.png)
Shook one's defender, in sports lingo / THU 2-27-25 / Apt surname for Scarlett / X-communicates? / Pants in which you may carry a pen / 2000s HBO series about a polygamous family / Bark beetle's target
Thursday, February 27, 2025
Constructor: David Steinberg
Relative difficulty: Easy to Easy-Medium
Theme answers:
- BLUE JEANS (18A: Pants in which you may carry a glove)
- BIG LOVE (8D: 2000s HBO series about a polygamous family)
- TROUSERS (23A: Pants in which you may carry a pen)
- GOT OPEN (4D: Shook one's defender, in sports lingo)
- JODHPURS (48A: Pants in which you may carry a key)
- MICKEY (37D: ___ Mouse)
- CORDUROYS (53A: Pants in which you may carry a phone)
- PERSEPHONE (35D: Greek goddess of spring)
Big Love is an American drama television series created by Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer that aired on HBO from 2006 to 2011. It stars Bill Paxton as the patriarch of a fundamentalist Mormon family in contemporary Utah that practices polygamy, with Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloë Sevigny, and Ginnifer Goodwin portraying his wives. The series charts the family's life in and out of the public sphere in their Salt Lake City suburb, as well as their associations with a fundamentalist compound in the area. It features key supporting performances from Amanda Seyfried, Grace Zabriskie, Daveigh Chase, Matt Ross, Mary Kay Place, Bruce Dern, Melora Walters, and Harry Dean Stanton.The series premiered in the United States on March 11, 2006, following the sixth-season premiere of the HBO series The Sopranos. Big Love was a success for HBO, running for five seasons before concluding its run on March 20, 2011. (wikipedia)
• • •
The theme was super-easy as rebuses go, largely because the theme clues tell you what is going to be in the rebus square. You are told your pants might be carrying a PEN, a GLOVE, etc. So for me, MICKEY and PERSEPHONE, which already pretty easily clued, were total no-brainers, as I fully understood the theme at that point, and the clues on both those answer just handed me huge chunks of those answers (KEY and PHONE, respectively). But even though it was on the simple side, the puzzle was still fun. I was genuinely curious to see how the pocket gimmick was going to play out, and the results were really impressive. Also impressive—the grid is not loaded with gunk. Lots of short answers, but never once did I feel like I was wading through crosswordese sludge. There's ordinary and common stuff here and there, but SRTA was about as bad as it got, and that's not that bad. The theme is so charming that the short fill hardly seemed to matter. You can get away with a lot when your theme is great. But this grid didn't actually get away with anything—the fill is legit solid. Everywhere. So beautifully and smoothly crafted. I know it probably looks fairly ordinary, the short stuff, but I cannot tell you how hard it is to get your boring-ass fill to come out smooth and not lumpy. Just to get it to inconspicuous is a real feat of craftsmanship, one that most constructors just don't take the time to bother with. But David (despite not even being 30 yet), is an old pro, a longtime editor himself, so solving his puzzles ... I always feel confident that I'm in good hands.
I cringed a little at TEEN DAD (40D: Certain young parent)—not sure why, just weird that it's a concept at all (same with TEEN MOM, frankly). It just sounds like a bad / exploitative reality show (which TEEN MOM actually is) (it's a whole ****ing MTV franchise, an empire even: Teen Mom 2, Teen Mom 3 ... Teen Mom: Young Moms' Club!?) (I remember when MTV used to show music videos; good times). Was not sure how I felt about the clue on REDD (62A: Apt surname for Scarlett), but now I think I like it. "Scarlet" is a word meaning "red," so ... double the last letter on one, double the last letter on the other! "Apt!" I don't really love that the clue for REDD contains "Scarlett" when one of REDD's crosses is, in fact, SCAR, but who's going to notice this but me? People are going to be too distracted by the wackiness of the whole REDD clue concept to notice the SCAR cross (I mean, probably). The only answer besides REDD that (kinda) slowed me down was CENA, which I wrote in as CERA, despite having been over the CERA / CENA distinction before. I mean, look at them side by side, there's no mistaking them for one another, but as mere tetragrams ... man they are near-identical twins. CERA is the lanky comedic actor who has been in a ton of movies, and who played George Michael Bluth in Arrested Development. John CENA ... is a pro wrestler. Though like CERA, he is also an actor. So ... yeah, I'm never going to keep these names straight. My cross to bear.
 |
| [CERA] |
 |
| [CENA] |
- 10A: Pupil: aperture :: ___ : diaphragm (IRIS) — embarrassing how long (comparatively) it took me to get this, which is to say embarrassing that I didn't get this almost instantly. "Diaphragm" had me thinking some completely different part of the body was involved. I didn't know we were staying in the eye.
- 1D: X-communicates? (DMS) — as in "communicates on the app owned by that Nazi-saluting piece of shit El*n M*sk." The app stupidly and confusingly known as "X" (née Twitter).
- 47A: Matches or watches (SEES) — "Matches" in poker, "watches" with the eyes.
- 64A: Herb with a silent H (THYME) — easy, but might be slightly confusing to Americans, for whom "Herb" itself has a "silent H."
- 25D: Bad comment to hear from your surgeon ("OOPS!") — this should not have made me laugh but it did. Also, if I'm hearing any comments from my surgeon, something has gone drastically wrong.
Happy Thursday! It's cocktail night for me, so I will be enjoying a Manhattan and all its various components (58D: Manhattan component = RYE). See you next time.
[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook]
Save And Share :
119 comments:
Easy, although I liked it somewhat less than @Rex did. No overwrites, no WOEs but the same confusion as OFL with CErA/CENA at 16A. I didn't get that the U's were "POCKETS" (35A) for the rebus words until I got the revealer. Perfectly serviceable Thursday.
Clever. Lived it!
Thanks, David.
Oops! LOVED it, not “lived” it. 😂
“How are they going to make this work with Yale and Princeton?”
Question when receiving the wrong drink order.
Response to the question “How much do you enjoy the artist behind Purple Rain?”
Never caught on to the trick, and barely understood it after the explanation.
MAMOA & RAO works as well as MOMOA & ROO. Naticked
Truer words have never been spoken about El*n M*sk.
Fun Fact: John Cena is also a rapper!
Loved this puzzle. When I was at BLUEJEANS and GLOVE I was thinking Billie Jean/Michael Jackson/One Glove... it's funny how your mind works when you are sussing out a theme. Never have I ever heard of JODHPURS. And I am positive I will not remember the spelling for the life of me. Does anyone know if it has ever appeared int he NYTXW before? Anyhow, great puzzle
It’s interesting to watch the evolution as they drift away from traditional crosswords into a more multi-media experience. It will be interesting to see what the puzzle is like in five or ten years - they could go in all different directions , with elements similar to Jeopardy with Video Clues and Daily Doubles. Also a “buy a vowel” option might be a welcome feature (I’ll bet it would be popular on weekends). I’m going to (actually I already do) miss the traditional, old-school style Crossword Puzzles.
Loved this puzzle--easy enough in the non-theme areas to build the support around them so that you could start to see what was going on. It is true that once the revealer was clear, that the rest was pretty easy. But that was why I could do it in 18 minutes and not 45! I actually had buCKETS before POCKETS but obviously POCKETS belong on pants much better, so that became clear soon enough. The long downs were great; remembering how to spell JODHPURS was challenging. Thanks! Finding things that would belong in a pocket to rebus in the other direction--very creative!
Cringed when I first saw the layout. So many threes usually means a terrible solve but I agree with Rex. This held up beautifully and I genuinely loved the gimmick.
Only place I got stuck was jodhpurs which I had never heard of and I didn’t grok tact for delicacy so hav the j and c of Joyce as d and l for Doyle and just sat there trying to figure out what it could be!
Huh??
What are JODHPURS? I’ll Google it but the Southeast and center were tougher than necessary. We make “Pot Roasts” where I’m from. Never ever have I heard of a BEEF ROAST.
Great puzzle today. Like OFL, thought SRTA was the only dud. I got slowed down in the S/E as I had never heard of JODHPURS .
Almost an ideal Thursday -- one where everything is inscrutable until you figure out the theme, then suddenly it all makes sense. I say 'almost' because I've never heard of BIG LOVE, so a slight ding for that.
But everything else is great. Notice - and I speak to the NYT editors here - that there are no other 'U's in the grid besides the theme 'U's. That is the attention to detail that has been too often missing of late.
Wonderful puzzle - early week easy but loved the trick and the overall elegance. Agree with the big guy that the fill is so super slick that working it was effortless. Helped that I knew JOHDPURS cold. Walked the Mall yesterday afternoon and thought about the majestic ELMs and how much longer we’ll have them.
Highly enjoyable Thursday morning solve.
James JOYCE wrote streams of consciousness books
Print version didn’t have the pictures in the clues, but rather the actual word that was to be inserted into the “pocket,” which seemed a bit weird. Puzzle was fun once I caught on.
I couldn’t figure out how to enter the rebus to get the puzzle accepted as finished. I tried both the “u” before and after the pocket object but neither worked. I looked in your post for some direction but ended up losing my streak using reveal. Bummer.
Fucking bullshit. Let me know when you publish my comment.
I was buoyant after coursing through this high-quality feel-good creation.
OMG-SO-CLEVER.
• Coming up with the idea that the letter U can represent a pocket. Where did that come from? Genius!
• Going from that to a puzzle whose theme is items in pants. What a leap!
HOW-DID-HE-DO-THAT?
• Finding four types of pants that not only contain the letter U, but contain lengths that fit the requirements of symmetry.
• I don’t ever remember a rebuts puzzle where I didn’t actually have to write the rebus or its first letter in, where I could simply imagine it. Is that not expanding the envelope or what?
Plus, a grid so junk-free that it makes me calm just to look at it. Sweet cluing – I loved being misdirected by [Matches or watches], where I was thinking nouns, not verbs.
And lovely serendipities. A backward SERA, echoing that answer from yesterday’s puzzle. The cross of WOO and a backward AMOR.
Not only was I buoyant after solving, but I will be buoyant again when I see your name atop a puzzle, David. Thank you for a splendid outing!
JODHPURS was one of those fun "that can't possibly be right" words that had me flailing for a good five minutes until I finally gave up and googled it.
Liked the puzzle. Thanks David and Will. As the granddaughter of a Survivor I am very sensitive about anyone who would make that salute and I don’t think Elon Musk did that. Here’s what I do know for a fact: Elon Musk visited Auschwitz-Birkenau on January 22, 2024. This private visit took place before he attended a conference on antisemitism organized by the European Jewish Association in Krakow, Poland. During the visit, he was accompanied by his young son, as well as by Rabbi Menachem Margolin, and Holocaust survivor Gidon Lev. Musk laid a wreath and participated in a memorial ceremony at the site, which was a former Nazi German concentration camp where over 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, were killed during World War II. Pretty sure he didn’t give a Nazi dog whistle salute a year after that visit. It was just an awkward gesticulation used as a desperate attempt by his political opponents to vilify him.
Today is a day I would have bought a vowel, Johnny. My last letter in was the O in GOTOU/OSHEA, a bit of a Natick for us non-sporty types, what with the rebus and all. Had to run the vowels to get there. An otherwise excellent Thursday, however. Always glad to see David Steinberg’s byline.
No banana?
A perfect Thursday puzzle in my book! I struggled a bit with “Big Love”. I kept thinking “what is a Bi-Glove? Is it like a bivalve?”. Finally got it and then happy music!
I “solved” this but had absolutely no idea what was going on. Thee little images might have helped but they don’t exist in AcrossLite. But it always gives me a warm feeling when Rex likes a puzzle.
Before I figured out what the puzzle actually wanted in the rebus squares, I had “u”s in some boxes and “key”, etc in others. But, upon filling in the last square, before going back and making all rebus squares consistent, I got the successful solve notice. I’ve seen this before where you get the gimmick but you’re just not sure what the editor wants. Great puzzle with a fun theme but trying to figure out a solving detail, the technical side of the solve, makes me a little crazy. But again, good puzzle.
Same problem here but apparently it doesn’t matter. I dislike when technical issues get in the way of an otherwise fun solve.
Not my favorite puzzle. The concept was fine once it made sense, but there wasn't any joy in figuring it out. I've never heard of BIG LOVE or JODHPURS, and GOT by was my first entry for 4-down, because is had no idea who OSHEA is so there was no indication that the O should be there.
It wasn't until MICKEY that is realized the theme clues actually contained part of the down answers (KEY, PEN, etc.) but by that time the gimmick had lost my interest.
There are also some non-theme answers I didn't love: what the heck is an INNER planet? ICE SHOW? That sounds like a made up descriptor for figure skating. Don't love the Mormon brainwash party of polygamy and TABERNACLE. And the biggest problem: ODOR is not a property of sulfur -- sulfur is odorless.
Ultimately, it seems like a clever and well-constructed puzzle, but it just didn't play very well. I do like that we are still getting echoes of pwnt in the cluing of OWN.
I have never heard of JODHPURS, but I’d be surprised if equestrians are carrying keys in their pocket while riding a horse
I still am not understanding how TACT is a delicacy? Can anyone help me with that? Thank you!
Natick, maybe. But no, the A does not work.
Y ALE?
PRINCE? TON!
My NYT app didn’t have the pics until I’d finished and then they showed up in the U pockets.
Agree with Rex, less forgivingly, on Redd (c’mon…a hypothetical last name; how about Fred Sanford’s portrayer Foxx?) and unequivocally (sorry, Rachel) on El*n M*sk, re both nazi salute and consummate POS.
Another subtle part of the theme that I liked is the wording of the clues. Like: “Pants in which you [that is, “U”] may carry a glove.”
So was this actually a rebus or not? I had GLOVE, PEN, PHONE in those squares (this was way too easy for a Thursday, btw), but when I got to the revealer, I figured they wanted the letter U in them instead. Finished the puzzle successfully without any rebuses. I’m guessing it would have worked if I’d filled in the rebuses, but don’t know. Did anyone fill in U/GLOVE, etc.? Amazed that Rex liked this one. There was no challenge other than figuring out how to fill in the “rebus” squares.
Hey All !
More after solve animation stuff. Nice pictures whoever did that.
Embarrassing that it took me until looking back at MIC(KEY), and seeing KEY in the clue, after going over the Themer clues repeatedly. I was thinking KEY was in all the U's at first. But that didn't work. I was like, "What is GOTOKEY?" Finally saw the "pen" in that clue, said, "Hmm, if I put in PEN ... Yes! GOT O(PEN)!", and looked at the other clues, seeing what was being "carried", and gave myself a Do'h slap.
I knew David would be back. He had said he was going to stop constructing to focus on his Editorship. Can't keep a good puz maker down. Nice to see you again.
+1 - ROO. Har.
Nice, easy, clean tricky ThursPuz. May as well go back to sleep, as your day is now complete.
Happy Thursday!
One F
RooMonster
DarrinV
In no way are snakes scaly. They just aren't.
I think technically the difference between pot roast and beef roast is the cut of meat and how it’s cooked. But where I’m from, the general term is beef roast, and it’s only called a pot roast if you cook vegetables in the pan with the meat.
BEEF ROAST clue was weird. If you call it that then you … roast it. As noted already, it’s true that a “pot roast” might go in the slow cooker, because it is in a pot and not a regular roast.
You have no way of knowing his motivations for any of the above, but what we do know is how his supporters are interpreting his salute to validate and further their own racism. Being a descendent of a survivor doesn’t mean you get to justify harmful rhetoric as “he didn’t mean it.”
Solved the puzzle quickly, but it never came up as "finished." What letters were I supposed to put in the rebus squares? Nothing seemed to work.
Going along with the theme, I solved with Us only in those squares instead of using a rebus. In my mind, the pen/glove/etc. were “hidden” in the “pocket.”
I found this very easy, but struggled to understand the theme. I finished with nothing but U’s in the grid and wondered why the downs were gibberish. Finally - after staring long enough - I finally saw PERSEPHONE. Then felt a little foolish upon seeing how easy and obvious those squares were. But it never once occurred to me that the actual answers would be right there in the clues. Enjoyed the puzzle otherwise but something about that just seems inherently wrong.
I just put the U's. In my mind, the items (e.g., pen) were "hidden" in the pockets. Not sure if that was the intentional way to complete the fill, but it worked.
Imaginative puzzle. Solve was a bit trance in that the NE went fairly quickly, then the SW, followed by the NW and last the SE—almost like four mini-puzzles. Don’t know where I heard or read JODHPURS but somehow got it phonetically, tho got the U only from the theme. Never heard of Big Love, but it made sense as an answer after getting the revealer. In our area in NY there is a magnificent ELM that neighbors from miles around keep alive by funding shots that prevent the Dutch Elm Tree disease from taking hold.
The only reason I knew the word JODHPURS was from the hilarious podcast, "My Dad Wrote a Porno". Highly recommended if you're looking for a laugh.
Rex, it was just a "roman salute" according to the corporate media that is owned by his billionaire fascist friends ;)
Really enjoyed this theme -- Rex said what I would have said.
Other randomness:
-- I will never ever ever ever remember how to spell JODHPURS. Johdpurs? Jodphurs? Ack!
-- Weird to see the rebus components spelled out in the clues. It works quite well in this case, but I wonder if he ever considered using phrases like "hand covering", "writing implement", "lock opener" and "mobile device" in the clues.
-- Interesting clue for OSHEA, since his same-named father is better known as Ice Cube and has rapped at many a concert that might be termed an ICESHOW.
-- WEAVE >> SCORE. As a sports nut, I slapped my head on this one.
-- Not a fan of ATERAW or TEENDAD; both felt forced.
-- David Steinberg is an amazing force within crossworld. May he remain so for another, oh, 50 years.
The actual content of the pocket as a rebus -- so PEN, PHONE, etc. For me at least
The letter U
Fun fact about John Cena - he, by far, holds the record for the most wishes granted through the Make A Wish foundation. As of 2022 it was 650 wishes granted, with no other celebrity topping 200. I wasn’t a John Cena fan before I learned this, but being so generous to kids with terminal illness is really admirable. Maybe do a little blurb on him next time he’s in the crossword?
To those asking about filling in the puzzle via the app or online, there is no rebus trick. The "images" fill in automatically if you just enter the across clues.
Un padre adolescente comió un asado de carne en el tabernáculo.
Heckuva tuff puzzle. Even after completing it I kept trying to grasp how the theme works. When BIU showed up early, I knew the downs would be useless in the solve and like @Nancy says, if the answer doesn't make sense, the trick is in the clue. But today it's in the horizontal clue. Very tricksy this smelly hobbitses. By the time I cobbled POCKETS together I realized it was no help either. Lotsa groping around in the dark for me. Lotsa fun.
I spent a silly amount of time looking at pictures from the town of Jodhpur where the pants originated. Beautiful blue city.
I had a poor experience with Ryder, so I am a Penske man.
Super gunk-free outing, but with eight names, it probably felt gunky if you didn't know them. Luckily only O'Shea was new to me and the crosses gave him up quickly.
People: 8
Places: 0
Products: 2
Partials: 2
Foreignisms: 1
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 13 of 76 (17%) {wonderful, just wonderful!}
Funnyisms: 2 😕
Uniclues:
1 Discard from my burning love.
2 Work pants with a really big loop for a hammer.
3 Oh no, sad one was amused.
4 How the young man carrying a baby scored the winning touchdown at the church barbecue.
5 Career path for Olympic skaters ... ha ha.
6 Tree with bad breath.
1 SOOTY BLUE JEANS
2 THOR TROUSERS (~)
3 OOPS, EMO VEERED (~)
4 TEEN DAD GOT OPEN (~)
5 ICE SHOW ... PSYCH
6 INNER ODOR ELM
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Awkward conversation starter on the third date. BOOTS, OK? I'M KINKY.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Your last sentence seems to be the point you really wanted to make, which is of course your right. But how can anyone be "pretty sure" about what Musk thinks or does? Face it -- none of us have any idea what's going on in his head -- "mercurial" doesn't even begin to describe the way he rolls. If that's why you like him, fine, but your argument in this case might be more convincing if he didn't have AfD leadership on speed-dial or tend to double down on any idea that he blurts out (verbally or on X) no matter how extreme it may come off to many reasonable people, including those who might otherwise appreciate what he brings to the table.
I was happy to read in the comments that the clues on apps had pictures, which would have made this a lot more fun. My print version had the actual words that appeared in the answers, which was odd. I wasn't until MICKEY that i grudgingly accepted that the "key: in the clue was the KEY in the answer. Really? Yes really.
Didn't remember BIGLOVE until I put the GLOVE in and OSHEA was a total no-know but otherwise no real problems.
The worst comment I've heard from a surgeon was not OOPs, but "that was a doozy", my eye doc's comment on why he couldn't fully repair my detached retina. Not what you want to hear.
The POCKETS stuff was inspired, DS. Too bad it Didn't Show up on my print out, but thanks for a reasonable amount of fun.
I was happy to read in the comments that the clues on apps had pictures, which would have made this a lot more fun. My print version had the actual words that appeared in the answers, which was odd. I wasn't until MICKEY that i grudgingly accepted that the "key: in the clue was the KEY in the answer. Really? Yes really.
Didn't remember BIGLOVE until I put the GLOVE in and OSHEA was a total no-know but otherwise no real problems.
The worst comment I've heard from a surgeon was not OOPs, but "that was a doozy", my eye doc's comment on why he couldn't fully repair my detached retina. Not what you want to hear.
The POCKETS stuff was inspired, DS. Too bad it Didn't Show up on my print out, but thanks for a reasonable amount of fun.
How is JODHPURS not the WOTD
The Nazi thing is so used up and boring.
I figured out the theme piecemeal. First I noticed that there was a downs-only rebus (not knowing OSHEA didn't help, I had GOT by for 4-D); then I noticed, eventually, that all the rebus squares were Us. Still later did I get POCKETS, and noticed that you could imagine a U to be one; but for some reason it never occurred to me that the clue told you what to put in the pocket in a straightforward manner -- a PEN, a GLOVE, etc. And this even though I was wondering why PERSEPHONE wouldn't fit. Finally I had a little Eureka! experience with that PHONE, and it all fell into place. (Except for figuring out that it was JODHPURS, not JODphURS. I really admired the boldness of including that word at all, where the other pants were so much more common.
eyeS before TABS, ATE out beforeo RAW, causes before REASON, but that was all minor. I amazed myself by knowing it was Jason MOMOA (only from crosswords). So, a nice crunchy puzzle; I'd expect no less from young Mr. Steinberg (I guess he's in his late 20s by now, but that's still "young" to me.)
Jodhpurs?? Huh? I definitely expected the puzzle to tell me I had a mistake upon finishing shortly thereafter, having not been able to figure out how that answer could've been anything OTHER than "jodhpurs"... nope, that was apparently correct... ty nyt and google - til THAT'S what those pants are called.
For "oops" originally put in "uhoh" and giggled, then realized it was "oops" and giggled harder.
Watching images replace words is agonizing. Like watching a slow death.
Ability to adapt in life to change can take us only so far, as the young’s will learn much sooner than they even imagine, given Moore’s law… I, too, wish for the pleasures of the traditional puzzle—surely the NYT could offer both? Another revenue stream in the stormy seas?
!. Apologies for the double post.
2. Forgot to give @Roo credit for the ROO, which I did notice. He is now in another area code in our little competition.
Loved it! Tricky. Not knowing the sports thingy at the beginning made me think the Us were going to be u-turns, so it could be GOTOut, perhaps? Then I had _ _ CK_ _S and my brain went to baCKupS, like u-turns in a down clue??? But then... what about the pants? The NYT app just had the words, so as [I think] @Lewis said, it was a mental rebus once I figured it out. I just entered the U and the puzzle showed completed and when I went back there were the little animations. Cute!
I *knew* the HBO show was BIG LOVE and had the BI and it didn't work with the backup idea. So I just persevered filling stuff in (the rest was really pretty easy)and it wasn't until the mouse that I finally got it! Great click of the pieces falling into place.
Definitely knew JODHPURS as they were required during riding lessons over 50 years ago.
Best puzzle in a very long time.
@Gary, loved your uniclues and finally realized that it's your incredible cleverness wording the clues that rings the bell.
Always a delight to see Steinberg as constructor, but NW names frightened me to a reverse solve. SE quadrant was easier than other sections so that worked well. Thought the icons that came with Mr Happy’s tune was an additional reward that solvers truly deserved. Another grand day when I can say I enjoyed the grid as much as @Lewis & OFL obviously did; now it’s time for blue skies and 55 degrees after a long winter of discontent!
What an ingenious theme! I am so envious of all of you who had your "Aha Moments" early and clearly -- that is, those of you who knew the names BIG LOVE and PERSEPHONE and saw what was happening. I might/should have seen it at GOT OPEN -- but, alas, I didn't see it until MICKEY -- and by then I was almost finished and had had no "Aha Moments" at all up until then.
If only I had seen that HBO series. Could BIG LOVE have been clued any other way? And why am I so lousy at Greek mythology? Why it's almost as bad as cars.
Should I put this on my POY list? It's so clever and inventive. Just finding all those pants with "U"s in them! And then finding the Downs to make it work! My mind says yes, but my heart says that it wasn't as great an experience for me as it could have been. Because, among other things...so many names.
Beef roast as opposed to pork roast or lamb roast.
The clues in the NY Times app did not have pictures. The pictures popped up only after the puzzle was solved.
I thought this puzzle was so cute—different, imaginative, and fun to solve. Thank you, David Steinberg!
Do you use emojis? Letters don't seem to work.
You’re just gaslighting yourself. There’s nothing awkward about it, he clearly planned it ahead of time, and he’s had every opportunity to apologize and clarify, but he’d rather court neo nazis.
If they ever get around to printing my admittedly posted very late comment, you'll see that my solving experience mirrored yours almost exactly.
Dear Rex,
Familiarize yourself with this meme, and you will never confuse the two again.
https://amp.knowyourmeme.com/memes/unexpected-john-cena-and-his-name-is-john-cena
I didn't fully in the rebus. I didn't understand the theme at all, so I just did the across words and the pictures popped up at the end. But the pictures are so small on my phone that I was still confused until I came here, haha.
Now this was my kind of Thursday (Rebus) where I solved as a themeless (which, of course, I knew it wasn't) & I didn't have to squeeze any words into
one square. I might be all wrong or maybe not, but I got the music, saw the graphics at the end &, per his write-up, it made Rex laugh :)
Maybe one day I'll remember CENA vs CERA.
Or maybe not. Thank you, David :)
Superb+ gig for U. thUmbsUp.
At first I was tryin to stuff "pocket" into the U at GOT?U, to produce the weird-ish GOTAPOCKET. Then the M&A brainpan finally decided to reread the clue and started to work a PEN into the mix. Nice ahar moment. MomentUs.
@RP: Nice one. M&A's X/Musk comments would hafta be rated XXX, sooo ...
staff weeject pick: DMS. Which inspired the cool @RP comment.
Thanx for the U honors, Mr. Steinberg dude. Cleverest of puzthemes. fave for 2025 so far, at our house.
Masked & Anonymo4POCKET/4Us
... and now ...
"Now I See" - 7x7 themed runt puzzle:
**gruntz**
M&A
Hope you're not a surgeon. :)
That Manhattan looks delicious. I may have to join you....
Easy-medium. No WOEs but I didn’t get what was going on until I was almost done and certain squares were not making sense. The reveal helped me sort it out and spell the types of pants (Hi @Rex) correctly.
Fun and clever with a delightful graphic, liked it a bunch!!
Didn't Scarlett O'Haraa become Mrs. REDD Butlerr and smoke a lot of cigaredds? Or am I thinking of yesterday's puzzle?
In some ways, this puzzle was so in my wheelhouse that it might be labeled "Biography of Egsforbreakfast". The rebussed items are descriptive of the things, and employed in the exact order, that I spend the bulk of my days looking for every time Mrs. Egs tries to embark on any outing......glove, pen, key, phone.
I think that under the leadership of the Muskrat, ICESHOW we're going to deport enough people to make room for the new $5 million Gold Card permanent residents who will surely be picking up the slack by taking on the majority of the manual labor positions necessary to keep our economy from imploding.
Wonderful puzzle. Thanks, David Steinberg.
I was annoyed by the puzzle because I just couldn't "get" it, then suddenly I got it and it was pretty good. I actually got JODHPURS right away and even spelt it correctly. I'm surprised Gary's Gunk Gauge was so low, because of MOMOA ROO OSHEA CENA up top, but at least not a big mass of names like yesterday.
Typeover: for "Didn't cook one's food" ATE OUT before ATE RAW. It shows up so often, I put it in automatically. Also AURORA before PERSE[PHONE]... oh yeah, she was a goddess of dawn, not spring... and Roman, not Greek.
Im not sure why but I find myself chuckling over the number of commenters who hadn't heard of jodhpurs.
But not knowing how to spell it...NOT surprised. I had to look up the spelling cuz could not remember where the "h" went. Actually looked up the etymology to find out Why the H. Because it was in the name of the city where they originate. Well that explains a lot -NOT.
Note to NYT crossword editor: DMS could also be a reference to defensive midfielders. Harder, I know, but please stop referencing social media everyday?
Sorry. Not a fan. I count 16 three-letter answers and a gimmick that brought no smiles at all. Surprised Rex didn’t find this too twee.
I feel like in an era not too gone-by, we wouldn't have been spoonfed the rebus / pocket contents. IMHO, it would have been more fun to discover the objects myself.
Also, never having lived in a place where it snows, do people really keep gloves in their pants pockets? Seems bulky.
See the clue for the revealer at 35A: "What the U's in this puzzle's solution represent". Thus, "U" is what you're supposed to put in those squares.
What a difference 11 years makes! I'm workimg through the archives and the last puzzle I did was from Feb 18, 2014- it was also constructed by David Steinberg! That puzzle was blasted in the comments here as a joyless solve, a stunt puzzle with horrible fill. Some comments even said they wished DS would mature as a constructor and better balance construction brilliance with a fun solving experience in the future. Today we got just that!
In any climate, work gloves often get tucked in the back pocket of blue jeans.
Cera (not CENA) once played a TEEN DAD, in 2007's "Juno".
Never heard of the dish beef roast. Roast beef yes for sure, pot roast, standing rib roast, many others but not beef roast
Agree with JT above that lamb, pork and beef can all be roasted but I have to question whether or not you would use a slow cooker for that. Roasting, to me, means dry (or very nearly dry) cooking in an oven or even in an outdoor charcoal or gas grill which, when closed, is essentially an oven. Aren't slow cookers meant for braising and stewing?
Yes, I picked up on the "you" = "U" right off the bat. I was surprised to see that this feature got no mention in Rex's comments.
Genius level work. Didn't put it all together until I finished and (on NYT app) the pictures popped into the U "pockets". And each of the "pockets" is in a pair of pants! Wonder if anyone's seen that before- I sure haven't in my 25 years of solving . Like I said , genius.
Medium time, some of the clues were deceptive enough to slow me down but added to enjoyment. And I missed the two t's in the clue "Scarlett" linking with the two D's in REDD until RP pointed it out .
Believe David has actually achieved Jedi status
@Matthew, no I certainly wouldn't try to put winter gloves into a pant pocket, but then I'm always wearing my winter coat which has nice big ones.
Golfers usually stuff their gloves in their pant pockets, along with their scorecard and other stuff.
You should be ashamed for defending this guy.
Jodhpurs are jockey pants for horse racing as far as I know. If you ever read Dick Francis (great author) you would know them.
Tact is a synonym for delicacy.
What horrid propaganda. Guy is a neonazi. Idiocy to pretend otherwise https://www.npr.org/2025/01/27/nx-s1-5276084/elon-musk-german-far-right-afd-holocaust
Matthew, I have to go with Sailor on this one. I'm a farmer and almost never go outside without a pair of gloves in the back pocket of my jeans. Rain, sun, snow, it doesn't matter. If you have to pick up that slimey pitchfork handle out by the compost, you want gloves handy.
If it weren't for the comment defending El*n M*sk's "awkward gesture" above, this would be the most egregiously incorrect statement I've ever read on this blog. Snakes are in fact SO scaly (that is, they have scales) that even the ones that are considered "scaleless" have scales that line their bellies.
In that case, let's also ask them to stop referencing sports jargon everyday. That's one topic we don't need more of in the puzzles.
A very simple google will show you that the have scales, with a few notable exceptions such as the corn snake.
Interesting coincidence: I've been working through the archives too and the last one I did was Feb 16, 2014 so I will tackle Feb 18 soon! (I go backward by month and solve beginning with the 1st of that month)
He is also a supporter of the neo-nazi party AfD.
yeah, BEEF ROASTS took me too long to get. tried to get beef braises to fit for awhile. if beef is in the slow cooker it's pot roast, beef stew, mississippi roast, or some such. maybe even beef barbacoa. the generic "beef roast" seems more suited to a roast prepared in the oven.
-stephanie.
@Brian [and @anon 11:30am] i typed GLOVE, PEN, etc as rebuses [if you're using a standard keyboard you can hit the escape key, type as usual and then hit enter when finished] in the pocket squares and it worked fine for me solving on the web [website, not app].
-stephanie.
@anon 8:22am this took me awhile too. think not of a food item, but rather tact being the ability to treat a situation delicately/with care & consideration. :)
-stephanie.
really liked the puzzle...but also really didn't like all the gimmes. i thought the clues would be synonyms at first, like PEN wouldn't just be PEN but some other word. when i saw the clues just literally told you what to write in the rebus squares it was a big let down. and then the revealer did the same, by telling you there were Us. it took the frustration and therefore a lot of the fun out of what i usually enjoy about cracking a thursday. a really nice concept with over the top hand holding.
-stephanie.
Add me to the list of those who loved it! Fun and well-made!
Things I really enjoy are good Thursday rebus puzzles. ✅. Things I do not enjoy very much at all are the puzzles in which I must insert pictures. 👻 For me this was sort of going from the sublime to the ridiculous. I started seeing the rebus immediately and plopped in PEN at the end of 4D for GOT OPEN (I really love NCAA football). But then the TROUSERS at 23A killed it. But I carried on with the rebus square PENU hoping for the best.
Moving along as I saw for various types of pants, all of which had a U in their names I thought “hmmmm, what’s with the pant names each with a U?” Again, (and as y’all know I often do) I channeled Gran who taught me about solving themed puzzles. Long before Sesame Street, crosswords is how I learned to suss out “some of these things are just like the others . . . “ to find a theme. I looked at the TROUSERS and BLUE JEANS and their weird looking answers entered in rebus fashion and the 💡 went on. And I thought that my odd rebus squares were going to be fine (despite the fact that I have never put a GLOVE in my BLUE JEANS). Whatever.
Not far away from the center, I found myself at 35A, rather surprised to find such a short reveal so early in the solve. I read the clue and I saw the trick. It is clever. It is well done. It is carried through with skill. But it wants me to draw on my crossword grid. Just ick. Solving on paper, the squares are too small to draw anything in. Period. Please leave my rebus a rebus. Let me put letters in the squares. Please, please, please.
Yes, technology is clever, and it is 2025. And if one uses the proper app, it inserted pictures in the”pockets” as a reward for leaving the letters other than the U out of the “rebus” squares. I am old. I do not care for my computer “finishing” my puzzle for me. I do not want to draw on my crossword grid. But the construction is tight, the theme is consistent, the idea is clever and well executed, but why can’t I just leave the letters in my pockets? This really is an excellent Thursday puzzle. And I am particularly impressed that the reveal at 35A was able to cross with another theme answer: PERSEPHONE!! I enjoyed it until the very end. So I am ignoring the picture thing.
I sincerely apologize to everyone (including Mr. Steinberg, whose puzzles I typically enjoy) who thinks I am just being a crabby old lady who’s too set in her ways.
Anonymous 6:08 AM
What else does the rhyming clue lead to but Pooh and Roo
Mack
Earth is an inner planet of the solar system
Jack
Boring Nazis. Interesting concept
Nazis in Charlottesville the Capitol
In Germany being saluted by our assistant president
MAGAS love to ignore facts and history and cheer their great leader. Others do not
My feelingis like CDilly except that I found the puzzle hideous. I admit I never like Rebus puzzles so that my Thursdays are usually pretty grim. Doing the puzzle on paper, as it really should be done regardless of what year it is, makes Rebus puzzles a chore in the best of circumstances but this one goes on the Mount Rushmore of such things. I kept looking for how the Rebus would work and never figured it out. I could even pick here as jeans that fit properly would not allow anyone to put a glove in without ruining the glove.
I usually complain less than most other people about the puzzles, here I find myself almost apoplectic about answers within questions items within Pockets that they wouldn't fit in in real life, puzzles that need to be done on computers, ick. Maybe I'm allowing myself to be too influenced by my disgust over what is happening in Washington but I am on the crabby side of crustaceanville today
I'm going forward starting from my son's birth date. That's when I went on a big dry spell of not having time to do puzzles after having been a daily syndicated solver. With the app now I'm doing 1 to 5 or more puzzles a day. It's great.
Read Equus by Peter Shaffer, you'll remember.
Apparently you are very easily fooled
Post a Comment