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Bankable vacation, for short / WED 1-22-25 / Italian anise-flavored liqueur / It follows ka in the Spanish alphabet / Mare/hare pair? / Horse-drawn party vehicle? / Former N.B.A. star Smits, the "Dunking Dutchman" / Eats that pair well with beer / Company that once sold the Magic 8 Ball / Humorous name for the largest player on your baseball team
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
Constructor: Landon Horton
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Theme answers:
Took me way longer than it should have to figure out the theme because I got the first theme answer and then the revealer, so I had no theme answer *pattern* to look at. Just PLAYBOY BUDDY. And I was like "How are the 'doubles' ... mixed? There's one set of double letters ... there are also two 'B's ... there are three 'Y's, is that something?" Mystified. But I figured, it's Wednesday, it can't be that hard, just keep going. And sure enough, after I pieced the next themer together, the double-letter answers in both themers glowed neon (BUDDY / BUGGY), and so I realized what I should be focusing on, but I thought the "joke" was merely that a different set of double letters had been swapped in for the correct letters each time. Wasn't til I got all three themers that I could see that the "familiar" answers had all swapped double letters among themselves. A closed system. OK. The BU--Y pattern seems absurdly arbitrary—why not swap the doubles in BATTY BAGGY and BARRY? or PETTY PEGGY PENNY? or DIZZY DITTY and, uh ... DILLY? DIPPY? Whatever, you get the idea. It's always nice when there at least *some* logic to the choices a puzzle makes. I could also ask "why have a pattern at all?" That is, why not just swap double letters? Why do those double letters *all* have to appear within the same word framework (BU-__Y)? But having solved the puzzle, I kind of know at least one answer to that one—makes it a lot easier to see what's going on. When you're looking at BUDDY BUNNY BUGGY, you've got a clear pattern that stands out, which tells you where to look for the "joke." Also, probably much easier to construct a puzzle like this when you use the same word framework for the base—would be very hard to find three different word frameworks that could handle the letter swapping. Annnnnnyway, I kind of liked how my understanding of the theme grew in stages (though you can probably only get that experience if you solved the themers in the weird order that I did). Otherwise, the theme is kind of a shrug for me. The wackiness isn't wacky enough, not only because the answers themselves aren't inherently funny but also because the clues are just too tepid. [Mare/hair pair?]??? I see your little rhyme, but you're basically just saying "horse & bunny," literally. Not much fun in that.
- PLAYBOY BUDDY (20A: Jay Gatsby, to Nick Carraway?) (gets the "D"s from "drinking buddy")
- HORSE AND BUNNY (31A: Mare/hare pair?) (gets the "N"s from "Playboy Bunny")
- DRINKING BUGGY (38A: Horse-drawn party vehicle?) (gets the "G"s from "horse and buggy")
Sambuca (Italian: [samˈbuːka]) is an Italian anise-flavoured liqueur. Its most common variety is often referred to as "white sambuca" to differentiate it from other varieties that are deep blue ("black sambuca") or bright red ("red sambuca"). Like other anise-flavoured liqueurs, the ouzo effect is sometimes observed when combined with water. (wikipedia)
The ouzo effect (/ˈuːzoʊ/ OO-zoh), also known as the louche effect (/luːʃ/ LOOSH) and spontaneous emulsification, is the phenomenon of formation of a milky oil-in-water emulsion when water is added to ouzo and other anise-flavored liqueurs and spirits, such as pastis, rakı, arak, sambuca and absinthe. Such emulsions occur with only minimal mixing and are highly stable. (wikipedia)
• • •
The fill on this one ran toward the weak side, and this was especially obvious (and worrisome) at the very beginning of the solve;
Not too much difficulty today. There was the usual slowness putting together the nonsense answers. And the usual slowness from unfamiliar names. TSAI Ing-wen still won't stick in my brain (this her fourth appearance in the past three and half years; first female president of Taiwan, you'd think she'd stick!). Actually, it looks like I knew the other names in this puzzle, including RIK Smits (32D: Former N.B.A. star Smits, the "Dunking Dutchman") (worth knowing for both his name parts). What I didn't know, or only kinda knew, was SAMBUCA. I wanted it, but then thought "no, isn't it SAMBUCO? or, no, wait, doesn't it have double 'C'? SAMBUCCO? no, I'm thinking of 'Prosecco.' SAMBUCA or SAMBUCO? ... pretty sure one of those is a Bon Jovi guitarist..." (nope, that's Richie SAMBORA). I didn't consider SAMOSA, but solely because I know exactly what those are. Just an absurd spelling journey (probably didn't take long, but it felt long in my head). Once I got out of the (roughly) upper left quadrant of the puzzle, it got a lot easier. Needed all the crosses for PTO, finished with PUB GRUB (30D: Eats that pair well with beer).
Bullets:
- 1A: Org. of the main characters in "The Americans" (KGB) — somehow read this as [One of the main characters in "The Americans"] and I *love* that show but could *not* for the life of me remember either of the main characters' names. "SAM? PAM? ... RIK?"
- 17A: It follows ka in the Spanish alphabet (ELE) — the letter "L"
- 3D: Get a party going (BREAK THE ICE) — was expecting something far more "party"-ish here. You can BREAK THE ICE in any situation where you're meeting new people. Unless you are literally breaking ice, for drinks. Yes, I like that better.
- 4A: What might rain down on opposing players (BOOS) — had BOO- and wanted BOOM (i.e. you lower the ... BOOM ... on opposing players???) (I know it's bad, I'm just saying my brain thought of it, and I thought you should know)
- 48A: "___ intended!" ("NO PUN") — was going to tap the "Not All Debuts Are Good" sign again, but turns out, "NO PUN" has been in the puzzle before. Once. Twenty-four years ago. I miss those twenty-four years.
[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook]
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76 comments:
More challenging than usual for a Wednesday, thanks to my attempt to solve without reading the theme clues. So I had PLAYBOY BUnnY, etc., until they couldn't be. Kinda liked it.
My only other overwrites were GALLuP at 2D and PUB food before GRUB at 30D.
Same WOEs as @Rex, TSAI Ing-wen at 29D and RIK Smits, right next door at 32D.
Only huge WOE for me was DRUB? I’ve never heard that word before in my life.
Isn’t it a huge foul to use “Horse” in a theme clue and a theme answer? I thought that was supposed to be against convention.
Relatively easy, but fun and clever. Thanks, Dan!
I’ve primarily heard of it in the sporting context. As in, Boggs was hit for the cycle in the Sox 9-1 drubbing of the Yankees.
NUDGE instead of BUDGE took me a few seconds at the end - OKAYnYE doesn’t make much sense, but the across works IMO better than the other. Otherwise a fun, simple exercise.
I mildly enjoyed this one, although I agree with Rex on the short fill - I thought we were past the age of OLEO...
Interestingly, I had EXACTLY the same problem with 1A - read it as "ONE of the characters..."
And I didn't know the Taiwanese President, but I DID know that a lot of Taiwanese names start with TS, so I made an educated guess. 😁
One of the more enjoyable Wednesdays that we have had in recent memory. Yes, there is a lot of crosswordese, but that’s the price you have to pay to have a theme so that Rex can get up at 3 AM and dissect it like a forensic scientist every day.
I had to dig deep to come up with TYCO (and crossing a Taiwanese name didn’t help either). That was really the only trouble spot I could think of. We could use more like this one, for sure.
instrn.
As a non-constructor (sheesh, barely a solver, some days), I come here in part to learn about construction. Both Rex and Malaika have given me some great insights. Today I was hoping Rex might explain why a constructor would go with a grid design that demands so many three- and four-letter answers. Makes an otherwise good puzzle kind of tedious. Any other constructors out there who can elucidate?
I got thrown off by horse being in the clue for 38A and then in the answer for 31A. I thought that was a crossword no-no.
I've heard of giving someone "a good drubbing" -- it was probably in an old novel somewhere. But I always thought of it as more of a figurative beating, not a physical "wallop."
That TYCO/TSAI crossing is a natick landmine.
Rik Smits! Still have a White Castle/Pacers giant soda cup featuring his picture and signature reproduction. And one with Micheal Williams.
Found this one easier than usual for a Wednesday - easier than Tuesday's was. Not without mistakes - nUDGE before BUDGE, for one. Didn't recall that TYCO was behind the 8 Ball. Waited for downs before entering KGB or FSB at 1A (Never saw the show).
Thanks, Landon Horton.
PTO Paid Time Off
Part of it is that it’s the price you pay for having a12-letter revealer. Starts you off with six 3-letter answers right away.
I’ve been underwhelmed with the overall track of the puzzles since Will’s return - today just adds to it. The theme is obtuse and of limited use to the solve and plain boring. I did like some of the longer downs - BREAK THE ICE, SAMBUCA, GRUDGES etc.
Lou
When the highlight of the grid was the ABE x BEAME cross there’s something wrong. Looking forward to a tricky Thursday.
Old long since gone, now way back when we lived in CONEY ISLAND
I always thought PTO was for Paid Time Off
Two great moments, one actual and one I imagine.
The actual. After uncovering the theme answers, I tried to guess the revealer after leaving it blank and not reading its clue. Nothing came. So, I tried the next step – revealing its first word (MIXED), and in a mighty flash, saw DOUBLES. Oh man, the kick of solve-ation mixed with the realization at how perfect the reveal was, well, that was a moment. A high.
The imagined. There’s Landon trying to clue HORSE AND BUNNY without sounding mundane. I mean, you try coming up with one! And then [Mare/hare pair?] hit him. I’m guessing that was a “Thank you, heavens” moment for him.
Lovely serendipities today:
• A short-U fest: BUDDY/BUNNY/BUGGY plus BUDGE, GRUDGES, RUSTS, NOPUN, DRUB, and twice in PUBGRUB.
• GALLOP and HORSE kissing corners.
• The homophone of “booze” crossing an alcoholic beverage (SAMBUCA).
• Three three-letter e-sandwich palindromes (ELE, EWE, and the EYE of RIBEYE).
Landon, I’m inspired by your persistence in continuing to submit puzzles to the Times after 19 rejections, and I’m thrilled by the happy ending. Thank you for a most impressive theme and for that pummeled-by-happiness moment!
I think you are right. In the “old days” many employers gave out a finite number of “vacation days” (approval needed), “sick” days (evidence of being ill needed) and “personal” days (somewhat discretionary). At any rate, I understand why Rex thinks of it as “personal time off” since it lumps all the paid absences in together with no need to differentiate. (Because it’s personal…nobody’s business!)
Actually pto here is for PAID time off, hence “bankable”.
Hey All !
In case no one else pointed out, the Swap-the-double-letters are in order, i.e., the DD goes to the third Themer, the GG to the second Themer, the NN to the first. So a reverse circular type thing.
Having two Themers one row apart is always a stress inducer to fill the grid cleanly. Nice fill through all that, even with 11's cutting through. Good job, Landon.
Liked the idea, pretty easy puz overall. Great for the ole brain cells hanging on.
Have a great Wednesday!
No F's (BOOS!)
RooMonster
DarrinV
SPY didn't work for openers. thought GALLOP, confirmed by ELE, and away I went. Caught on to the funny business with PLAYBOYBUDDY and thought the other themers were clever and entertaining, if a little too simply clued.
No real WOES today except for TSAI and PTO as clued, which is in the TIL category. Nice to remember RIK, TYCO, and SAMBUCA with not too much mental effort. Nice when stuff like that happens. Only one erasure, BANDAID before BANDAGE.
My money's on EWE for M&A's moo-cow easy answer today.
I liked your Wednesdecito a lot, LH. Let's Have more of these please, and thanks for all the fun.
@Rex "The BU--Y pattern seems absurdly arbitrary—why not swap the doubles in BATTY BAGGY and BARRY? or PETTY PEGGY PENNY? or DIZZY DITTY and, uh ... DILLY? DIPPY?"
Do you know any familiar phrases that end with BATTY BAGGY and BARRY? PETTY PEGGY and PENNY? The BU__Y pattern is not arbitrary, certainly not absurdly so, because the constructor uses three VERY familiar phrases with those B words.
A very nice Wednesday puzzle!
@Rex, in the business world, PTO means paid time off. That’s why it’s a “bankable vacation”.
I liked the theme after PLAYBOY BUDDY, and I liked it even more when I saw that the last words were all going to be BU__Y. Nice and tight. I don't consider a HARE to be a BUNNY, a term I limit to actual rabbits, but I can see the constructor wanted the MARE-HARE rhyme as a misdirect, so OK. And for some reason I did love seeing ALKA-clued as a partial.
The revealer is weak--nothing about the strongest part of the theme the BU__Y carrying across all of them. I have no replacement to suggest, however.
The toughest part for me was the start. "The Americans" is a famous novel by Henry James; I may even have read it, although I cannot remember anything about it. I think it's about a group of Americans trying to become Eurpoean, but comically not doing as good a job of it as James was himself (in his opinion, at any rate). Not sure, though. Apparently it was remade into a TV series with a few plot changes, including the addition of the KGB (which was not active in James's day). No way was I going to get that!
I've eaten a lot of PUB GRUB in my day, but the clue is odd -- or at lease stretched, a lot. What makes it pub grub is that it is served in a pub. That's it. You order and pay at the bar, get your drink (which in my case is wine), they give you a number which you put on your table and pretty soon, there's your food. Nobody but me has made any judgment about what my food will taste good wih.
The funnest part was thinking about the Magic 8-ball and blieving that it might have been made by arCO. Well, it's filled with oil, isn't it? I had to look up President TSAI to get out of that fix.
Yes! Amazed Rex didn’t point that out. It’s especially bad in two consecutive themers.
Easy but enjoyable. I expect I'm not the only one who had "nudge" instead of BUDGE for "move slightly." Needed an alphabet run to fix that, but it didn't take long. Liked the theme.
Ah, TYCO Industries. At one point around 2000 it was a hot investment, so I put some money into it -- whereupon its CEO was cutting embezzling and the share price collapsed. I'd be a lot better off today if I'd had better judgment then!
I'll go Rex one better on the anise-flavored drink. My first thought was Amaretto di SARONNO--which, ridiculously, I put in the grid. fortunately two letters were correct, but jeez.
I fell asleep at 8 last night, so I got up at 4. I'll come back later when more have commented.
there has to be a PuMMEL HORSE theme in there somewhere HAPPINESS could be included with its double letters, hmmm....
Loved the puzzle today. PTO, hate the phrase but love the days off. DRINKING BUGGY, that’s what I’m going to start calling those weird bike things in Nashville, and BEAMED AND AWE on the same row is perfect
OLEO (5D). Bob Uecker died recently. When he was inducted into the Hall of Fame (as an announcer) he talked about his beginnings. He said he was born when he parents made a margarine run to Illinois. He explained you could only get white margarine in Wisconsin and they had to go to Illinois for colored (yellow) margarine. His mom was pregnant with him at the time and she went into labor on the way back. So they pulled off the highway at an exit and that's where he was born. The exit lights were shining down -- it was a nativity sort of scene, he said.
tyCo was the mistake I had to hunt down after I thought I’d finished. The “k” eluded me because Sambuco looked reasonable.
Today, Landon Horton was my PLAYBOY BUDDY. There's a playful quality to this puzzle that's infectious and the clue/answer themers are adorable. I can always tell when a constructor is having fun coming up with theme clues and answers -- and even more, I can tell when he wants me to have fun.
If there's a weakness to the puzzle, it's that the revealer is vague and doesn't pinpoint exactly what's going on. Evidently Will Shortz didn't care all that much -- and neither do I. I'm glad he decided to take this delightfully silly and enjoyable puzzle.
My wife and daughter both work for big outfits and PTO is routinely mentioned as the acronym
Totally bamboozled by the HARDG answer. As often as I tell myself that won’t happen again, it happens! Was further blocked in that corner by having no idea what a bankable vacation could be. Otherwise thought this was a fine puzzle—three related themers exchanging identical word patterns is not a bad effort.
Ming Tsai is a long time restaurateur and television chef. He is a talented and knowledgeable man (descended from Chinese royalty I believe) who blends East and West cuisines into specialties. Although I did not know the person named in today’s clue, the name Tsai was familiar enough for me to try, and it turned out to be a correct answer.
I am *always* torn between PTO and PTA, because I always used both terms interchangeably. Maybe that's a New England thing? Never knew one was favored over the other.
@Beezer -- Gee, I don't remember having to get "evidence of being ill". That would be a tough one. So you've got a heavy head cold and you're running a slight fever of 99 4/5 and you're supposed to go to a doctor for that? Or for a 24 hour stomach virus? Even here in NYC, where there are doctors' offices stretched as far as the eye can see, no one runs to a doctor for everything. And I doubt your boss would even want your germ-riddled body infecting everyone in the office . So how do you get the "evidence" you need?
Just curious, @Beezer -- and happy that it's not something that I'll ever have to deal with at this stage of my life.
I forgot to put it in my comment. I thought the best and most curiosity-provoking clue in the puzzle was the one for HARD G.
Camel straights AVATAR content that's off the scale!
A different word that could have fit into a themer is "bully". For instance "Pete Hegseth"could have been the clue for "DRINKINGBULLY" due to his propensity to get a little too Jim BEAMED.
The SE contains a phrase that no man wants women to be whispering about him -- PEWEE ASSETS.
Jr: Mom, why do we hafta box up our presents?
Mom: Just ENCASE.
Some say the puzzle is too equine, with double HORSEs, ARAB and GALLOP. But I say "neigh". I liked it. Thanks, Landon Horton.
That should be an editing mistake to have horse in a clue and the grid. I hope dupes aren’t becoming the new norm.
I came here looking for an eloquent rant on the HORSE themer dupe and I'm sad Rex didn't call it out.
Thanks Rex for the hilarious explanation about the former PTO clue (Page instrn.). I would have never come put with Please Turn Over! This makes me think of a childhood friend of mine who liked to place his pet rocks around the classroom. On their tops, he'd write, "Please turn me over." Then, when you turned them over, it read, "Aah!" Maybe he was flexing his crosswordese muscles? Clue: Pet rock instrn. Answer: PTMO. LOL. Anyways, I struggled mightily with the NW corner / W side of the grid. And since those contained all three theme answers, I couldn't figure out the MIXED DOUBLES part, even though I had the revealer. The "BREAKTHEICE" was a WOE, given that any "party" where there's a ice-breaker makes me want to run the other way.
Rompe el hielo con una conejita de Playboy.
@okanaganer yd
LOVED the Woody Allen clip. I've never watched the movie, so adding it to my cue. "We should've had sex, but there weren't enough people." Funny.
I was stuck with no theme answers complete and feared I was doomed. The real sticking point was The Americans because I couldn't think of any organizations with a G in the middle. Eventually BREAK THE ICE happened and then PLAYBOY BUDDY. For a brief moment I panicked thinking that was a real thing to add to our BRUHS and BRAHS and BROS. I guess it sort of is. Will S. probably spent a lot time in the gym during his rehab and now he's all-in on Frat Power.
Did you know Playboy bunnies still exist? I took one for our team and just checked. When I was young, before the internet, they looked like goddesses. Now they look like my nieces awkwardly posed with ears on their heads. You can even apply to be one (ladies). I wonder what they do? Republican luncheons I suppose.
All horses gallop, not just racers. Racers have a little hustle.
LAZY and IDLE seem to be accusing me of something.
Fun puzzle.
Propers: 5
Places: 3
Products: 4
Partials: 7
Foreignisms: 1
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 20 of 74 (27%)
Funnyisms: 4 🙂
Tee-Hee: TOKES.
Uniclues:
1 Bring on the Russian haters.
2 Carne asada.
3 First date noodles.
4 Hatfieldsiata vs. McCoysonnellis
5 Noodles for your busted noodle.
6 Chips and salsa (sigh, again).
1 KGB BOOS HELP ME
2 IBERIA RIBEYE
3 BREAK THE ICE MAC
4 SAMBUCA GRUDGES
5 UDON BANDAGE
6 LAZY PUB GRUB
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Direction from Jesus as he ran to Costco to buy more bread during well attended party. STEW MORE TROUT.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Easy. No erasures and the only WOEs were TSAI and RIK (unfortunately they were close together).
Kind of an odd theme but I liked it. Goofy usually works for me.
I'm very happy today, my family is from SAMBUCA, it's a town in Sicily. It used to be known as Sambuca Zabut. Zabut as it had a historically Muslim Arab population. Now it's called Sambuca di Sicilia. Provincia di Agrigento.
Good story. Funny how “back in the day” people actually WANTED “Yellow Dye No. [insert number] in their food, not to mention people thought margarine was healthier than butter.
Maybe the tv show is loosely based on that but The Americans is about a husband/wife KGB team that are firmly ensconced in the suburbs as…Americans. I watched it for a while…very good, but too many seasons. I think they had a child, who was clueless about their gig…at least at first. And…they do an EXCELLENT job of being “Americans.”
Very humorous post, thanks for making me laugh with a mouth full of coffee!
@Gary, I'm whispering here, not trying to embarrass anyone, but I think you may mean "adding it to my queue."
Thank you, Landon for the easiest Wednesday ever & enjoyable too. Congrats on your debut & hope to see you again :)
Well I had Obi-Wan doing a little CALL ME action in that NE corner. I certainly needed some HELP...and here I was doing so well...And what, pray tell, is a gamer's likeness? And PTO? I've been out of the job loop-lingo for some time now. Leave that area and go on to enjoy the rest of the story.....
I had PLAY BOY BU and couldn't figure what else followed. Move on....HORSE AND BUNNY! Can that be you? Go on down to some DRINKING BUGGY and I was content. This was starting to be fun....
Check the reveal MIXED DOUBLES and smiled she more. Go back up and finish BUDDY. So I have a BUDDY BUNNY BUGGY all MIXED up into smile inducing nonsense. Now If only I could figure out what Obi-Wan needed and what golfers and rugby players had in common. BZZZZT.
Liked the BUGGY BUNNY BUDDY puztheme. [So, probably, did Bugs Bunny.] And my solvequest was pretty smoooth. Did have a coupla tense extra-nanosecond moments in the SAMBUCA/TYCO/TSAI & RIK area, but it all sorted out and I got BYEOKAY.
The theme coulda got extra-playful, by also doin a mix-up on BOOS & SEES. I'm sure every solver woulda echoed Bugs Bunny, with a "Ain't they a stinker?" protest. har
Outstandin weeject stacks in all 4 corners, with staff picks ELE & PTO.
other fave stuff included: BREAKTHEICE. PUBGRUB. OKAYBYE. HARDG clue.
Thanx, Mr. Horton dude. Congratz on yer double-buggle debut.
Masked & Anonym007Us
p.s. @pabloinnh: Well ... if M&A were to pick a moo-cow easy-E WedPuz clue, I reckon I could go with EWE/you on that. Altho, HELPME also splatzed right in there without hesitation, I'd grant.
... PEEWEE/AWE extension ...
"Cost-Benefit Analysis" - 7x7 themed runt puzzle:
**gruntz**
M&A
Cute Wednesday theme; went by fairly quickly at 9 minutes for me.
Many have mentioned the HORSE duplication... doesn't it actually appear three times? The clues for 2 down and 38 across, and the answer for 31 across.
For HARD G, I always remember the first time I encountered it. The clue was "What a gal has that a gent doesn't". Someone, Acme maybe?... commented she had HER D G for the answer and thought it was a slang term for... well, her nether yaya.
@Just between us 11:44 AM
Ack! Isn't English stupid? Maybe I'm stupid. I don't think I knew queue was a real word in America until I started doing crosswords and even then I figured it was those U-crazed Brits using it for good humour. I'm gonna go write "Sleeper" on the implement I use to play pool so I will have a Pyrrhic victory over this miserable situation. Fat lot of good it did to read all that Shakespeare in college.
Cute and fun, left me with a smile.
@GILL I. 12:22 PM
Laughing at CALL ME. They can fly spaceships all over tarnation, but nobody can pick up a phone.
Pub grub is what you get in a bar not because it tastes good with beer but because its what you can make in a small kitchen that was likely an afterthought. Rust does NOT "develop iron" the iron is already in the metal, oxidation develops iron oxide aka rust.
Another person who is very familiar with PTO. Not made up at all! Its when all your sick and vacation time and holidays come from one pool of saved time.
Henry James' novel is "The American" (singular) about a wealthy American man courting a woman from a snooty but not wealthy aristocratic French family.
I don't know who Jay Gatsby or Nick Carraway are so the theme got off to a rough start for me. It got better after that but there wasn't enough wackiness or humor to put me in AWE.
I BEAMED, however, at the nice balance between theme and fill. Many contemporary puzzles strike me as being way too overloaded with theme and reveal material and that doesn't leave much room for quality fill, you know, the interesting words crossing one another part of a crossword puzzle..
Take today's offering, for example. With 50 squares for three themers and a reveal and 35 black squares, 140 squares are left for the fill. As a result we get nice stuff like a glass of SAMBUCA with an IBERIA RIBEYE to BREAK THE ICE followed by some CONEY ISLAND PUB GRUB.
Yesterday's puzzle seemed more in line with the more-theme-is-better trend. Four themers and a reveal take up 61 squares. That plus 36 black squares leaves 128 squares for fill. Not particularly egregious in that regard but the difference in resulting fill quality is noticeable if you ask me.
So even though I was underwhelmed by today's theme, I still enjoyed the overall solve experience. OKAY BYE.
For me it was 14 seconds off my personal best, so a combination of difficulty and luck did it.
At my company, we had to provide a Dr excuse if out for more than three days, things are much better now!
Also racehorse’s in 2down
Agree re “no double usage” but because the dupe was “racehorse’s” not just “horse” maybe OFL gave it a pass? I’m a stickler for convention and think it was a no-no myself.
Hi sf27shirley! I nearly had coffee spewage myself. Funny post, jberg-thanks.
I’m with the “fun Wednesday despite the junk fill” and also for me the Taiwanese official whose name evaded me and took a couple guesses to lock down. This just felt fun to breeze through. Honestly, I enjoyed the first theme clue so much (Jay Gatsby to Nick Carraway) that I could darn near forgive any other transgressions. Possibly not the double appearance of “horse” in a clue and an answer (raceHORSE at 2D and HORSE AND BUNNY, 31A) but even that might not be considered an absolute sin by many.
This just felt fun.
Anonymous 6:18 am et al
The NY Times puzzle has not followed the convention for years. Because the puzzle has so many dupes Rex has stopped mentioning them unless he considers them egregious ( he did complain a while back) I’ll admit
that dupes don’t bother me But if you do theTimes puzzle you’ll have to get used to them. Bloggers here complain all the time but it’s no use
Eh Steve
I would disagree about Tyco at least. That has long been crosswordese and is a name known by a large group of solvers
It was a company well known for making junk toys.
It might be an age issue, but not a natick because it too well known.
Just because I don’t know crossing names doesn’t mean I call it a natick.
Breeze @11:28
You should watch the rest of The Americans. It had one of the best endings of any series I’ve ever watched.
I liked the theme and the puzzle. Again Rex’s criticism of the theme made no sense to me. Why these themers? Because he had to pick one set And they worked out well as noted in a circular pattern, which Rex didn’t mention.
Thought they were funny enough.
Found the puzzle fairly easy.
The hardest name was TSAI but TYCO was a gimme and TS rang a bell.
What’s not to like?
That aversion to "white" butter was probably generational. My parents (who grew up during the Great Depression) found it unpalatable because it reminded them too much of the lard they had to use back in the bad old days.
@Jared M 10:01 am. PTA (PTA.org) is a national Association that advocates for All children and families, with units (chapters) at schools. PTOs are not affiliated with PTA.
This played VERY easy for me, likely the fastest Wednesday I've ever played - and I find some Mondays challenging! At first I thought meh, pretty vanilla, but then I came here and as usual, @Lewis pointed out all the good things that I should have appreciated during the solve! :o) Thank you @Lewis!
So for me, not a whole lot of sparkle and pop, but there is some elegance to the whole affair which I (now) appreciate.
Kind of shocked that PTO has been absent all these years, in my professional world it's a daily utterance.
Not a lot of clever cluing or mis-directs which is what I always hope for, but HARDG was nice.
Another puzzle with way too easy cluing and way too hard cluing. And bonus another lame theme, I could care less about. Ugh! These puzzles are becoming less of a joy...will I slog through these everyday and be disappointed...or will I change my morning routine? Any suggestions besides LA Times' crossword?
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