain't DONNA.
2
Triggered by NRA? Really?
45
To be fair I think Deb is often against clues pretending that controversial things aren’t controversial
31
@Zoe the clue was a play on words; it didn’t pretend anything
Y’all are really up in arms about mere wordplay
I say relax and let the constructor take the lead
And by all means if a simple play on words causes you to overheat, put down the magazine and go shoot the breeze with a loved one instead
27
@Zoe Nailed it. Thank you. It's insensitive to those who have suffered tremendous loss at the hands of a mass shooter, or those who empathize with them.
What it boils down to in terms of crosswords is this: NRA can be clued straight, and I have no problem with that. It also relieves most people who have lost a loved one from unnecessary and unkind grief. It's appallingly easy to be kind and not go out of one's way to hurt someone for the sake of cleverly put together words.
Those who think it's clever to double down by leaving even more puns about it probably don't realize how they come off to other people.
10
NO MAS is Spanish for "enough"? Basta with the Gringos editing these puzzles.
38
@Wags I know I kept thinking Basta doesn't start with NO! What is this?
3
@Wags
It's simply "no more", which can easily mean "enough".
8
@Wags
First learned basta in Italian, meaning enough. I knew no mas for enough in Spanish.
2
took longer than i expected to solve this one. AMILATE? NOTABIT.
3
I had a full grid, replete with rebuses, becoming content with having "MA(x)" in one direction and just "(x)" counting on the other direction, thinking that the NOMAS answer meant the rebuses were supposed to be close to the word MAS but not quite (ignoring the fact that a couple of them actually were MAS for some reason), and still not getting the congratulatory message. Suddenly I reread NOMAS, and it all clicked. I still wound up faster than my Thursday average, but I had a lot of dead time trying to figure out how exactly the trickiness of this puzzle worked out.
4
Really hated this one. When a rebus works in one direction only, seems lame to me.
7
@Tom Devine the ma works both ways my friend
3
Good thing it's not a rebus then
12
@Tom Devine
Actually, it's not a rebus. Read the revealer as "no MAs" instead of the Spanish phrase. M and A are omitted from the words, leaving other words. The affected words in the puzzle do not answer the clues unless you include the missing MAs at the appropriate spots.
@Elke
1A/D does work both ways, but most, if not all of the others are all unidirectional.
6
Weds and Thurs make a good combo, in that yesterday the missing letters (NE) had to be discovered in the perpendicular, and today (MA) they just aren’t there at all!
Today might be just that much more elegant, because the truncated fills are themselves real words. APLUS!
11
Finally gave up trying to rebus together WEBMASTER and TAMALE and just left lots of holes until I got to the revealer at 56D. Knockout of a puzzle!
6
@Tom Kara I had WEBS(TAM)ER : WEBS TAMER or 'one that tames the web'. Seemed a stretch, but hey it's Thursday.
The rebus option eventually fell apart but unfortunately not until after a lot of puzzling.
1
I loved this one! I got the trick right away and set a new Thursday time record.
2
Thursday is my favorite puzzle day for its great variety of fiendish multilevel challenges. This one did not disappoint. I had to solve the revealer before I got the trick, and I had a puzzle full of gaps at that point. A very satisfying “aha!”
10
I think the tense of clue 1A doesn't agree with the answer.
@Lee Elliott Made vs. Mugged. Sounds OK to me.
2
Lee,
It doesn't agree with DEFACES, but that isn't the answer.
9
I thought one-up was better than a draw. What did I misunderstand? By the way, I love the tl;dr revision. All I had to do was scroll the puzzle into view, and if I overdid it I learned too much before I even began! This is an excellent change!
3
Graham,
Like many good crossword words, one-up can mean both advantage and equality.
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/one-up
@Barry Ancona From your link: "The score was one up in the ninth inning." - meaning one each. I've followed most sports assiduously for the last sixty years (OK, not baseball) and I have never heard that expression. I spent a lot of time trying to fir another rebus -that-isn't-really in there.
6
@Andrew
I agree. I've never heard that before. "1 all" certainly, but "1 up" means you are ahead by 1, which ain't no draw.
And I was definitely hunting for a missing MA there, as well.
4
The screaming about this one (from some newbies) should be louder than the uproar about the Thursdayish Wednesday.
(Two great puzzles in a row!)
11
@Barry Ancona ha ha yes. But I'm a newbie and I liked it. I think some oldies will be upset that the "rebus" didn't work in both directions. It was a leave out. I've learned my lesson!
7
@Barry Ancona
As a "newbie". I have "observed," it ain't the newbies that get all hot and bothered. It's the "experts" that complain the most (when they don't get it).
Case in point, uh, yesterday...
Newbies are all about live and learn...
17
Santi and Newbie,
I did say *some* newbies. And while an old hand (who doesn't post here) had a fit, I was thinking of the repeated complaints -- mostly from screen names we've not seen before -- that "the rebus didn't work properly." I'm delighted that many newbies are "about live and learn."
7
I think the people who didn't like the Wednesday puzzle are really going to hate this one! I thought it was pretty wonderful. When nothing makes sense, and then suddenly it all starts to make sense--it's a great feeling. Loved the clue for ANTLER. It was a little confusing trying to keep track of where the MAs should have been, especially since some of them were off the side of the puzzle. And I didn't try to find 11 of them, I just went with what seemed to make sense.
And since PANGRAM was in the puzzle, I have to (probably not for the first time) recommend the novel *Ella Minnow Pea," by Mark Dunn. The Wikipedia article about it gives you the gist in much more detail, but in the novel, the residents of a strange island embark on finding a pangram that is more concise than "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." As the novel progresses, it drops letters of the alphabet in each chapter, until very very few are left. It's different!
20
@Liz B
Second the recommendation for Ella Minnow Pea. A gem.
3
In a slightly similar vein, the French writer Georges Perec wrote "La Disparition" in 1969, translated into English in 1994 by Gilbert Adair as "A Void," neither one containing the letter E.
2
I found it interesting that it was considered a feature of the puzzle, and not a flaw, that the double-elimination of the MA at the first square was not followed by other two-way missing MAs.
Also, I hope no one fell into the TALE trap.
Finally, AMILATE looks weirds, AMIRITE?
2
@Steve L
It’s possible that a host of organic chemists are currently composing outraged posts at the misspelling of AMyLATE.
I had to look it up. I knew it was a term but would’ve been hard-pressed to say for what.
@Steve L I considered the lack of a discernible pattern a flaw; the missing MA in the answer having no relation to the point of crossing, there being an oddball answer INROADS that has no crossing missing a MA, etc
1
@Steve L
Very weirds! ;-)
Wow! That was deceptive, cunning, sly, wicked, borderline dastardly. What started out as, “Oh c’mon, too easy for a Thursday” morphed into “Aw c’mon, something is seriously not right here.” And, that morphed into “Wow!” (which is even better than Aha!).
Loved Veep. Didn’t realize it was SELINA with an I. Knowing a little crossword French helped correct that final speck.
13
12d Food cooked in a cornhusk taMAle
2
Thanks, @Philly Carey. I've added it in the column.
1
@Philly Carey My inner schoolmarm says, "The singular of tamales is tamal, not tamale."
1
@tskesq
Pleeeeeze, let's not rehash the tamale trap.
Regarding the Tl;dr spoiler (hidden explanation)
If he ever did say it,Roberto Durán only "coined" the phrase NO MÁS in the minds of gringos who found it to be a novel and unique way of saying "I've had enough." In fact, Durán was simply saying "I've had enough" (literally, "No more") in Spanish, just like Spanish speakers have said in countless situations when they've had enough of something, for as far back as the time of Cervantes. He (or perhaps the referee) definitely wasn't coining a new expression.
2
The only time I paid for a pay per view fight. Learned my lesson, I guess.
Great puzzle!
4
Timothy Simons’ character is Jonah — and he was called other things too 😂 https://youtu.be/eETuZBeSxuA
Enjoyed this puzzle, hit close to my Thursday record! Figured the theme with 1 down, which made the rest of it go faster.
2
Thanks, @ET . I've corrected it in the column.
@ET thanks a LOT, now I am going to have to binge watch VEEP (been feeling like I missed the boat for a long time), that clip is everything I need right now.
1