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Take down a notch / SUN 8-3-2025 / Looks inside? / Warp-driven device / Florida beach town, informally / Tough spot / Hands-on professional? / Sneakily exploits / Something clicked to add an attachment / Brother of DIsney's Louie and Dewey Duck
Sunday, August 3, 2025
Constructor: Jeremy Newton
Relative difficulty: Hard
THEME: Star Trek — There's a lot going on here! It's a Star Trek tribute puzzle. There's THE ENTERPRISE up top and MISTER SCOTT right below up. And a bunch of different characters are being beamed up ("BEAM ME UP!"), as they are featured backwards in circled letters in phrases they might say. We also have USS as a little bonus.
Word of the Day: SITH (10D: Enemy of the Jedi) —
The Sith are the main antagonists in the fictional universe of the Star Wars franchise.[2] They are the antithesis and ancient enemies of the Jedi. The Sith Order is depicted as an ancient cult of warriors who draw strength from the dark side of the Force and use it to seize power by any means necessary, including terrorism and mass murder with the goal to destroy the Jedi and rule the galaxy.
• • •
Theme answers:
- THE ENTERPRISE (4A: Iconic sci-fe setting spelled out in this puzzle's shaded squares)
- MISTER SCOTT (22A: Member of this puzzle's shaded squares who might say "I cannot change the laws of physics, Captain!")
- STAR TREK (83D: This puzzle's theme)
- BEAM ME UP (84D: "I want to back to the ship," as everyone circled in this puzzle seems to have said to 22-Across)
- WE HAVE TO MAKE THIS QUICK (CHEKOV) (3D: "Our window is closing for escape w-elocity!," as [circled letters] might say)
- KEEP COMPOSURE (SPOCK) (36D: "Logic dictates that you control your emotions," as [circled letters] might say)
- I TOOK A RISK (KIRK) (45D: "To protect my crew, the gamble was necessary," as [circled letters] might say)
- ARE YOU HURT (UHURA) (48D: "We received a distress signal. Any injuries?," as [circled letters] might say)
- FULL THRUSTERS (SULU) (40D: "Stepping on the gas, Captain!," as [circled letters] might say)
- YOU CAN ALWAYS COUNT ON ME (MCCOY) (12D: "Any time! I'm a doctor, not a do-nothing!," as [circled letters] might say)
- USS (90A: Inits. for this puzzle's shaded squares)
There is a lot going on in this puzzle! There's THE ENTERPRISE and the name of the franchise and a bunch of characters (backwards) in a bunch of things they might plausibly say. It's a very intricate construction and it's a puzzle that I'm sure someone else really really enjoyed. Unfortunately, that someone is not me because I'm not at all a Star Trek fan. Nothing against Star Trek ... just ... never been my thing! My level of Star Trek knowledge is knowing UHURA since he (she? they? it? no idea!) always comes up in crosswords. And, I guess SPOCK is iconic. But ... CHEKOV? Never met him. MISTER SCOTT? Totally new to me! (Since the post was late this morning, you all get a pass to go in the comments and make for of me for not knowing anything about Star Trek)
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| Torii in KYOTO |
It felt like a really slow solve, and I wanted to blame it on the fact that I not a Star Trek guy, but a lot of the theme material isn't really related to Star Trek. So I think it was just a slightly harder-than-usual puzzle. One thing I admired is that it still was a very theme-dense tribute puzzle, but the exclamations all exist outside of Star Trek, so it make the puzzle enjoyable (or, doable, really) by non-fans.
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| It's RIO |
It's really an incredible construction, IMO. I'm kind of amazed there exist things each character could plausibly say with the characters name in it backwards ... while also fulfilling the length symmetry requirement. And the fill didn't really suffer too much in spite of everything going on! You get stuff like A NET, sure, but overall I felt slow because the clues were kinda hard and not because of any iffy fill.
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| It's AMSTERDAM |
I wish I had more to say about this puzzle! These kinds of tribute puzzles are always a but hit-or-miss, depending on how much the solver knows / cares about the thing being tributed. Oh, this puzzle is also a pangram, which means that every letter is in it at least once. It feels less noticeable in a Sunday-size grid, but that's another cool thing. Usually, the scrabbly letters feel forced, but here I didn't feel like they led to any big compromises.
Alright, apologies again if this is being posted after you usually consume your morning blog! I hope you are all well and staying cool (unless you live in the Bay Area, in which case I hope you are staying warm) and having a lovely weekend.
Bullets:
- CRYPTOS (31A: Digital investment choice, informally) — I don't know if "cryptos" are a thing
- GAB (114D: Chinwag) — Sometimes when solving a crossword, I'll see a clue like this which is a word I've definitely ... seen ... before but absolutely cannot say what it means. And that does make it quite hard to get to the answer!
- ESTE (11D: By Juan's early light?) — Never been a fan of these clues using names to indicate another language. Surely not everyone in the world named Juan speaks Spanish?
- REAL ID (44A: D.M.V.-issued card authenticated by airport security) — I feel like they've been about to start enforcing Real IDs for so many years. Are they doing it now? Every time it's getting close it seems like they just push it back another year. I'm flying next week so I guess I'll find out.
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37 comments:
I think this was a really great puzzle. Bring it on, Mr. Newton!
Easy pz if you’re a Trekkie
Wow, no comments? Anyhoo, I love Star Trek so this was fun for me. I was confused as to why all the circled names went up but then realized the whole "beam me up" part of the theme. Nice. Live long and prosper.
I work in an industry where my coworkers discuss crypto with some regularity, and I am quite sure I have never once heard them utter CRYPTOS.
My platform didn't have shaded squares so I had a DNF at 90A. Couldn't parse the clue and the cross was obvi OBVi, not OBVS. I revealed the USS and went back to the NYTimes platform and hit reveal so I could see the gray squares. Of course, the USS ENTERPRISE.
I've seen a lot of Star Trek episodes but that didn't make this a cakewalk of a solve. It was about average, I guess.
My favorite clue/answer was 106A, Warp-driven device = LOOM, not the USS ENTERPRISE, har.
Thanks, Jeremy Newton!
Once I figured out names went up, it was a simple exercise of filling in all the names first, because the clues easily gave them away, including the Enterprise and Star Trek and Mr.Scott, and then solving the puzzle around them. So zero challenge there. Figuring out the sayings was kinda fun. The fill was fine without a lot of abbreviations and junk. Overall a pleasant experience.
Not a Star Trek fan either. This was a slog.
Amsterdam is not even the capital of the Netherlands, let alone a world capital. This puzzle was just overwhelmed by its gimmickry.
I really liked it and thought it was easy peasy, but I’m a Gen X who grew up on Star Trek. Only complaint was there was SOOOOOO much crosswordese due to the heavy amount of theme. OBVS? XMAS? Rex would have been appalled.
I am 66 years old. Never saw one episode of Star Trek and ignored the circles in this puzzle. Thought it was on the easy side of Medium
I just wanted to point out what a cool character Lt. Uhura is in The Original Series. She was the Communications Officer, and in being so was stationed on the bridge, got a lot of respect, and had real input. She was portrayed by Nichelle Nichols, who passed away a few years ago, and was a significant part of the inclusion and diversity that the Star Trek franchise asserted as a normal part of the future for their 1960s audience.
Knew enough Trek to get by, but boy was there a lot of compromise on the fill to get this theme to work. Text-speak, awkward stuff like ONKEY, DYER, CRYPTOS, etc. Cluing certainly didn't make things easier most of the time - could've had an easier clue than a Kris Kross lyric for JUMP!
The THE in THEGYM is pretty bad in and of itself but it’s also a duplicate since we have THEENTERPRISE as well.
On the positive side, I love how the reveal THEENTERPRISE is shaped like the iconic spacecraft.
I hate Star Trek, therefore I hated this puzzle.
Wikpedia: In the Netherlands, the Constitution refers to Amsterdam as the capital city. However, since 1588, the States General and the Executive Branch, along with the Supreme Court and the Council of State, have been situated in The Hague as the seat of government.
On the easy side for me. The theme was OBVS so the little bit of resistance I encountered involved parsing the long downs.
Another impressive feat of construction, liked it.
Actually, the Netherlands' official capital is Amsterdam, although The Hague is the seat of government.
I know I'm a giant nerd because this was easy peasy for me lol
Yes!
In the Netherlands, the Constitution refers to Amsterdam as the capital city. However, since 1588, the States General and the Executive Branch, along with the Supreme Court and the Council of State, have been situated in The Hague as the seat of government.
This what I call a vanity puzzle. Very impressive in it execution. But for a solver [ especially a non-Treker] just another slog.
This was an absolute joy for us oldsters who enjoyed every episode of Star Trek as kids.
Misterspock before misterscott. I can’t be the only person who did that.
Agree with Rafa 100%. Never actually watched Star Trek, so although the construction was impressive (except for the clunky 4-Across, unless the answer’s shape was meant to depict something about the show that I’m unfamiliar with), I really disliked this puzzle and solving it was a real slog.
Yes, an absolute joy!
Not a huge Star Trek fan but saw and knew enough of the original series to finish the puzzle. This was fun! Hard if you never saw the show, medium if you’re aware of it, easy if you’re a Trekkie.
Agree—I live in tech/crypto central and have never heard anyone say CRYPTOS.
Had a major malfunction right on the launch pad, so to speak. "I cannot change the laws of physics, Captain!" (22A) sounded like something MISTER SPOCK would say. And he fit that slot. Took a while to fix that.
I did a frowny face when LOOM showed up for "Warp-driven device" (106A). I see how it's a play on the Warp Drive that allowed the USS Enterprise to exceed the speed of light but for me a LOOM is treadle-driven, you know, foot powered. The warp is a part of a LOOM, sure, but it does not drive it. I'd say this is case of going for a clever misdirect at the expense of accuracy.
I judge Sunday puzzles by how far I get through the grid before I throw in the towel. I completely filled this one in so, ipso facto, I liked it.
Funnily enough, the phrase "Beam me up, Scotty" was never uttered in the original series nor in any of the movies based on it.
Puzzle resonated for me in a couple of odd places. I have an appointment on Tuesday to get my REAL ID, which seems like a waste of time and money, but there you go. And our next planned trip is to ST PETE to visit, among other things, the Dali Museum, the Imagine Museum, and the Sunken Gardens. To anyone with local experience: recommendations - sights and food - are welcome.
Well, I guess it’s time for me to raise my hand as an old Star Trek nerd whether Kirk is William Shatner or Chris Pine. Maybe I’m in the sweet spot for age, because the original Star Trek aired when I was 11, and it was just so…I dunno…fantastic given I had had to put up with the shlocky premise and horribly done space monsters that Lost in Space had. But…even though I had a “leg up” with my nerdiness, I still think the puzzle had a lot of great fill and clever wordplay. In short, I had more fun with this Sunday than I have in a long time! Thanks Jeremy Newton!
I thought this was fun. I'm not a huge Star Trek fan, but I did watch the old TV show, so I knew most of the names and that definitely helped. When there's a whole puzzle about "The Last of Us" or some other new show that I don't watch, maybe I'll be as grumbly and snarky as all of you who didn't watch Star Trek, but I'm hoping I'll just shrug and admit "This one's not in my wheelhouse."! I don't think the cluing today was bad and the whole thing gave me a smile. Thank you, Jeremy Newton!
I’m not a fan of tribute puzzles or Star Trek, so this was a bit painful for me. I know a bit about the franchise because I did make a point of tuning in the first TV series so I recognized most of the names. But I had no time or enthusiasm for the subsequent series and I’ve only seen two early movies.
Pretty impressive construction, though, but I have to ask, was the Enterprise an asymmetrical vessel? Because it sure looks that way in the grid art. And is Scotty isolated up there because he’s controlling the “beaming”? If so, that’s clever. And how did that SITH sneak in there at 10D?
Is 28A HEROCOP a thing people really say? And shouldn’t 62D KOS be clued “Some big hits, in brief”? You might take a lot of big hits in combat sports and never get knocked out.
Kitshef, wow…an appointment? I don’t remember it being a pain in the neck to get the Real ID but I got it a few years ago and just went into the local BMV, unannounced. Seems like the fact that I had a valid passport factored into the “easiness” plus, the cost was maybe $15.
Have to agree about LOOM, Teedmn. Good clueing there.
FUN TO SOLVE!~ Best puzzles the year, AFAIC
Great puzzle, but not hard at all.
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