Worm found in every ecosystem on Earth, even the deepest oceans / WED 10-2-24 / Literary ___ / A public speaking coach might tell you to avoid these

Wednesday, October 2, 2024

Constructor: Luke K. Schreiber

Relative difficulty: Hard (13:05)


THEME: ANIMAL CROSSING — Nintendo video game series suggested by every answer running through this one?

Theme answers:
  • [U.C. Irvine athlete] for ANTEATER
  • [Worm found in every ecosystem on Earth, even the deepest oceans] for NEMATODE
  • [Experiment subject] for GUINEA PIG
  • [Dollar, informally] for CLAM
  • [Complain (about)] for CARP
  • [Literary ___] for LION
  • [Religious figure in red] for CARDINAL
  • [Cupid, e.g.] for REINDEER
  • [Airhead] for DODO
  • [Member of a historically privileged U.S. group] for WASP
  • [Close tightly] SEAL
  • [World's largest venomous snake] for KING COBRA
  • [State fossil of Indiana] for MASTODON
  • [Jungle peeper] for TREE FROG
Word of the Day: NEMATODE —
The nematodes, roundworms or eelworms constitute the phylum Nematoda. They are a diverse animal phylum inhabiting a broad range of environments. Most species are free-living, feeding on microorganisms, but many species are parasitic. The parasitic worms are the cause of soil-transmitted helminthiases.
• • •

Hey squad! It's Malaika here, for your regularly scheduled Malaika MWednesday! I solved this while listening to one of Sabrina Carpenter's new songs. I loooove a sad woman who sings with a guitar! My favorite genre.

I really struggled to get a start with this puzzle-- I wasn't able to put in an answer until I hit ETS, nine entries into the puzzle. For me, that's a hard Wednesday. I suspected this wouldn't be a standard theme (i.e., 3-4 long across answers + one revealer) because of the shape of the grid, and indeed, I had literally no idea what was going on until I hit the revealer in the center. (I usually solve in order, so it took me a while to get there.) At that point, I was a little frustrated. The puzzle was hard for me, and I am really not a gamer at all, so I was preparing myself to have no idea what the theme was. But that wasn't the case!!

I've never played ANIMAL CROSSING, but I absolutely have heard of it from friends, The Internet, etc. And even if you don't know the game, you still understand the concept of animals crossing through the entry. Is every animal in this puzzle an animal that is in Animal Crossing? I have no idea, though my guess would be no. Playing as a NEMATODE does not seem cute and fulfilling, to be quite honest.


This is a real feat of construction, to have so many thematic entries all stacked like that! I can't even begin to think how I would approach making something like this. Actually I know how-- I would have the idea and then immediately go "Nope, that's impossible; moving on." As with every feat of construction, there are some trade-offs. I have never heard the word TEASEL before and I expect I never will again. And that top left corner, with NUMISMATIST, USURER, DOMINI, ERIN, and SENECA was where I spent roughly half of my solve time.

It seems like there was a concerted effort to clue the animals in non-animal ways, when possible. SEAL, for example, was clued as the verb. I liked this touch, which kept the theme hidden from me until I made it over to the down answers and clocked the revealer. Otherwise, I would have noticed all the animals much earlier and the gears would have started turning. I like to be tricked a little by the revealer and then go "Ohhhhh!"

Speaking of animals, this is a baby hippo called Moo Deng.
Will we remember his name six months from now???

The last thing I want to talk about it is only a little bit relevant to this puzzle. But I've been given a soapbox to stand on, so I will use it! (You are welcome to keep scrolling.) In the world of puzzles (the Crossworld, if you will), there's an ever-present tension between wanting to include entries that are "fresh," wanting to ensure that a large part of your audience is familiar with the entry, and handling the turnaround time between creating a puzzle and having it reach solvers. If there's a slang term that Kids These Days are using all the time, should it be in a crossword now, or should it wait until a broader audience is familiar with it? Or if you wait, will the term vanish from our lexicon?? Different publications have different goals and different timelines.

The Times, with its long turnaround time (typically a year from Creation to Publish) and its frequently-published collections, tries to avoid fads, while still including newish terms that they think will have Staying Power. Meanwhile, an outlet like Vulture magazine*, whose puzzles are posted weeks after creation and then sort of disappear into the void days later, leans in to incredibly flash-in-the-pan entries. If "Animal Crossing" were to appear in a Vulture puzzle, it would have run in 2020, when "New Horizons" was released. When it appears in The Times, it runs in 2024, once the game has cemented itself culturally. (Some people might even think this is years after it's cemented itself!!)

Since I've been making puzzles (which is not long! Four-ish years.) it feels like the number of places that are publishing puzzles has tripled. This is good for so many reasons, but one of my favorites is that each publication gets to have its own goals. Five years ago, I think there was a lot more frustration that The Times was unwilling to accept ultra-current entries which could very well become "out" before the puzzle had even been published. Now, those entries find homes in places like the aforementioned Vulture crossword and so many others.

My roommate's KATANAs-- see below for the story

Stepping down from my soapbox now for some bullet points.

Bullets:
  • [Samurai sword] for KATANA — When I was twenty, I borrowed my dad's minivan for a couple of weeks to help me move into my apartment. I let my roommate know that if he needed any furniture, he could find stuff on Craigslist and I could drive him there to pick it up. He let me know that he had found something to pick up. I remember thinking "Oh, good!" because this boy did not have a dresser, nightstand, or bed frame. We drove to collect his purchase and it was a set of three katanas.
  • [Natty dresser] for DANDY — This clue skewed a little old-fashioned to me; I was surprised to find out the constructor is a teenager. Honestly, I only ever hear the word "natty" in relation to a Natty Light.
  • [It might need to be recapped] for PEN — I loved the misdirect here!!
  • [Fivers] for ABES — If you have ever used this term to refer to a five dollar bill, please let me know in the comments! I'm not convinced that anyone does this.
xoxo Malaika

*I write puzzles for Vulture magazine and it is delightful to include ridiculous slang like WORK ISLAND, BRAT SUMMER, and NEPO BABY, without needing to worry if people don't know what those are a month from now.

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

77 comments:

Anonymous 2:16 AM  

NEMATODE? Sorry, that ruined the day for me.

J. Jones 2:20 AM  

This one skewed east for me, as Wednesdays go. I too struggled to gain steam with a misspelled DOMeNI being my first entry, and GUINEA PIG being my first correct entry. But after this rough start the majority of acrosses fell into place with a suspicious lack of resistance. Down cemented most of them as right, and made for easy corrections on most wrong entries (the revealer, being a familiar and immediate plug-in for me, correcting my slang dollar from buck to CLAM).

I also had the most trouble with the NW corner. Probably spent an extra 4 minutes just trying to dial it in.

But overall, I’ll say that I was delighted by the theme. I was also left scratching my head on what the theme was (three money related clues: 22a, 28a, 3d we’re my best guess) until I got to the revealer - which was an absolute joy. I knew exactly what the answer was, and then got so excited to see all the animal answers crossing the themed which had eluded me due to the clever theming. Great! Love it! Beautiful construction!

Overall, I throughly enjoyed it. Just felt it was more appropriate for a Tuesday level puzzle.

okanaganer 2:30 AM  

Hi Malaika. Love your roommate's KATANA. And hands up for admiring the feat of construction, well done! And also having never heard of TEASEL.

I solve in Across Lite and to start I was adjusting the grid display to accommodate the longest clues if possible, so saw the loooong clue for 14 down and right off-- totally ignorant of Nintendo game series-- knew the answer must be ANIMAL CRACKERS. Well, it fit, but it turns out noooo! After cleaning up that mess, still finished in 7.5 minutes.

Never seen a TREE FROG but some years ago at our cabin we had flying squirrels. Now, they are fairly entertaining! Flying from tree to tree: "tick"... "whoosh"... "splat". And, for some evolutionary reason, those big buggy eyes.

jae 2:30 AM  

Just a skosh easier than medium for me. Rock before REDD (who was a WOE) was it for erasures.

Cute theme with relatively junk free grid given the constraints, liked it.

@Malaika - I’ve never called $5 bills ABES and I’ve never played ANIMAL CROSSING but I did know it was a NES game.

….and I just did an indie puzzle where BRAT SUMMER was an answer I also knew.

Anonymous 2:48 AM  

“”Playing as a NEMATODE does not seem cute and fulfilling…” you don’t even play as an animal in Animal Crossing, you’re the only human character, you just moved to a new town (at least in the original Animal Crossing) and you’re permanently in debt. Looks like there are “speedruns” that manage to pay off the whole debt but they take a looong time.

IMO a more interesting take on the ANIMAL CROSSING revealer was the Universal from Friday 03/18/2022. You get four pairs of crossing animals but they’re clued as if the crossing letters weren’t there (so there’s CLOWNFISH x FINCH with clues for CLOWNISH and INCH, etc.). The revealer ANIMAL CROSSING helps you figure out how to fill those apparently unchecked squares.

I started like Malaika with just ETS and ERIN ringing a bell, though I didn’t fill it in. Only LAB RAT came to mind right away at 18A and not GUINEA PIG. I finally got started with KATANA ETON ROCK (wrong). And I once again managed to look at every clue in a corner (NW) except the one gimme (DOMINI).

Is “literary lion” a phrase? Google autocompletes it with “crossword”, the answer being ASLAN of course.

Anonymous 5:16 AM  

top right too many names- worm, mascot, actor, jedi. Otherwise it was a little unusual - nicke and dime- and interesting.

JJK 5:20 AM  

Nice write-up, Malaika and I found your soapbox comments very interesting. The NYT crossword is the only one I do, and I was glad to learn a little more about the world of crossword construction.

I thought there were a few challenges here, but mostly found it to be not too hard. I didn’t know the ANIMALCROSSING game but it was easy to get from crosses and I think I have heard of it. Very clever and quite a feat to get so many animals crossing the revealer.

Hand up for never having heard of the TEASEL plant. DANDY is definitely old-fashioned, as is BARKER. Do those still exist?

Conrad 5:44 AM  


Easy-Medium for me. I didn't read the clues for the revealer and the longer acrosses until after I finished, so I had a nice "aha moment."

Overwrites:
44A: Around here, we hAndLE our problems before we TACKLE them
61D: And we go to the MAll before we go to a MART

WOEs:
ANTEATER as a college mascot (14A)
EDA LeShan at 43D
@Malaika TEASEL at 70A

I agree about ABEs. Never heard of it outside of crossworld.

Stuart 5:48 AM  

I’ve never used “Abes” to mean $5 bills. Neither have I used “Bens” to mean hundreds. What’s next? Toms ($2) and Andys ($20)?

Rick Sacra 6:25 AM  

I loved this puzzle! Thanks, Luke! Great and relatively innovative theme, so dense with all those long entries like anteaters and nematodes and king cobras and mastadons! Very dense, amazing to get 'er done with relatively little dreck! Thanks for the entertainment. A little over 10 mins, which is better than average for a Wednesday for me, so I guess I was on your wavelength. Great write-up, Malaika. : )

Adam 6:37 AM  

ABES was kind of common slang for $5 bills (a/k/a fins, which was my first entry) in the 60s and 70s, maybe earlier--referring, of course, to ABE Lincoln's portrait on the front. A Jackson is a $10, a Hamilton a $20, etc.

Medium for me--I finished in just under my average time. But WTF is a TEASEL? I put in sEASEL because I figured it was some weird sea thing, but no. OTOH, I really liked the theme and its execution. Except for TEASEL.

SouthsideJohnny 6:50 AM  

Good example of an ambitious theme putting a lot of stress on the grid so you end up with a bunch of stuff like NEMATODE, MASTADON, KATANA, REDD, REY etc sprinkled throughout the grid. Fortunately, the constructor held it together and even snuck in some cool stuff like NUMISMATIST and Bonnie and Clyde (for a moment I thought Rex would object to having BANK ROBBERS in the grid - then I remembered, misogyny and Glocks and DRE, in, venture capitalists, out). So kudos to the constructor for an ambitious effort, although with some of the wildlife was a little on the arcane side.

EasyEd 6:54 AM  

Thought ANIMALCROSSING was fun theme and well done construction. Played hard for me because of Rock/REDD confusion and PRTEAM. Should have gotten both from the crosses but this morning brain nodes were not working. Got TEASEL from the crosses but a totally unfamiliar word. TREEFROGs often show up at night latched on to our cabin windows with tiny suction cups on their toes—at least that’s what we think they are…

Pamela 7:09 AM  

A teasel is a wild thistle. You'll see them growing by the side of highways.

Ed Rorie 7:24 AM  

T. S. Eliot may have been the last literary lion before they went extinct. (“When you leave Purgatory, please turn out the light.”)

Anonymous 7:28 AM  

Big buggy eyes because they are nocturnal.

Andy Freude 7:37 AM  

When the day finally comes, I’ll happily call twenties Harriets.

pabloinnh 7:38 AM  

Well I started with ANTEATER. Used to know lots of college mascots. Also am familiar with Mr. NEMATODE, but I have never tried to spell it. Misdirected by the "jungle" part of the TREEFROG clue, as they are common around here.

I've never heard of, let alone played ANIMALCROSSING and it required nearly every cross. I had to go back and find all the ANIMALs as by the time I got them all filled in I had forgotten about the themer clue. Neat trick.

Never have said ABES for fives. Nice to see old friend RIA.

As others have said, I nifty feat of construction. A little chewier than most Wednesdays and that's fine. Nice job, LKS. I Like Knowing Stuff that's a little obscure, and there was a nice sample here, so thanks for all the fun.

Hey @Roo-no pablo's today, but my last name appears as 7A. I'm claiming fifty points, which makes me only a billion behind.

As

John Hoffman 7:45 AM  

Northeast was hard for me: NEMATODE, REDD, KATANA, ANTEATER.

Dr.A 8:13 AM  

I found it took a while to get a foothold but as soon as I came up with ANIMAL CROSSING it really took off and I found it very fun. There was definitely a lot of “Xword ese” but as a biologist NEMATODE made me laugh. I thought “it can’t be! But it is!” Sorry, not sorry, I loved that bio trivia. KATANA has appeared enough times that I know it, DANDY is a classic Xword word and I never see it elsewhere, and DRE! For sure that clinched it for me. Fun fun fun for a Wednesday.

RooMonster 8:46 AM  

Hey All !
Holy Moly, all the crossers that touch the Center Down Revealer are types of animals/fauna. My goodness, how tough was this puz to construct?

And, the fill was good! Willing to let a lot of stuff go when a feat like this is done. Worst thing I see is TEASEL. And any puz with cutie/ great tennis player Monica SELES is aces with me.And And it starts with an F!

Plus, nice Long Downs, and funky looking Blockers in the center. Har.

Great puz, Luke. Very ambitious to even try. My brain hurts just thinking about filling this!

Happy Wednesday, all !

Two F's
RooMonster
DarrinV

John Walsh 9:01 AM  

I think the inconsistency in the theme cluing is a flaw. Either clue them all for the animal that they are, or clue them with a non-animal meaning. To me, the mixing seems to be a weakness. I appreciate the difficulty here since some answers can only be clued as animals, but then that seems to call for cluing them all as animals.

But I'm just a cryptozoologist, so what do I know?

JT 9:07 AM  

REDD / REY /NEMATODE in the NE corner...all unfamiliar. Didn't feel like a Wednesday.

Sam 9:14 AM  

Pretty easy but spent 1/3 of my solve time looking for an error. Had RAY/NEMATODA.

Anonymous 9:18 AM  

Same here, JT. Pretty tough double Natick for a Wednesday.

Trinch 9:23 AM  

The fact that "ANIMALCROSSING" and "SUPERMARIOBROS" have the same number of letters really threw me off at first. I suppose that's what I deserve for starting with a long clue and too much confidence.

Anonymous 9:37 AM  

Great writeup as always, but one small correction that needs justice: Moo Deng is a female baby pygmy hippo, not male. And I really hope we will remember her name in six months

Sonnig Freitag 9:43 AM  

Barker? Maybe at a carnival, many years ago.

Beezer 9:44 AM  

Puzzle played easier and even a tad quicker than Mailaka, and had some nice resistance at times to keep it interesting.

So. I am a big adherent of Joaquin’s Dictum with puzzles. Gotta say I’m a bit familiar with Indiana. There is a large Devonian fossil bed on the banks of the Ohio River across from Louisville, Ky…so I immediately thought “trilobite”! Hmmm. Too long. Fred the MASTODON was uncovered in 1998. 80% of his actual bones (plus tusks) are assembled. Is Fred a fossil or is Fred a skeleton? All copy editors and proofreaders can weigh in…

Whatsername 9:53 AM  

A puzzle built entirely around a video game? Oh. Living in the Midwest, I know a deer CROSSING when I see one, but 14D might as well have been ANIMAL CRACKERS for all of my Nintendo knowledge. Probably a satisfying accomplishment for the constructor and a fun solve for those fluent in the gamer lexicon, but EVER SO meaningless to me.

Anonymous 10:15 AM  

Hard. DNF. NW corner did me in. Never recovered from ANTElope crossing two names I only vaguely recognize after seeing the answers. Plus I somehow misread George Orwell as George Lucas and was pretty sure he went to USC, so how does that fit? The only college I could think of that fit with ANTElope was hope college, but that seemed farfetched.

egsforbreakfast 10:17 AM  

Me: Do you think I should confess to being an airhead?
Mrs. Egs: DODO!
Me: But am I not the king of our castle?
Mrs. Egs: You'll always REINDEER.

Did you hear about the newly discovered Tennessee Williams play about a Samurai sword on top of a house in summer? It's called KATANA Hot Tin Roof.

I enjoyed this TEASEL TENSER of a puzzle. Thanks, Luke K. Schreiber.

Greater Fall River Committee for Peace & Justice 10:23 AM  

I knew TEASEL well. When I was 15 and my dad decided to move 3 states away and demand a divorce, he also demanded I spend Christmas with him. We had a nice Christmas tree at home, he had put up nothing in his bachelor pad. I was walking in a nearby scrubby area and spotted a 6'-tall dried up teasel plant with all its dried seedpods on it, it was Christmas tree shaped. I brought it to the apartment. I had about enough money to buy a can of silver spray paint, so I sprayed it and tied on ribbons from whatever presents were lying around. It sort of fit that season. Very prickly.

Gary Jugert 10:24 AM  

Hagamos una lasaña de palabras.

A random member of our esteemed Anony-moti begged for commiseration late Monday to help grapple with his fatigue at my indulgent meandering word salads. So today, I'm done. No more word salads. Only word lasagna going forward.

Wasn't today's theme a delicious and spicy meaty red sauce with ricotta cheese layered in a beautiful pasta dish with a CLAM? I've never heard of the video game but holy moses, every letter crossed by a YEDI or some other beast. It's magical and silly.

I loved every minute of this. The NEMATODE/REDD cross wasn't ideal, and ERIN Burnett isn't anybody I know, but TREE FROG, MASTODON, and KING COBRA layered in with all those other critters is bellissimo.

ETS are real, but Santa Claus isn't? Are we sure?

Always love a @Malaika MWednesday.

Propers: 9
Places: 2
Products: 3
Partials: 11 (rats)
Foreignisms: 3
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 28 of 79 (35%)

Funnyisms: 2 😕

Uniclues:

1 Best dog.
2 One in the make-up testing labs.
3 Leader of the spin doctors.
4 Rough up Rudolf.
5 What Jewish woolly mammoths eat on Christmas.
6 Privileged plunderers.

1 FINEST BARKER
2 GUINEA PIG DANDY
3 PR TEAM CARDINAL
4 TACKLE REINDEER (~)
5 MASTODON LO MEIN
6 ETON BANK ROBBERS

My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: One who sat up straight for a bit. SLOUCHER HAD IT.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Adrienne 10:28 AM  

Moo Deng is a girl, and I will remember and love that sassy, bitey broad for all my days. (Probably. Hopefully.)

Great writeup, Malaika! I loved your deep dive on different puzzle venues' goals and styles.

jberg 10:37 AM  

It is certainly an ambitious theme -- there are so many theme answers that I thought at one point there were extraneous non-theme animals, but no, there are not. Impressive. And I liked the variety of animals, extinct and extant, mammals, birds, snakes, nematodes, mollusks, amphibians, fish and most of them clued as non-animals.

It was also a nice touch to clue the section of the paper the puzzle is in; this may have been a little harder for online solvers, but probably not by much. And who doesn't love a puzzle with BANK ROBBERS and a NUMISMATIST?

I guess EXALT/EXtol are a kealoa, so I waited for the crosses. And I was hoping that the protector against stains would be a saint, not an APRON-- but you can't have everything.

Now I'll go read Rex and the rest of you to see if anyone knew what a TEASEL was.

Tom T 10:39 AM  

Hidden Diagonal Word (HDW) clues:
1. Ginger or pepper
2. Pitch altering instrument

Completely undone by the NE. Couldn't see any possibility other than ANTElope for the mascot. Couldn't come up with KATANA (which is word I only encounter in crosswords), even though I am currently seeing them every night as I watch Shogun! Never heard of actor REDD. Finally had to hit the REVEAL button.

Answers:
1. SPICE (the C is in the center square of the grid, which begins 40A, CARDINAL)
2. CAPO (off the C in 52D, ALCOVE)

Bob Mills 10:45 AM  

Cheated in the NE and still couldn't finish the puzzle. Had NEMATODA (after verifying it online) only to learn it was NEMATODE. Why is a BARKER a show advertiser? Because he barks through a megaphone? Of all the ways to clue BARKER, "show advertiser" might be the most far-fetched. Yuch.

Michelle Wood Turner 10:45 AM  

Nematode was my first entry. I didn’t mean to be anonymous.

Anonymous 10:48 AM  

Oh, about crosswordese in general, not this particular puzzle. I was just reading the Times comments on last night's debate, and one of them mentioned that Vance wore a CERISE tie. A different commentator called it 'hot pink'. If you, like me, have always wondered what that color is, there you have it. What's next, PUCE?

Carola 10:50 AM  

Very cute - a witty play on "CROSSING" and a nice job at disguising as many of the ANIMALs as possible. I hadn't heard of the game, but the -IMA- that I had in place suggested ANIMAL, and then CARDINAL's C plus the helpful clue wording got me CROSSING. I enjoyed seeing the animals lining up, one after another and the inclusion of both the lowly but ubiquitous (NEMATODE) and the majestic but extinct (MASTADON).

Me, too: hard to get started in the NW - it took me a long time to see FINEST FUDGE.
Glad to see: TEASEL, which the Spelling Bee refuses to recognize.

Anonymous 10:50 AM  

Wasn't that hard. But, NUMISMATIST is some bullshit

jberg 10:59 AM  

Well, someone did know TEASEL! Thanks, @GreaterFallRiver!

I started with the NW, which was easy for me, with USURER and DOMINI. But I wondered -- if the best of the best is the FINEST, is the finest of the finest the best?

The NE was tougher, since I didn't know either the Jedi or the sword. In fact I thought it was REn, another character, so until DANDY occurred to me I was stuck.

I don't think I've heard ABE for a fiver. When I was growing up I sometimes heard, or at least read terms like fin and sawbuck, but was never quite sure how much each was.

Nancy 11:13 AM  

What self-respecting athlete calls himself an ANTEATER? I mean really!

And when you also don't know either the worm...or the Jedi... or Chris, the comic actor, what you're going to end up with is a big fat DNF in the NE corner.

Which I did. And I struggled in a lot of other places too. Overall I found this pretty joyless.

Whatsername 11:16 AM  

The tie was the first thing I noticed. Made me wonder if he was trying to court the “pink” vote. But I think that ship has sailed.

Anonymous 11:26 AM  

The Spelling Bee also refuses to accept ANNUITANT. The other day they had a puzzle that included ANNUITY, which they allowed, and ANNUITANT, which they disallowed. I've previously told them, politely, that anyone who receives an ANNUITY is an ANNUITANT (including every Social Security recipient). They simply don't listen to criticism. not even polite criticism.

Beezer 11:29 AM  

I did not know TEASEL.

Anonymous 11:36 AM  

Carnival barker

M and A 11:43 AM  

14 themers and a 14-long revealer crossin all the themers. 90 of the 200 letters in the puzgrid was puztheme material. day-um. And then the constructioneer still had to fill the remainin 110 squares with intelligible stuff [plus TEASEL & LOMEIN].
M&A standin ovation.

OK, back sittin, again.
staff weeject pick: ETS. Cuz some of em might be animals.

fave stuff: MEOWS. HOOFS. NUMISMATIST. BANKROBBERS.

Thanx, Mr. Schreiber dude. U definitely used some serious themer Force here, Luke. Great job.

Masked & Anonymo4Us

p.s. And thanx to @Malaika darlin, for her impressive soapboxin, standin up for all the non-themed vultures out there.

**gruntz**

Anonymous 12:14 PM  

Don't do Nintendo so no idea of 14d. However found it fairly easy from crosses except 46a had dope not dodo. This of course made it " animalcressing" which seemed plausible at the time! ( did correct it in the end)

Walk Away Reneé 12:42 PM  

Wow. That was a perfect piece of flash memoir. Thank you for the very moving story, and so sorry for the bad time(s) you endured. You’ve turned your pain into art.

mathgent 12:53 PM  

UC Santa Cruz athletes are the Banana Slugs. No kidding: California's state slug is the banana slug.

mathgent 1:00 PM  

Marriott has a new timeshare on Waikiki, on the Diamond Head side. They bought a hotel there and upgraded it. We'll be there for a week, beginning Friday. Any restaurant recommendations?

Old timer 1:01 PM  

NEMATODE brought me back to Stanford in 1962-63 and the required Biology class taught by Professor Donald Kennedy. He was big on NEMATODES from our on campus Lake Lagunita. I was not impressed. But he was an interesting lecturer and went on to head a government agency and then become Stanford’s President. And after a full year I only needed two more quarters of math or science. One was a Logic class, with lots of math using algebra concepts. The other: a summer class at UCLA on Astronomy, which was lots of fun.

Anonymous 1:15 PM  

Fun puzzle! I'm not sure Animal Crossing feels like a super current thing. It had a huge, huge moment at the beginning of the pandemic, but it's been around for over 20 years. Definitely not a flash in the pan.

Anonymous 2:09 PM  

Big groan on that one!

Anonymous 2:26 PM  

I read somewhere that flying squirrels are as common as regular squirrels, but we just don’t see them because they are nocturnal. We’ve had two visit us over the years on our 7th story Manhattan window and fire escape. When they run, they are so fast as to be invisible.

Anonymous 2:33 PM  

“Got a weasel, it's a TEASEL, mah pleazel, mah pleazel; got a weasel”

- Ween

Anonymous 2:33 PM  

One less word everyone needs to find to complete the game…

Anonymous 4:14 PM  

I am a 75 year old woman and generally only solve Mon - Wed. because on the other days it would take too long. But I knew brat summer (and its color!) and nepo baby, and it was probably from reading the NYT!

Beezer 4:52 PM  

Great story. I was unfamiliar with TEASEL (the name) and did a bit of a search. Apparently it isn’t thistle (is any thistle not wild?) and was, as some site said “unfortunately” introduced (for a reason I forget…maybe textiles) from Europe in 1700s. I guess it is both a scourge and a blessing. It is invasive and chokes out “desirable” plants…but Web MD suggests it can fight bacteria AND has anti-radical properties with respect to cancer. Thank you for highlighting this plant with your story…I learned a lot!

Sailor 5:08 PM  

+1. A slow-ish Wednesday for me, because: video game series? No idea. Was able to work through it because the animal clues were mostly "gettable" (with the exception of deep trivia like "UC Irvine athlete" and "State fossil of Indiana") but the concept did nothing for me. Never heard ABE and CLAM used IRL in reference to $, except in xwords. And I was sorry to be reminded of TEASEL, which is spreading like wildfire in my corner of the PNW, taking over critical habitat areas, and requiring lots of hand labor to remove.

Anonymous 5:29 PM  

It’s all about the Benjamins.

Anonymous 5:35 PM  

+1. Extremely difficult Natick for any day, let alone a Wednesday.

Anonymous 5:49 PM  

@Gary. Nobody begged you for anything. I suspect the dude who asked you to lay low is a long-time resident. A lot longer than you certainly.
And, for my money, he has a point. No one really cares that you’ve moved. And even less for why.
Your gratuitous Spanish? A sad attempt to say “look at me”.
I wish you well. Sounds likes you’re having tough times. But, don’t mistake your misfortune for wisdom, insight, or humor.

Terra Schaller 5:57 PM  

Hoping I figured out everything but cauliflower is milk early enough to stay in the running and not lose my skirt. What say you oh honorable fellas? You think I still got a chance?

Anonymous 6:11 PM  

Double Natick: No clue on Nemotode, Redd or Rey. Not able to infer either. Bummer

Anonymous 6:42 PM  

While I (partially) agree with you, this was just mean. And unnecessary.

okanaganer 7:48 PM  

@Anon 5:49pm: I for one enjoy stories like Gary's. If I could read Spanish, I'm sure I would enjoy those bits too. I've been on this blog for about 12 years.

Jeremy Schiffres 7:52 PM  

My son (who's 30) and I (61) worked on this together and found it fairly easy.

Gary Jugert 8:05 PM  

@Anonymous 5:49 PM
Ow. Hurtful. If it's all the same to you, I'm gonna keep doing what I do, and I'm sure those who don't care will happily scroll on by.

Anonymous 8:26 PM  

Okanaganer,
Good for you. Slurp Gary’s drivel up. But I’m the original Anon who beefed about the word salad, now his unfunny lasagna. And I stand by the complaint. Have you read his latest post?
As for your bona fides vs mine—I’ve been around for longer than a dozen years. I’ve seen blowhards like z come and go and gentle souls like
Retired Chemist, two ponies, mohair Sam, et.al.
Yeah, I’ve read your comments for more than a decade. I’m still waiting for one I agree with.

Teedmn 9:19 PM  

I love Gary Jugart's comments. And I enjoy the Spanish as I've been studying Spanish for 523 days as of today. Thanks, Gary!

pabloinnh 9:40 PM  

A mi me gusta el espanol. Sigue, por favor. (And pardon my lack of accents and tildes.)

Anonymous 10:20 PM  

Gary's story about being stuck on a rollercoaster still makes me laugh when I think about it. Thanks, Gary!

Anonymous 12:40 PM  

Happy to see the WFMU reference!

Anonymous 6:03 PM  

Yes, I use ABES to refer to $5 bills whenever I'm around other crossword people. I also try to work OAST and NENE into the conversation as often as possible.

And your roommate did not have three katanas, he had one katana, along with a wakizashi and a tanto. The katana is the longest of the three, the tanto the shortest.

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