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Inuit skin boat / WED 8-30-23 / Hamlet's interrogative after "How now!" / Language from which we get bupkis and shtick / Reds great Roush / Round, squishy toy
Wednesday, August 30, 2023
Constructor: Alex Eaton-Salners
Relative difficulty: Medium
Theme answers:
One of the most unpleasant solving experiences of all time. Really wish this had appeared on Monday, so I could've solved it Downs-only and spared myself ... all that. Nothing to say about this one. Oh, except RIDABLE, LOL, what? RIDABLE!? A risible answer. Is that even a word? "Is this bus RIDABLE?" "No." "Uh ... but ..." "Sorry, no, UNRIDABLE. You want the 15 Northbound." [door closes in would-be rider's face] [end scene]. NOTEDLY is really happy that RIDABLE is in the grid, because RIDABLE is so glaringly bad, it's drawing attention away from NOTEDLY, which is just awkward (I'd use NOTABLY; I don't think I would use NOTEDLY, if only to avoid the confusion of people thinking you said "NOTABLY") (7D: With distinction). The hardest Across for me to infer was AIRLEAK, since I wasn't 100% sure about KAY Ivey's name (I only know she's awful in just about every way an American politician can be awful; here's one way) (40D: Alabama governor Ivey). I'd also weirdly "misspelled" RIDABLE as RIDEBLE (I think my brain was like "I guess you spell it RIDEABLE?," realized there wasn't enough space for that, and then ... improvised). Also, the clue, [Wheezing like an ___ in an old tire and deep blushing] was about the gibberishiest thing I've seen in a crossword clue. Finally getting to AIRLEAK involved remembering UMIAK (27D: Inuit skin boat), a bit of crosswordese I haven't seen in a while (a fine enough word, but one folks are likely to need crosses for, and if you needed crosses for your Downs today, you had to wade into that story, and, well, god bless you, I'm sorry). Don't care about "GOT" so SER was slightly uncertain (64D: Title for "Game of Thrones" knights). The random Roman numeral after the random pope, also uncertain (LEOV). And then there was EDGINGS (25D: Curtain trims, e.g.). With an "S"? Plural? EDGINGS? Pretty sure EDGING is singular (as is "trim," for that matter). I'd also accept EDGEWORK. I don't know why, but I would. (Hmm, apparently that's more sociological concept than fabric concept. Nevermind). EDGINGS, you say? Huh. Feels like ELKS. Or FISHES.
- Sorry, there's no way I'm typing out that whole damned story
"How now? A rat? Dead, for a ducat, dead!" Hamlet slays Polonius, whom he mistakes for the King hiding behind the arras in Gertrude's room. Earlier, the King, realizing that Hamlet has deduced that it was he who killed his father, sent Polonius to Gertrude's chamber. Hamlet comes storming down the hall screaming "mother, mother, mother!" Polonius hides behind the wall hanging, intending to spy on the conversation and report back to the King. The queen is terrified that Hamlet intends to murder her, however, and so cries out for help. Foolishly, Polonius also cries for help, and Hamlet, thinking the King has followed him into the chamber, thrusts his sword into the drapery and kills Polonius. In the aftermath of this mistaken murder, Hamlet seems strangely untouched by his own deed, which argues for the authenticity of his madness. (enotes.com)
• • •
That's all. The sooner I put space between me and this puzzle, the better. Enjoy your corny story, or throw it in the trash, whichever. Either way, see you tomorrow.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. BIRD IN HAND??? (28D: It's a sure thing). There's "A bird in the hand" (it's worth two in the bush). There's also "hat in hand" and "cash in hand." There's even The Proclaimers' "Cap in Hand." But there is not, I'm afraid, BIRD IN HAND. There is, however—NOTEDLY—a little birdhouse in your soul. And so, here's a little musical twofer to take you into your post-crossword day. Once again, goodbye.
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260 comments:
28D should have been clued as the town in Pennsylvania.
@Rex NOTabLY before NOTEDLY at 7D.
I thought the T-shirt at 26A might be of YOdA.
Wanted the joke at 43A to be bAD or dAD so badly that I reassessed the gimme TSARS.
I wasn't familiar with the Hamlet quote (I'm more of a Macbeth person myself), so I ignored it and entered the "tIGHTNESS" of their connection. at 62A Then I tried "lIGHTNESS" before turning to "RIGHTNESS" as a last resort.
In all my time doing the NYT crossword, this was honestly one of the least satisfying solves for me.
Rex i enjoy your work but there is a “bird in hand” and it’s glorious
https://youtu.be/9xcqQDqb-KI?si=mHgwkkDpJhdc9_vn
Ugh! If all crosswords were like this one, I would find something else to occupy my time in the morning.
Good morning, Rex.
Yes, I am up unusually early & came here. When I saw who the constructor is, I decided to pass on the puzzle since he/she is my least favorite of all the constructors. I hope you post this.
I'm sorry to post this, but I'm going back to sleep. Have a good day, everyone :)
My app streak was the only reason to open this puzzle after seeing the constructor’s name. At first I was surprised that the grid looked normal, but then … nope, first reaction was right after all. I hated every minute of this.
100% agree. That was horrendous.
While I agree with you 100% about RIDABLE, NOTEDLY, and AIRLEAK, I save a little warmth for the story, less on the grounds of originality than because I bet some haters are going to come out swinging over having a story of same-sex teen love in the august NYT crossword puzzle.
I feel nothing but utter loathing for this puzzle. The worst crossword-solving experience. Ever.
This is the Rex that we love. Gentle, nuanced, encouraging, and balanced.
Are words that you don’t have to use when describing today’s piece. LOL!
When Rex winds himself up into a full rant, it’s a thing of glory. Even though I didn’t mind the change of scenery in this puzzle, I enjoyed the diatribe greatly. Don’t stop, Rex!
Tightness could have been clued as the feeling in my anus as I took this solve painfully.
This poorly constructed marlins of a puzzle was a NUSIANCE for sure. I could have chosen to SKIP it. To many made up words and expressions ISNT what I enjoy. The cherry on top was another obscure GOT reference at the finish line. My sincerest apologies to the constructors and editors for not having ever watched an episode. It WASNT my cup of tea. I would give it some props for the gentleness and sweetness of the story itself. My beef was only from a puzzle solving perspective.
This write-up is a great example of why everyone needs to donate to keep this blog going. I almost fell off my chair laughing at the unrideable bus characterization and everything after that!!!! The entire time I was solving I was excitedly awaiting the 6am synopsis - you didn’t disappoint 😂
Unlike Rex I usually like the oddball quirkiness of AES puzzles - but as Herb Brooks said not today - not this one.
This will surely END IN TEARS for most solvers
I, too, could hardly wait to read this after solving that dreck last night. Love a romantic story about my crush wheezing like an air leak in an old tire…
Honestly this is the worst puzzle I have ever seen from the NYT. There is nothing particularly clever or challenging about composing a puzzle where all the acrosses form a sequential story when you get to use fill in the blank clues and allow any random gibberish you want. Here - let me continue this enchanting story with the downs: "Ava went on to attend the Trojan mascot college of USC, where one of her homework assignments was to take a POLL of her fellow students on the best skin cream brands, including OLAY. She was hit in the head by her roommate with a soft squishy NERFBALL one night while watching a horror movie starring LON Chaney. Meanwhile Dana OBEYED his desire to be with Ava by biking across the country, and NOTEDLY his GEST was well received by her. I am sure that if I stopped telling this story right now, THAT'D be fine with you." See?! I am a crossword puzzle constructor! Please, please - in the future, consider the solver.
Worst puzzle experience I've ever had- and that's years of solving.
I also spontaneously took the painfully contrived story to be describing a same-sex relationship, but on reflection noticed that "Dana" is a unisex name (think Carvey) and Dana's gender is never indicated.
Ok maybe it took me an unusually long time to finish it, sure, but I see what the constructor was trying to do and I appreciate the variety (even if it resulted in some lame "words" like rideable and notedly). Honestly people are being too hard on a reasonable attempt at doing something uncommon.
Worst puzzle in years. But OFL’s commentary made solving it worthwhile.
Couldn’t agree more, Rex. Thank you for the tasty TMBG morsel to wash the taste out of my mouth! I’ve known every word to Birdhouse in Your Soul since I was in, I think, 5th grade? Thanks to my older brother. Still got it!
Nicely demonstrated! Yikes.
Strong candidate for the COY. Award -- Coining of the Year -- "GIBBERISHIEST", by Rex Parker.
I loved it. I loved the idea/concept, that the concept made the solve more difficult for the day, that you had the go about the solve in a unique way, and most importantly - the story was super cute and made me smile :) I’m a fan. Y’all will get your “regularly scheduled programming” back tomorrow, don’t you worry.
Carvey and Andrews notwithstanding, I took this one to be a story about a coming of age lesbian relationship, not that there’s anything wrong with that. And yeah, the fill was brutal.
“Reasonable attempt” is like giving a child a participation trophy. Sorry kid, you lost…and so did this stinker of a puzzle.
It’s hard to believe that the staff at the NYT has such little respect for their solving audience that they would try to pass this thing off as legitimate. Pathetic.
Medium? Whatever you think of it, surely it was Easy? I am not at all adept, and breezed through it.
May be the worst puzzle I’ve ever done
After the first few clues I thought this was such a cool idea for a puzzle and was so excited about it. I wanted to like this puzzle. I wanted it to be the coolest puzzle I'd ever done. I was ready to text my friend about how amazing it was. Cool idea, but the fill was so painful for me that by the end I was loathing it. Agree with Rex on all counts except BIRD IN HAND, that feels fine to me.
I’m here to add another vote to the tally: “worst puzzle ever.”
I wish this puzzle was RIDABLE, as in I wish I could have gotten RID if it without losing my streak. Agree that it is the worst one I’ve ever done. But it did give me the pleasure of anticipating the Rex rant, which delivered beautifully and may have been too nice. (He called UMIAK a “fine word.”)
Stop. Just stop. This is the most original and unique puzzle I've ever seen. Get over your superior selves about the content.
Totally with you others who found this one of the worst "puzzles" ever. Tortured language, words and phrases that barely qualify as English. A "story" that is completely without interest — not witty, not wacky, just a jumble of dumb phrases awkwardly strung together. Ugh.
Well, it was definitely from most puzzles so there’s that.
Around half way through I just hit the “reveal” button thereby breaking a three-plus year streak. It was that awful. I think it was right after I filled BORED.
@Anonymous 5:50. Dana’s gender is never mentioned.
Does anyone know (Rex does not say) if this gimmick has been done before?
Horrible. I have to say this had no redeeming feature.
Thx, Alex, what a fun story; loved it! 😊
Med.
Didn't take long to catch on to the theme; what a blast solving this one!
Was pretty much on the RIGHT wavelength all the way.
Very enjoyable adventure! :)
___
Anna Shechtman's Mon. New Yorker was easy-med. Would've been easy except for the issues in the SW, esp centered around the 'congested' / 'poet' cross. A correct (somewhat educated) guess on that crossing cell got the job done, tho. Currently watching 'Killer of Sheep' on Kanopy.
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness ~ Freudenfreude ~ Serendipity & a DAP to all 👊 🙏
Just plain ugh.
Unbelievably awful. And as a music lover and former oboe player (yes, crossworld’s favorite instrument), I might be expected to find some amusement in this NUISANCE of a puzzle. More risible than RIDABLE, that’s for sure.
At first I thought this would end in an actual proposal or something else with at least a little emotional payoff for slogging through that.
Nope.
I liked it, and I thought fitting so much crosswordese into a story was sort of parody: making that point that people don't actually talk like that. I'm disappointed it didn't mention that Ava and Dana were in ELHI.
Hated every second of this puzzle. Didn't care about the "story" or anything else. I just kept asking for it to just stop.
I'd rather have a root canal without anaesthesia than solve this "puzzle" again. Just. Make. It. Stop.
I quit half way through and came here. I was stuck due to Ridable and Airleak and ETSY/ EBAY kea/loa. Only redeeming thing was reading Rex and these comments.
I never quit puzzles but they are supposed to be enjoyable.
I can't remember when I've quit a puzzle just out of shear irritation but this one wins the honor. A total drag that I quit on very early. To paraphrase Dorothy Parker, this is not a puzzle to be tossed aside lightly, it should be thrown with great force.
I didn’t mind the idea for a one off puzzle. The problem was the execution - if well done and a coherent story it could have landed. The problem was it was just a random series of sentences to fit whatever the next word had to be and made minimal sense. There were also too many compromises in fill. Shame as it was an interesting idea.
I’ve never wanted to ragequit a puzzle before. Maybe ragequit is too far. More like indignant-quit.
Great concept but probably impossible to execute well. The first few missing words in the story were gettable because they were common phrases (once UPON a time, not LONG ago, THERE was a girl named Ava). But after that common intro it seems like an include themeless. The story isn’t great, which is to be expected given the constraints. But the clues were often ungettable. Foreign films from ____ could be any four letter country or streaming app. It turned out to be neither. School was hardly an ____ is completely ungettable. And so many of the acrosses were like this.
This makes every down a potential minefield . For those of us not versed in 30 years of croswordese, UMIAK and ORLON might as well be NATICK and NATICK.
If the story were written in a way to make the acrosses more gettable or if there were no obscure terms and bs nonwords like RIDABLE in the downs then I think this could have been a great puzzle. As it was it was a bit of a slog. I didn’t hate it like others here, but I didn’t love it either.
Finished it with one error...TIGHTNESS instead of RIGHTNESS (because I didn't know the Hamlet quote). Before I settled on TIGHTNESS I had LIGHTNESS, as in "lightness of being."
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. And if you still don't succeed, try a third time.
The sole redeeming feature of this abomination was BIRD IN HAND, which, as a native Pennsylvanian, made me think of its neighbor, INTERCOURSE.
So I've got that going for me.
Which is nice.
Awful execution if an interesting idea
Ugh! My least favorite constructor with another lousy puzzle. I did about 3/4 of it and just quit. Didn’t even bother reading the clues for the rest of it.
Sweet all around.
A sweet-feeling tale.
A sweet idea, to turn the across answers into a fill-in-the-blank story.
And sweet engineering to bring it all off.
Remarkably innovative – has this ever been done in crosswords before? Not even once. As soon as I began solving, my jaw dropped, and I thought, “OMG, what a brilliant idea.”
And a capital-P Puzzle! It required often guessing across answers from the context of the other across answers! How often do I ever remember doing that in a puzzle? Not even once. The more-traditional down answers aided in figuring out the across answers, and the combination of familiar-solve and novel-solve made for a whole new fill-in-the-grid approach. Sweet!
I found the tale adorable, actually, with its patina of innocent young love. I happily dropped all analysis, as I do when watching a cartoon, say, and just went with the flow.
Alex is pro, yes, with 46 NYT daily puzzles and many more elsewhere. Despite his large output, he’s never lost his spark, IMO, and today’s ingenious puzzle, IMO, is proof of that.
Bravo, Alex, and thank you for your sweet tale that made my heart smile, and for your astonishingly fresh creation, which made my cross-nerd side go all agog. This was a brilliant unforgettable jewel!
Awww . . . I thought it was cute.
I agree with the majority that this was an extremely irritating puzzle. After I saw what the idea was - after the second clue - I was almost ready to ditch my 7 year streak. There was nothing redeeming in the puzzle. I note that @Lewis hasn’t even posted his supportive and positive comments yet. One last thought on the fill. I had the LEAK part of AIRLEAK and couldn’t figure out what the rest of the answer was without crosses. What else would you expect to leak from a tire, corn syrup? “Oh, please fix my tire it has a slow airleak.” Never said by anyone, anywhere. Oh, I guess the fact that there was hissing meant it had to be air.
Worst puzzle I have ever done. I'm not sure why I bothered finishing it. Zero joy.
I had a totally different experience. I thought this was clever and fun! Looking forward to hearing what Lewis thought today.
I am heading out of town for a family celebration, and will be away from here for about a week. I may be able to sneak in my Monday “favorite original clues” post, though it may not show up until a few days later. Wishing all a splendid week ahead!
Absolutely horrid. Broke my streak of successful solves. Just unmitigated torture.
Alex is a man, a little googling gave me that info.
Oh, @Lewis.... Knew we could count on you for hilarity this morning. Great write-up, Rex. Dreadful, terrible, nasty, very bad puzzle. In every way.
I agree about NOTEDY and RIDABLE. Aso think that BIRD-IN-HAND should have been clued as town in Amish country PA because there is such a town!!! More accurate anyway.
Rex was altogether too gentle with this puzzle. Maybe it was an interesting idea, but it was a NOTEDLY unpleasant solve.
I…liked it? I knew Rex would hate it, but I’m surprised the hate is so nearly unanimous.. It was probably better in theory than in execution, and the grid suffered, but I enjoyed the process.
At the risk of being booted out of this group, I proudly announce that i LOVED this puzzle. When I started it, going across the top, noticing the almost fairytale mood of the story, I broke out into a silly grin, sitting by myself on the living room couch at 12:30 in the night. Thinking “I hope it goes on, I wanna hear the whole story!, how it works out in the end. What a sweet respite from everything else in the newspaper: hurricanes, racist killings, stifling heat waves, crooked politicians, you name it. And all of a sudden here’s this cute little love story, kinda “off the wall” and well-aware of its own cookiness. And along with the charm, you get an actual crossword puzzle to solve! Am I the only Romantic Cruciverbalist in this group! Shame on all you curmudgeons!
There was a time when it seemed like every Rex review was negative in the extreme, which meant that when a truly bad puzzle came out, he could not get any more negative. When he stopped speed-solving, his reviews overall became more mixed. So now, when he savages a puzzle like this one it does stand out.
For this puzzle to work for me, the story would have to be interesting in some way by itself; engaging, or with a nice twist at the end, or funny. but it was none of the above, so add me to the long list of puzzle haters today. Not the worst ever, but in the bottom five.
The worst puzzle I can recall doing in the last 10 years. I hated every minute of this. Does this setter understand what a crossword is? Wth??? Why in the world did the New York Times consider accepting this puzzle? Is it because it's now illegal ever to reject anything that projects the "joy of gayness"? Because this certainly felt like an exercise in some kind of woke virtue signalling at the expense of all crossword customers. A very bad puzzle.
I loved this puzzle & was smiling the whole way through it was pretty cute! Also genuinely enjoyed the yoga jokes
Almost gave up my streak . Hate solved through. The worst
Holy moly, such passionate opinions... I didn't enjoy this very much, but did appreciate the attempt at a unique-ish concept.
(You should read the story after you are done if you didn't. It is comically bad.)
Popping out of quiet mode to come and yell about this puzzle with all of you, that’s how much I loathed it. It’s an insult to our intelligence; if I wanted a MadLib I’d go do one with my nephew and it would likely be a smoother read. It should have never been published. Usually I try to share at least one positive point, but today? Let’s just say @Lewis’s commitment to celebrating the good in everyone has never been more inimitable.
Okay, here’s one good thing: I was on the fence about meeting up with a friend for lunch, since I’m in NYC to support my mom with surgery tomorrow. But our mutual hatred of this puzzle is so great that it made the choice for me so we could compare notes in person. So that’s nice, at least!
I think that we should take another random puzzle and make a better story out of the acrosses. This was just plain awful. YUCK!
Put me in the “worst ever” camp!
If the story had had rhyming words, or perhaps been in limerick form, it might have had some spark, but, no, it was a stupid, senseless, cringy high school band crush story with absolutely nothing to redeem it.
I also agree that many of the Downs were off.
How did this ever make the cut?
Finished it only because I was stuck in my Doctor's waiting room.
Y'all are crazy. This was great.
Unlike most of you, I liked the puzzle a lot. I look for something whimsical and different on Wednesday’s and I got that. It didn’t bother me that it didn’t solve like a normal crossword and was perhaps more difficult than the average Wednesday. I’m looking for a puzzle that makes me think a little anyway.
Cute puzzle, I’m amazed by all the hate. So many more hate-worthy things, even puzzles, out there.
Loved it! Such sweet loopiness may be forgiven a few gaffes.
I, too, took this as an LGBTQ love story, which softened my heart a little toward it. Despite having a male relative named Dana, it never occurred to me that Dana was anything other than female in this story. I’m sad to have been disabused of that notion.
My biggest gripe other than the obvious is that if you’re doing a fill-in-the-blank theme, there should not be any fill-in-the-blank answers that aren’t part of the theme. So even though Obergefell v HODGES is particularly apt for the love story I choose to continued to believe is same-sex, it should have been clued a different way.
There is a “Bird in Hand.” It’s an English pub right outside the gates of RAF Mildenhall, in Bury St. Edmunds. I’ve spent many a night lifting pints at the Bird in Hand after landing at Mildenhall either coming or going from the US.
I am really surprised by the negative responses. I had a blast reading the story and was impressed that the constructor was able to generate a readable narrative that included every single cross.
Rideable (or unrideable) is an adjective used frequently by surfers to describe the waves.
Awaiting @GILL's write up taking answers and weaving into a brand new story - which NOTEDLY will be a better.
I think the point of the puzzle was to include crossword puzzle words in the story. Obie, TGIF, Ghana and many more.
Yeah I think Dana was chosen because of its ambiguity of gender
Rex, thanks for sharing They Might Be Giants’ “Birdhouse in Your Soul” video. Makes up for everything else that was wrong with the puzzle and made my morning!
I can always be assured that if Rex hated it then I would LOVE IT ! And I did LOVE IT !
@Lewis 6:44 AM. Gibberishiest was used once before, per Google:
https://shaksper.net/archive/2015/355-march/30674-adventures-in-original-pronunciation-sp-1275632129
Ok I’m going to go against the grain here and cheer a bit for this puzzle. It’s an LGBT love story. Lame fill and clueing aside, it’s brave of the Times for publishing it.
Totally differ with many of the people that have carped on here about the puzzle. Honestly, if it was once a week, I would hate it but coming out of the blue, it was so different it was refreshing. Too many nabobs here
Did anyone else first think that Dana was wearing a YODA T-shirt, not a YOGA T-shirt? That seems like a more likely thing to buy off EBAY. By the way, this was my slowest Wednesday ever, mainly because "At! At!" sounded just as plausible a Hamlet exclamation as "A rat!" (I even tried "Lightness" crossed with "A lat!" which I believe is what Hamlet exclaimed at the gym).
Seconded. Worst crossword experience in 15 years solving the nyt
The whole time I'm working on this puzzle, I'm thinking "Hoo boy, Rex Parker is going to HATE this one." So that was a bonus. :-)
But I kinda liked it. A few eye-rollers in the story, but the idea was interesting and different at least. I'll give credit to an attempt to mix things up even if it's not a slam dunk.
Very clever of the constructor to make Dana's gender ambiguous, so the solver could read into it whatever they wanted/identified with.
I tend to mostly hate these "story" types of puzzles; these and the ones on which a usually unfamiliar (to me) quote is spread throughout the grid. Unless you happen to know the quote there's little context for what comes next, rather you rely on the crosses but it's rarely a moment of satisfaction getting one of the theme answers, not an "aha" moment, more of an "ugh, ok" moment while you plod on to the next one. Boo.
Words cannot adequately descibe how terrible this puzzle was
You liked it. No one’s criticizing you for that. So shove your “nabobs” comment. With respect.
I am always amazed that people can be preemptively outraged by the reactions they imagine that others will have. It's the bedrock of our internet age society!
Hey All !
Put me in the Liked It camp! Why not have a neat story made out of a puz? Some of the sentences are a stretch, sure, but IMO Alex nailed the oddness of some of the words just fine, in the context of telling his tale.
As a previous commentor said, it's easy enough to make a story up with the words from a puz, but this is original and kind of a nice story!
It's a crossword puz, not a dissertation about World Peace. Enjoy the ride! They are better (or worse) things to get pissed off about. This shouldn't be one of them.
Anyway, I got a kick out of the story, however you imagine the participants. Don't we all remember someone we liked, and meeting them creating a spark? That feeling has been long gone, here. Nice to relive the stirrings.
At least Dana didn't give Ava a YIDDISH NOOGIE! And they watched MONTY Python. Good enough for me. 😁
Two F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
Oddly, I enjoyed the puzzle - but only because the entire time I was solving all I could think was "can't wait to see what Rex is going to say."
In a reasonable attempt to do something uncommon i rolled a dog turd up in a tortilla for dinner. Eating it was still a more pleasant experience than solving this
Bailed early. Inane.
Been solving and checking Rex’s blog for a long time. Never cared to comment as I often disagree with Rex’s ongoing complaints. This may be the first puzzle where I was looking forward to seeing Rex’s reaction more than finishing this atrocity.
Dana could be a man or a woman.
this is the worst young-lesbian-themed puzzle I have ever done. I almost quit early. It felt like a real bad MadLibs. Too random. Finished with tIGHTNESS as well (hard copy). I normally like Wednesdays.... after the easyish Mondays and Tuesdays. This didbnt do it for me. It was different, I’ll give it that
1A (5 letters) thought: "This is 2A and 3A (3 & 9 letters), but also 4A and 5A (6 and 8 letters) and it 6A (4 letters) me, like, 7A (7 letters) -- so a thumbs-up I suppose for the 8A (7 letters) but 9A (4 letters) ever do it 10A (5 letters)!"
1A Nancy
2A New
3A Different
4A Choppy
5A Annoying
6A Took
7A Forever
8A Novelty
9A Don't
10A Again
I’m usually in minority for liking/appreciating “quote” or “riddle” puzzles…NYT or others (Newsday, Premier, etc). So, I was kinda down for this. Until…Row 2. And worse from there. Will give a nod for the concept, but boy oh boy, the execution is some kinda stepped in a Great Dane pos stinky.
I loved it as well, just for the story. It was a bit clunky because of it. Worth the payoff.
An awful puzzle for sure, although I suppose it was worthy of Johnson’s backhanded “compliment” about women preaching: it is "like a dog's walking on his hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all." That aside, RIDABLE — I think more often RIDEABLE — is a very common adjective among cyclists. But it is always used to characterize a bike (or a road) in dubious condition: “The tread on the tires is getting low but it’s ridable”. It is never used simply to characterize the mere potentiality of a bike’s being ridden!
I found this one okay, but just okay. Thought at first that it would be much easier than it proved to be.
I agree. I am sure the story constrained the creator. It had to be difficult by the end. I was hoping for a progressive response from OFL to the idea Enjoyed it thoroughly.
Unremittingly awful. Ashamed of myself for not walking out mid-solve.
More fun treating this dreck as a Madlib.
“Her prized _____”
“Ava wrinkled her ____”
Here, I’ll get you started:
Wheezing laughter like an ASSHOLE in an old tire (hey, that fits!)
“That was a F*CKING joke!”, Dana sputtered.
And crossword solvers agreed.
This Wednesday was in “corpse pose” from the get-go.
Agree!! I loved this! Very creative and fun!
I really wasn't having much fun solving this, and the otter part of me was offended, but I finished it anyway, although under protest. Highlights for me include seeing old friend UMIAK--condolences to newer solvers, but nice to see again after all these years, and being able to describe something as a "stunt puzzle". That's it, that's the list. Any puzzle that has to have AIRLEAK as an answer is a puzzle that should be rethought.
@GILL I comes up with a better story than this every Monday.
Congrats on your constructing chops, AES, but Anything and Everything Said "stop now", although I didn't. Thanks for distracting me from the awful hurricane news, at least for a while.
Muchas gracias to all who offered anniversary wishes yesterday, viz. @whatserhame, @Son Volt, @JC66, @bocamp, @Anon 2:52, who I assume was talking to me, @GILL I, @Liveprof, and @Smith. You folks and many others are why reading this blog every day is such a pleasure.
We had a low-key day but learned something from our five-year old granddaughter, who informed us that she "wears stretchy clothes to bed in case I get wider". Bet you never thought of that.
I'm in the distinct minority, but I enjoyed this. No, the fill wasn't great, and no, I wouldn't want to have a puzzle like this every day. But it was unique and creative, and it definitely stands out from the other 364 puzzles the NYT will publish this year. For me, that makes it a worthwhile effort even if it isn't a "great" puzzle, judged by typical crossword construction standards.
tldr; I enjoyed the concept and am willing to forgive the rocky fill in the service of a creative idea.
I like the concept. Solving got old quick. All the while I was thinking about how much people would complain about it. Especially Rex.
After reading the comments, I returned to the story to see if I missed the same sex aspect. While solving, this didn’t occur to me at all. I guess I never assigned, even tacitly, same genders to the story. Upon rereading, I still don’t. Ava is a her, sure, but that’s it. Am I woke?
LOVED LOVED LOVED THIS. Way to force us into downs only solve. I felt trapped in a @GILL I. story and relished every minute of it. The final love story was a bit underwhelming, but that's gonna happen with the constraints of using every answer in order. [That was a RAD joke] being the nadir. It would be surprising if an oboist and a sousaphonist actually lived happily ever after since poverty would have been their constant companion.
I think UMIAK has been in a puzzle before, but I couldn't remember it. Same with the HODGES case. And LEO V wasn't happening. Obviously crosses were tough to come by today.
Tee-Hee: Can you guess my favorite NOSE DOSES? Guess! Guess!
Oh, and unrelated follow-up: I am back home from travels in Wyoming and Montana. Stunningly beautiful places. You can still drive 90 miles an hour for hours and see absolutely nothing. And did you know that 100% of hotels allowing dogs and offering free breakfast also play Fox News blaring really loud, and according to the shows and the commercials supporting the shows ... this came as news to me ... liberals are bad. So apparently, if you're woke, you should stop doing that. I saw a young woman in Thermopolis wearing a t-shirt reading "0% Woke and 100% sick of their shit." When I was her age I wore t-shirts that said, "Pink Floyd." These days I wear Carhartt t-shirts because they last longer.
Uniclues:
1 Increased honking.
2 Eve's autobiography title.
3 Psssssts.
4 We are indeed sinking.
5 Your face.
6 Rodent offered up an engagement ring.
7 Hollywood, per haters.
1 CLARINETS ADDED
2 BORED EDEN
3 AIR LEAK SIGNALS
4 SKIP ISN'T LYING (~)
5 NERFBALL POINT A
6 A RAT OBEYED KAY (~)
7 NOTEDLY YIDDISH
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Apt reminder you'll end up dying alone having spent a lifetime failing to accomplish anything that won't be forgotten immediately upon your demise. BOASTFUL? DON'T BE..
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
In about an hour, I'm driving to the dentist for a regular checkup and bite-wings x-rays. I dread that. I have grey hair and I still gag, and it's a whole drama.
Who would have guessed that doing this crossword would be even worse?
I was wondering if I was the only one. I started my usual late night solve and then realized about a dozen answers through it that I just didn't care and went to bed. Definitely the least enjoyable one for me. I can see how somebody might find it fun, but I've never given up on a puzzle that early before.
Is it April 1st?
Worst crossword puzzle EVER
Thank you! I agree, though I will say that I sometimes struggle with Wednesdays, but this puzzle was not that hard for me, I thought it was a bit easier than I was expecting. But I so agree with everything else that you said
Belated kudos on your SCOTUS song. I sang it all the way through to myself.
A crossword where ADO, OBOE, and MALI are actual themers instead of the standard fill we put up with to make a theme work, what a fun way to subvert expectations!
Kind of a meta-commentary on crossword-ese (yes, the fill is dumb, but that's the point of the dumb story!), so I loved the conceit of this one even though I wouldn't want to solve puzzles with this kind of fill very often.
I detest Sudoku puzzles. I did them few times and found them to be a pointless and joyless slog.
Today's crossword puzzle made me want to do a Sudoku.
that (Yoda) was apparently in the first draft according to the constructor’s comments
The author notes that:
"During the editing process, I changed a single square. Can you guess which one? The editors requested that I replace EDDINGS with EDGINGS, which changed YODA to YOGA. Consequently, I turned the YODA t-shirt into a YOGA t-shirt, and the endearing YODA-speak mirroring of the original story became a groan-worthy pun on LYING.
Post-acceptance, the editors made a small change to the story. In my version, it wasn't Ava who IDLED, but rather some nearby cars. Of course, Ava was still gathering her courage, which I guess is pretty close to idling after all."
A couple more comments here: https://www.xwordinfo.com/Thumbs?author=Alex+Eaton-Salners&comments=Constructor
FWIW, I also hated solving this...it felt like nails on a chalkboard.
I started this puzzle and was immediately bored and disappointed. Not worth my time or ink. Tossed it.
I was waiting for Ava to give Dana an OREO or maybe a pet EEL so she/he wouldn’t notice her ACNE.
Wow! I thought this was fun, and enjoyably different from the usual (although I also like "usual" puzzles). Sorry to hear it seems to have ruined so many people's days.
Wow! I thought this was fun, and enjoyably different from the usual (although I also like "usual" puzzles). Sorry to hear it seems to have ruined so many people's days.
I think this was a clever way to write clues. If you look at any themeless puzzle, it would be fairly easy to write a story in clues to work through the grid. No one ever does it though (until today). So, kudos to Alex Eaton-Salners for thinking of it. But, judging from the reactions here, I wouldn’t do it again.
I'm with @Lewis and the other folks who liked the idea @CWT, @Roo - etc. I was delighted to realize all the across clues were a story. Middle schoolers with crushes. It was sweet and amusing. And it made me think of the word we had recently: MADLIB.
Really surprised by the hate-fest here!
Thought for the Day: If there were no other reason never to watch Game of Thrones, inexplicably using SER instead of SIR for a knight's title would surely be reason enough.
When I got about a third of the way through, I pulled this site up on my computer and entered the answers on my phone, keeping the puzzle on down clues. Ugh. I was recently thinking about the commenter(s?) who make a story out of the answers and how I wish there were a way to block those comments without seeing them at all. Jeez, I'm cranky today.
Worst. Puzzle. Ever.
This felt like someone found an old Madlibs book, written in a foreign language, then used Google translate to come up with all the Across clues. Utterly incoherent. Truly, monkeys on typewriters could've come up with a better "theme" than this. If this puzzle was able to pass NYT muster, I'm horrified at how bad the rejects must've been.
A puzzle only Lewis could love. While I always try to appreciate the effort to do something different, this inanity stretched the limits of my generosity. I almost pitched it at Nancy’s Wall about the halfway POINT but decided to see it see it through. I’m not commenting on the content of the “story“ – I will leave that for others to discuss if they so choose - but this was like following one of those maze puzzles on paper place mats that restaurants used to give kids to keep them occupied. It felt insulting to have one handed to me as an adult.
“Time to go binge some subtitled dramas from Asia.” said no one ever.
Agreed - my issue wasn’t with the concept, but with the execution. If a constructor could come up with a story that felt more composed, where you were using skill to solve both the across and down blanks (compared to here where the across clues felt so random), and was able to do so without the made-up works Rex pointed out, I’d be on board.
Why do you immediately jump to the conclusion it’s a same sex relationship, much less that there will be haters? I actually took the story to be about a boy-girl relationship, probably because I’ve known a lot more males named Dana than females.
C'mon folks -- how about a little sympathy -- the kid played the tuba.
I'm in the thumbs up camp - ah, young romance -- there's nothing like it, in any format.
Great post today, @Gary Jugert (10:05). Love the t-shirt. I recently saw one at Penn Station in NYC on a 35-or-so-year-old that said: "In my defense, I was left unattended."
The puzzle is bad enough as is, there’s plenty in it to complain about without having to make a Fox News esque whine about it being “woke”
Well, of course, Gill's stories are better. She doesn't have to fit them into an interlocking grid.
My heart goes out to all of you darlings whose winning streaks were snapped today.
I liked it a lot, primarily for its novelty. Big praise to AES for being able to carry off this audacious theme.
I came here today mainly just to read the comments. And most are, not surprisingly, just as I expected.
I was hoping the “cute” story would somehow have a twist, funny ending, or interesting reveal somewhere toward the end. But no. It was a trite “THEY lived happily EVER after.” Ugh. It reads like a typical story that would concocted by a love sick middle schooler in an writing assignment.
@Weezie (8:24 AM)
Praying that your mom's surgery goes well! 🙏
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness ~ Freudenfreude ~ Serendipity & a DAP to all 👊 🙏
Well, see..here's the thing. I've never met AVA and DANA. I'm happy for them, though. I mean, one totes around an OBOE and the other a TUBA. I just wondered why in the world Dana wanted to visit Timbuktu. Then I wondered if Ava convinced him/her that ACCRA would be more romantic. Imagine both of them getting on a plane with an OBOE and a TUBA. "We're off to see the Wizard....the wonderful wizard of odds." The most fun was imagining them kissing over cream SODAS. If I did that, I'm sure there'd be an AIR LEAK involved.
So their story ends with them living happily EVER after. I like happy endings.
Puzzle analysis: First: Thank you @pablito. My story would have them both living in THATD. They would be NOTEDLY BORED; their neighbor CHIP CHOO would be a NUISANCE and their lives would END IN TEARS.
@Nancy....Superisimo! As usual.
LOL, 128 comments, and it's only a smidge past 11am ET. I'll read them after I write my post, which is short: I despise this puzzle.
While the puzzle was annoying, I am glad I suffered through because it has been a delight to read the comments. Thank you Rex and all of you for making something miserable so much fun!
Well that was something. Not sure what, so I’m off to see the constructor’s note at xwordinfo & maybe return to see commentariat above, but until then I’ll just say that solving with the downs (after the top line) kept me more amused than Rex.
Burst out laughing at this comment!
Bravo!
I finished this puzzle. I would have been happier if I quit half way through. My bad.
More guessing game than crossword - Across-wise - with the answers ranging from "duh" (UPON) to "???" (TGIF). Disappointed at not being offered a gripping tale, I wondered, like some others here, if the raison d'etre of the story was to parody crosswordese, but no such luck. I ended up in the "oh, puhleeze" camp. From visits to Florida, I learned that there is such a thing as a nuisance alligator. I'm going to classify this one as a NUISANCE puzzle.
Do-overs: Awful before ADDED, EtsY before EBAY. Moment of oldster memory triumph: UMIAK.
OK, having now read all the comments...Nancy wins, for her own MadLib.
Worst puzzle ever. Poorly written and boring story.
The story of Dana and Ava is a story, just not a very interesting one. The downs were the saving grace of this puzzle.
First time ever I just hit reveal after about a 3rd of the way. No interest
Just beating this horse corpse to pieces, I know... but as has been suggested above, to make a story out of all the acrosses is nothing -- seriously, it's not a thing! You can do that with literally any themeless, after the fact, especially if you're willing to settle for a story as aimless (go anywhere random to pick off a word) as this one. To make the story idea work at all, you have to have CONSTRAINTS: rhyme, meter, alliteration -- something to kick it up a notch and earn a little respect for construction.
@Nancy 9:36 AM
Love this.
@Weezie (8:24) Hope your mom gets along OK with her surgery.
@Nancy (9:36) I loved your “rebuttal.” Absolutely brilliant! Enjoyed it far more than the main event.
@pablo (9:52) I love your granddaughter’s philosophy on her nocturnal clothing choices. Seems like a very sensible approach. As a matter of fact, I think I’ll start applying it to my daytime wardrobe as well. 😄
Krossword Karen loses it over poem themed crossword puzzle.
Wow. Over 150 comments and it isn’t even 9 AM Pacific. At the very least this one generated “interest”.
Put me in the tiny “loved it” camp. Made me smile. KNEW Rex would HATE it & the review didn’t disappoint.
I haven’t read all of the comments yet but want to point out that tonight there is a *blue moon* (full moon Aug 1 and again tonight). So maybe there will only be a puzzle like this once in a blue moon! (If that’s any consolation to the 95% of the commenters here who loathed this puzzle.)
I *think* part of point was to fit in as much crosswordese / “regular” crossword words as possible. OBOE TGIF EDEN IDLED ERA EBAY ADO MALI & GHANA & ASIA. So although these answers don’t necessarily “flow” with the story they all fit in their own way.
(I realize that many here are still going to say they dislike this puzzle!)
@IrishCream 7:30 AM
They kissed over cream soda. How is that not the emotional payoff?
har. Well, yep, this *was* different. And M&A does kinda like different. Desperate luv stories … doubtful from the solver reactions that this'll become a regular popular type of theme mcguffin at the NYTPuz.
Notedly, the luv story actually started out pretty reasonably, until we got to somewhere around LYFT. Then things started to notedly drift. At times the story got about as messy as a bird in yer hand might become. Nice recovery, down at the THEY-EVER bottom edgins, tho.
M&A woulda had a lot more fun, workin AIRLEAK SIGNALS into the story. "Man, I'm gettin some fierce ___ ___ -- shouldn't had all four of them 68-Acrosses … etc." Just sayin.
staff weeject pick: ADO. As in Much ADO About Neuron.
Thanx for makin the blog explode with comments, Mr. Eaton-Salners dude. Now I wanna do a runtpuz sorta like this. [They already get no respect, so the risk is minimal.]
Masked & Anonymo3Us
p.s. Still no fix for the runtpuz tech problems. If it can't be fixed, may just post one here, without prior test solver tests, eventually. Gonna give it some more time, tho.
Just want to add two positives. My daughter and I enjoyed it a lot though we had some difficulty completing it. And we both had the same one letter error — tightness instead of rightness (I guess we need to brush up on our Shakespeare). Which is really what the NYT puzzle is all about; that is, speaking to a very broad swath of xword puzzle doers who do it for different reasons. If everybody loves a puzzle it would show, at least to me, that only a narrow group is the intended audience. I often disagree with Rex. So if the Times had only puzzles that would always suit him, they would probably lose me and many others. There’s a big world out there — even bigger than Rex and his followers.
Well, whether the puzzle is good or bad is a matter of taste, but the popular vote thus far is a landslide in opposition (of the execution certainly if not the concept as well). I believe we may have had a stinker similar to this one in 2022 - I don’t recall the details, but I believe it was an indecipherable gimmick/theme that resulted in a grid full of gibberish. The popular vote was also about 95% unfavorable. I think that one may have been even worse than this one - as this was at least do-able, but really boring. I wonder if this rings a bell with anyone.
"Dana" can go either way (so to speak) so it's up to the solver to decide what sort of love story is told here. Personally, I think they're both too young to make such a commitment.
There is also a Bird in a Cage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmZ3Z7Dh0NY
What’s with all the hate? Not every crossword needs to be some technical marvel that inspires a feeling of deep awe upon completion. Sometimes a constructor just has an interesting idea for a theme, and you can just fill it in and go “oh, cool, that was different” and move on with your day! Personally I enjoyed it quite a bit, I thought the mad-libs vibe was fun and the story was cute, but I guess Shortz should have had all you boomers playtest this one before he slated it for the Wednesday slot. (Again, this is the Wednesday puzzle, it’s not exactly the pinnacle of creativity or difficulty, maybe I get some of the distaste if it was Thursday or Saturday, but what’s so terrible about a Wednesday experiment?) Anyways I encourage all of you to go try the USA Today crossword, any of them ever, and see if you’re still complaining about this one after. Lighten up! Clearly none of you haters have ever been involved in a storybook lesbian band camp romance where you make crappy puns about yoga and discuss your favorite African tourist sites before kissing over… what was it again… cream sodas? Does this story take place in 2023 or 1953? Doesn’t matter I still liked it.
Gill I. from yesterday, on your 2004 Ford Taurus that you hope to take to the grave with you -- you reminded me of a joke.
This very rich guy in a small town in Arkansas puts in his will that he is to be buried in his white Cadillac convertible. So he dies and the undertaker sets his body up in the Cadillac. Two little local kids are watching the burial from a nearby hill. As the Cadillac is lowered into the grave, one turns to the other and says, "Man, that's livin'"
As did I. Maybe some of the words were silly like Ridable but I’ve seen worse. It was different. A twist not seen before. Not so bad at all!
I didn't mind the concept, but the story went off the rails after CLARINETS – everything clunked until "happily EVER after". To say this needed script revisions is an understatement.
But it's just a crazy game
When it ends, it ends in tears
It was a great puzzle. The names Ava and Dana were clearly parodying crosswordese. I actually enjoyed it. The format of the story didn't allow for any multiword answers, which surely constrained tbe constructor. No awful USTOO or SOAMI.
Blanket.
DNF. When your heart can STOP you have BIRD ON HAND and UMIAT which sounds totally plausible that I couldn't find my error. I've never heard of an UMIAK so that effed me up, fam.
Welp. I’ve been busy with the somewhat stressful experience of buying new car/selling old and what do I come back to? Yikes!
I’m usually pleased with about every puzzle, um. Let me say my feelings today were nicely summarized by @Nancy and @egs. But, I have to give kudos to @Roo…while I can be disappointed with a puzzle, @Roo very nicely points out…no need to get one’s panties in a bunch!
@weezie…I hope everything goes aces with your mom’s surgery tomorrow! Just remember it ALWAYS takes longer than you think it will cuz the surgeon just approximates their their time.
@pablo…hilarious about granddaughter! Similar but different…my daughter will turn 40 next month. I learned early what a comfort hound she was when she around 5 and her aunt had given her some very cute pjs for Xmas. She turned to her Aunt and very seriously said…Thanks Aunt X, these are very pretty but I can’t sleep with lace scratching me…
Then there's the neighboring Blue Ball, PA.
Reminds me of the most inane children's stories that my kids forced me to read. Not the good ones, but the dumb ones that they somehow loved, over and over. Sam the Firefly, I'm talking about you.
I should add that I'd still take this over a themeless Sunday. Those are hands down the worst.
Couldn’t agree more. This is the worst puzzle I’ve seen in my 10 years of doing them. Inane.
wow this truly was a sadistic experience I rode to the finish.... the pain was almost addictive and yeah I read the story - I hope nobodys love life is this poorly imagined! so painful!
I stopped at 23 across. I counted on Rex and most of his commenters to thoroughly pan it. Thanks, all.
Count me among those who had fun with this one, and a very easy solve. Maybe because I write stories. I'm a bit surprised at the rancor expressed here. Is it because there were no little circles, bow ties or rap stars? 😀
Yay for a story of queer young love, but Jesus Christ this was a miserable puzzle.
Medium-tough for me because story. Whooshing was not an option. I’m in the “interesting/novel idea but flawed/tortured execution” camp. Didn’t hate it.
...and a belated congrats to Pablo!
- I too assumed it was 2 females; then again, I assumed Alex was as well for no apparent reason.
- I didn't mind doing something different for a day. When I saw what was going on, I did all the downs first, then the story basically wrote itself. Cute idea worth doing once:)
- I figured Lewis would be on a lonely island today after most comments.
- The puzzle reminded me of the stories that come out on this blog every Monday, but not as humorous.
- Hey Nancy, I can recommend a good contractor to repair your wall.
@Masked and Anonymous 11:52 AM
I for one respect the runtz, even though I can't do them, so I usually just do a reveal and read the hilarious clues.
Exactly, johnk. Every week especially Thursdays we get puzzles with gimmicks such as missing letters or words, backwards answers, answers that go outside the grid, symbols or entire words in a square, etc etc. (Not to mention the obligatory clues involving the Simpsons almost every day.) I loathe all these things and have started skipping the gimmick puzzles. This one used only words, which to my mind are the only things that should be in crosswords.
Oh, my goodnsss! I didn't love the puzzle (fell asleep after starting it last night, then finished it after a doctor's appt. this morning), BUT I love the comments. This may have been the worst puzzle for many in years and years, but it is the best comment thread ever!!
@Pabloinnh - sorry I am late with wishes for your anniversary - but here they are with warm wishes for this next year!
@weezie - hope all goes well with your mother tomorrow.
I will name myself today and no longer be anonymous!
@Pamela 7:14am highly disagree. It’s not like the words were even chosen to build a story; a clunky slog of a story was forced in around a terrible word list. Big whoop. Sure, maybe original and unique, but doesn’t take a “superior self” to see there’s nothing clever or skillful about it.
Yes getting to listen to one of my favorite songs made it worth solving that awful puzzle!!!!
I absolutely loved it! The story was fun and the clues were funny, just perfect for a cool August morning. Sure, there were a few glitches, but to complete the story they were worth it! I love musical stories, almost reads like a YA graphic novel…and i loved the references to Monty Python, Nat King Cole and of course, oboes, clarinets and tubas! Happy Intracalmonthal-biplenilune, which some people call a Blue Moon!
I took it as an homage to Gill’s stories, plus preempting her.
If anyone is interested & needs their xword fix, Will Nediger is at the NYer.
Normally I find Rex to be a bit harsh, but not this time. This was indeed the worst NYT puzzle ever. A dog turd in a tortilla.
I was thinking about this wrong. At first, I just thought the theme was overwrought and too cutesy by half. But now I think it's more just cheap. The theme answers have nothing in common but the story. You could literally take any random assortment of words and build a semi-coherent story around them like this puzzle.
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