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First (and last) queen of Hawaii / SUN 3-8-26 / Certain supervisor on a film set / So-called "rooster sauce" / Inventor and actress Lamarr / Indigenous people of the Great Lakes / Anna Howard ___ leader in the suffrage movement / Predinner beverage / Baseball announcer's update / Spanish letter / Sci-fi franchise that takes place in "the Grid" / Some budget-friendly grocery stores / Role for Geena Davis in "A League of Their Own" / March 8 observance connecting billions of people around the world / Structure in a shipping container
Sunday, March 8, 2026
Constructor: Kelly Richardson
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
- ISSA Rae
- NINA Simone
- EMMA WATSON
- SADE
- Rita ORA
- Anaïs NIN
- LILIUOKALANI
- HARRIET Tubman
- Tara REID
- NORMA Talmadge
- Lupita NYONG'O
- MALALA Yousafzai
- Sally FIELD
- GWEN Stefani
- Sandra Day O'CONNOR
- TONI MORRISON
- ICE Spice
- INA Garten
- Anna Howard SHAW
- FRIDA KAHLO
- TINA Turner
- HEDY Lamarr
[Odawa group areas]
The Odawa (also Ottawa or Odaawaa /oʊˈdɑːwə/) are an Indigenous North American people who primarily inhabit land in the Eastern Woodlands region, now in jurisdictions of the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. Their territory long preceded the creation of the current border between the two countries in the 18th and 19th centuries.Their peoples are federally recognized as Native American tribes in the United States and have numerous recognized First Nations bands in Canada. They are one of the Anishinaabeg, related to but distinct from the Ojibwe and Potawatomi peoples.
After migrating from the East Coast in ancient times, they settled on Manitoulin Island, near the northern shores of Lake Huron, and the Bruce Peninsula in the present-day province of Ontario, Canada. They considered this their original homeland. After the 17th century, they also settled along the Ottawa River, and in what became the present-day states of Michigan and Wisconsin. They also occupied other areas of the Midwest south of the Great Lakes in what became the United States. In the 21st century, there are a total of approximately 15,000 Odawa living in Ontario, Canada, and in Michigan and Oklahoma (former Indian Territory, United States). (wikipedia)
• • •
I am glad that there was a rationale for all the names, because as I moved down the west side of the puzzle, I was like "yikes, that is a Lot of crosswordy names" (SADE ORA NIN ISSA). I did enjoy (or at least appreciate) learning some new names today, at least one of which (LILIUOKALANI) nearly took my head off. When I say I needed every single cross, I mean Every Single Cross. That "U," yipes, it still looks so wrong. But I figured the Taylor Swift song was probably not "OAR Song" (48A: "___ Song" (Taylor Swift hit)), so "U" it was. I'd also never heard of Anna Howard SHAW, and I only barely know who NORMA Talmadge is (that is, I think I've heard the name, but I couldn't tell you a thing about her). Everyone else I know, including ICE Spice, who I know is gonna be new to lots of you. I really needed her today, because I honestly wasn't sure if it was INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY or INTERNATIONAL WOMAN'S DAY. The one other proper noun I had absolutely no clue about was also the very last answer I completed: ODAWA. That "D" was my last letter. Number of ODAWA appearances in NYTXW history: before today, zero. Now, one. If you give me O-AWA, I will immediately tell you the answer has to be OZAWA. Seiji OZAWA, the conductor. No other letter makes sense. Or so I thought. I did not connect ODAWA to "Ottawa" (obviously), but that makes sense (see "Word of the Day," above). Lots of checking and rechecking crosses today.
Fillwise, the puzzle really lost me in the SW with ONE TO GO (?) (121A: "Nearly done!") and MEN ON (as clued) (111D: Baseball announcer's update) and "G'DAY, MATES" (the MATES part not being clued at all) (83D: Aussie greeting). With ATO and ANDSO and RERIGS down there as well, that corner is a real mess. Elsewhere there's extremely awkward stuff like SAY TO (?) and HALF TWO (arbitrary British times of day, huzzah!) and IDENT (oof) and PRIE (at least four (4!) Fr. answers today, five if you count NOIR) and multiple (multiple?) ALDIS. Then there was the lesser ugliness of stuff like AANDM (A & M) and CD-R and ANI (AN "I") and NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission). I was struggling to find things to admire. I know I said I didn't like the theme concept, but the theme did yield some of the more interesting answers of the day, like TONI MORRISON and FRIDA KAHLO. I really wanted to be able to say "I LIKE IT" to this one, but no such luck.
Bullets:
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
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Bullets:
- 13D: Show gratitude for service (LEAVE A TIP) — whenever I EAT A SANDWICH at a restaurant, I make sure to LEAVE A TIP.
- 113D: Spanish letter (CARTA) — brutal for me. Wanted a letter of the alphabet. But the "letter" here is a simple missive. Correspondence. That kind of letter. CARTA can also mean "card" or "menu" (which is what I would've guessed as its meaning, since CARTE means "menu" in French (as well as "map" and "card").
- 115D: Floor show? (C-SPAN) — the "floor" in question is the floor of the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives, where official (and televised) business takes place.
- 38D: Sci-fi franchise that takes place in "the Grid" (TRON) — I have never seen a TRON. Not the original (1982), not TRON: Legacy (2010), not the animated TV show TRON: Uprising (2012-13). I was considering seeing TRON: Ares last fall, mainly because I saw that it featured Greta Lee (whom I love) as an action star, and that seemed interesting. But then the reviews were terrible and there were other movies playing and so I didn't see it after all. Kind of cute to give TRON a "Grid" clue. TRON is a crossword staple (111 grid appearances so far), but somehow no one has ever written a "Grid"-related clue before today (not in the NYTXW, anyway).
[72D: Singer and civil rights activist Simone]
That's all for today. See you next time.
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125 comments:
Too Easy to be much fun. "Over before it began."
* * _ _ _
Overwrites:
My 17A thing "on a roll" was a HOt dog before it was a HOAGIE.
NAh before NAW for the backwoods refusal at 84A
WOEs:
The 26D Hawaiian queen LILI'UOKALANI
The ODAWA people at 35D
French politeness Je vois en PRIE at 61A
Suffrage leader Anna Howard SHAW (76D)
What are poor THERESA May and NORA Ephron doing at the kids' table (11D and 88A respectively)? Why wasn't they invited to the 71A party?
Yuck. I don't often feel this way; I found it extremely easy and the laundry list of random women was a boring downer. No challenges anywhere and no fun in the fill. The revealer was the most interesting part of the puzzle and I got it immediately.
Never heard of any of these women. If I wanted an Us Weekly puzzle, I’d pick up an Us Weekly. One star.
This puzzle was very easy and yet it wasn't: Due to the theme, PPP (including crosses) abounded, and Rex has pointed out the flaws in the construction. More well-known, time-tested names would have elevated this puzzle, IMO. (I'm sorry, but I don't think "Sharknado" or its cast will stand the test of time; and who remembers individuals who are *nominated* for awards but who don't win?...) I too acknowledge the challenge of constructing a grid with 22 abutting names, but still.... Honestly, I would suggest that BAYWATCH (9D) is antithetical to the puzzle's spirit.
Sorry - ambitious, maybe impressive, theme execution - terrible solving experience. Dull
Yeah, this took me a long time. I was in Hawaii last year and Liliuokalani is indeed a very fascinating character with a tragic and wonderful story.... but her name is really really hard to spell! I needed every cross too. Thankful for Taylor Swift's song having a straightforward title too! : ). I had a couple type-os at the end and had to go through the entire grid both acrosses and downs to find my trivial errors. Took me a while to figure out MOC was the soft shoe.... short for mocassin, obviously, but I just couldn't see it. Also wasn't totally sure how to spell SRIRACHA so I was worried about that cross too (SRyRACHA???). Anyhoo, liked the theme a bit better than OFL. I bought my SPEEDO at ALDI'S but then realized I would also need a SWEATER because I was sitting too close to the AIRVENT... the ATEAM from IBM is on the LAM.... lots of fun stories to tell in this grid! Thanks, Kelly! And are we 3 days w/o SW now?
ICE Spice made me think about going through Dulles Airport recently. I noticed a bunch of ICE signs, with ICE in big letters. It turns out that there is a money-changing company called International Currency Exchange. I wonder if they will feel a need to change their name. Or at least their signage.
I was able to fill in ICE SPICE, but only because she's been in the puzzle before and the name stuck with me.
Left end of that string of women is practically a who's who of crosswordese women: ISSA, NINA, and ORA I know solely from crosswords. SADE and NIN I know from real life, but they are crossword staples.
Another easy easy Sunday. It's an oversize grid, so really even easier than that. Only one overwrite, which is pretty ridiculous for a Sunday (DIDn't before DIDSO).
Tribute puzzles never really seem to work out - this isn’t the first. Similar to the big guy - I can applaud the effort here - but in the end it’s an in your face type theme - forced with random WOMENS names and could have been right at home in the TV Guide 30 years ago. The elephant in the room is really the fact that most likely no one solving even knew that today is INTERNATIONAL WOMENS DAY.
Would You Hold It Against Me
Extra wide grid to fit the revealer. Rex highlights the awkwardness of all the names - the puzzle was Monday level difficulty.
THERESA’s Sound-World
The tribute is a noble one - but like most other themes honoring a specific day or group it just doesn’t hold up.
Dar Williams
Hey All !
Well, I'm flabbergasted at the construction of this grid. You haven't a clue how difficult it is to, first, be able to get 22 women only names back to back to back to back ..., second, to be able to get any semblance of any kind of fill that is actual things around your central Theme. Wow. Plus the fact that those names dig deep into other areas of the grid, therefore making those areas also very tough to fill cleanly. And the names! LILIUOKALANI! I mean, c'mon! I forgive any less-than-stellar fill to accomplish this. Awesome job, Kelly!
Happy INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY to all you ladies out there. Appreciate all you do, all your sacrifices, all your gains over time (which should Not have been so difficult), all the joy you bring into the world.
Liked the fact that there were other WOMEN in the grid. Heck, should've tried to add more!
Hope y'all remembered to set your clocks ahead one hour. I normally go to bed around 8:30 pm, to be able to get up about 3:30 am, to do all the NYT puzs, drink coffee, and get ready for work. Last night, I went to bed at 6:30 pm! That way, I not only don't lose an hour of sleep, but actually gained a half hour, as I woke up at 2:00/3:00 am this morning! Work smarter, not harder! (Or should that be sleep smarter ...)
Now it being HALF Five AM, time to get to the other puzs.
Have a great Sunday!
Three F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
On the one hand, I can't disagree with the specifics in the blog. On the other hand, as a woman it was nice to be recognized and just fill in all the names, like all the men can just fill in all the names of athletes etc. that usually fill the puzzle (I see male commenters saying - who are these people - so to me it feels like a needed correction to the preponderance of male names. I agree it could have been done more elegantly but these are wonderful women and I only wish those who haven't heard of them might look up a few.
Finished in 8:39. 17:50 faster than my Sunday average. No real exciting clues, nothing particularly challenging. I had OTAWA until the end, that D was my last letter as well.
If you've truly never heard of any of these women. I'd venture to say that's a 'you problem'...
You’ve never heard of Tina Turner?
Forgive me, but it sounds as though you didn’t like the puzzle because you didn’t know these women…
Top half was super easy (and yes, too easy) but the bottom half slowed me down quite a bit bit. Not the puzzle’s fault, but the idea of women having a day (or blacks having a history month) really bothers me. There, there’s your day (or your month), enjoy your little crumb and now we can go back to ignoring you. It’s condescending and demeaning. Again, not the puzzle’s fault.
I seem to recall reading here over the years a number of complaints about there being too few women in the puzzle. And today, complaints that there are too many. Sorry, Goldilocks. Me, I loved how so many women’s names stacked together (hi, Roo!) AND there were still more women throughout the grid—a feature, not a bug. Ditto for letting a couple of men in as well. Stronger together.
And TIL that March 8 is INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY. I had no idea and am glad to learn something.
Only two small complaints: (1) The puzzle was much too easy and thus over too soon. (2) ANI should have been clued as [singer-songwriter DiFranco].
Did anyone else shout “It’s Hedley!” when entering 54 down? Or was it just me?
Ok I think we can stop replying to the troll now
Like zebras but not tigers.. MANED. Why pick tigers here (ok both are striped)? Aren’t both Siberian and Sumatran tigers considered maned tigers? I had MoNEy at first figuring some slang somewhere must call their money zebras… sigh
I think Rex is a little harsh. There is an audience of men (I confess to being one of them) who can profit by the occasional reminder that there are so many accomplished women worth taking note of. There is more that makes a puzzle worth doing than respecting the formulae of construction, and I enjoyed this one a lot.
Like Roberta, I really enjoyed this puzzle, honoring women who have made so many types of contributions. Dr Anna Howard Shaw was a suffrage hero. Toni Morrison is perhaps the greatest American writer.
So easy and fun compared to yesterday’s puzzle.Only Odawa was tricky and I solved it from the across words .🎈🎈🎊🎊
"Join together" is redundant.
LOVED IT! Learned a few names in the solving....BRAVA!
That's one way of looking at it, and I understand. But, for example, Pride month really mattered to my granddaughter when she was 15 and had a lot of gay and trans friends who were struggling. It resonated beyond its term.
https://rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com/2022/03/1966-swedish-literature-nobelist-who.html
Reminds me of a university I worked at in the 2010s that had a student information system called ISIS. That got changed to SIS, post-haste, once the terrorist group states showing up in the headlines.
The answer to 40 across is explicit in the clue. Surely that’s a Nono even if in French?
I’m sorry, but I hated this puzzle. I don’t always do Sundays but I was curious what the grid spanned was and how the puzzle worked, so I did it. Celebrating International Women’s day is fine, and the grid construction was probably a feat, but the result was easy and boring fill at the top and the bottom and a lot of near Naticks in the middle. “Floor Show” was the only clue that sparkled in any way. I’d much rather have interesting and politically incorrect than this.
Agreed!
No comment.
Agree
Rex nailed it today. A missed opportunity and a shame. If you’re going to ask your audience to dig deep for that many proper names, as a constructor it would have been prudent to make sure the rest of the grid is as clean as a whistle.
The Geena Davis section is a good example. I’ve seen the movie several times, and enjoyed Geena, Madonna, Tom Hanks and the rest of the ensemble cast (I even remember that Penny Marshall directed it) , but no way I remember the characters’ names. Then to cross it with something like CARTA and add a brand name right on top of it is either just plain sloppy or indicative of a disregard for the solving experience.
Like I said - it’s too bad, because this one had the potential to be something special. Instead, it turned into another trivia-laden slogfest.
No Australian has ever said “G’day mates” - it’s “mate” not “mates”. Never ever plural
Too easy. Boring. Also felt condescending, as if in this day and age we need a special puzzle dedicated to over 50% of the population. Accomplished women are part of the fabric of everyday life in 2026 and we are all the better for it. 20:00
FYI. I’m a dude. I knew most of these names. I only know sports names like Pele and Babe Ruth. The rest are just random trivia that doesn’t much interest me. You chromosomal make up also doesn’t interest me much. Did you do something noteworthy? Something other than kick, hit, or throw a ball better than someone else? Something that makes you memorable? Thats why these individuals are well known. I’d even go as far as saying that if history reduces their accomplishments to the fact that they’re women, they would be upset about it. Any time I hear about “the first woman to accomplish this thing” I always append the unspoken implication “because we all know women can’t do that thing”. It’s a rhetorical reminder to never take away someone’s true accomplishment and reduce it to a meaningless bit of anatomical trivia over which they had no control. Same rule applies when a “minority” saves a plane full of passengers and the news says “black pilot lands broken plane safely”…”because as we all know, black people can’t heroically land broken planes.” ~for the quick-to-racism readers, go back and read my explanation for this phraseology.
Looks completely fine and bog standard to me, cluing an entry with an example. How is the French word for "state" explicitly in the clue?
And yet, people persist in saying "we are gathered... to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony". When will people ever learn?! ;-)
Wow I had much different experience than everyone. Didnt love it, but I did like it. Impressive to fit that many names into one puzzle, although that process led to many easy and crosswordese answers in the middle section. Learned about a few women of stature that were new to me The corners, top and bottom had good solid answers and some fun ones, cluing could have been a bit more imaginative.And I was still sore and aching from yesterday's challenge, so a little breezing along was welcomed on a gray spring morning
Nice job Kelly, hope you enjoyed the day.
BAYWATCH is not antithetical to International Women’s Day. Kind of an ignorant comment.
Did I ever tell you all the long story of when I lived in SAGACITY?
Cassius Clay used to refer to himself as "pretty", leading people later to wonder, "is ALIBI?" And now I'm wondering if @Rex should have included ALI ORNATE among his list of unwelcome men in this tribute to women.
I'm very much in the @Roo camp on this one. Very daring and difficult theme to execute at all. Given the tribute and underlying message, I'm a big fan of this puzzle. Thanks, Kelly Richardson.
Dreadful puzzle from start to finish...wall to wall PPP....what a nightmare! Finally trashed it and wished I had done so sooner...
I really liked this puzzle. Finally, a Sunday puzzle that had a purpose for this huge canvas, and IMO used it very effectively. Sure, there was some gunk, but what else is new? I found it challenging in places due to all the names, but ultimately gettable, and learned a bit about some people I didn’t know. Great for a non-rebus Sunday!
Fairly easy, almost objectively so, but then "tht" EATS IT by putting in wRY instead of DRY, something I should have caught post-mortem by checking all the downs carefully, not just the acrosses. So it was a big fat DNF and a dreaded streak-breaking automatic check. Yes, of course, it's Tara REID -- not Tara Reiw! (Sorry, Ms. Reid, for not immediately associating your name with the acclaimed film Sharknado.)
DID SO was a puzzlement until sometime post-solve, I remembered the penchant the NYTXW team has for third-grade back-and-forths. What do you SAY TO "Did not!" DID SO! AND SO: mystery solved.
Also a puzzlement was ODAWA, until I read Rex's review. Oh!!!! Another rendering of Ottawa! And then, for some reason, I'm often caught out by "letteral" clues ("What makes a dresser dressier?" AN I). ICE Spice is new to me (I assume the rapper is a little edgier than any of those Spice Girls). I'll once again futilely plead to the NYTXW to put ICE in the deep freeze for awhile -- all right, "you guys"?
Great review by Rex. There was indeed something architecturally impressive about getting all those crosses with the 22-wide revealer, but the puzzle itself was a slight letdown. Mostly too easy, as people are saying -- despite my flaming out over a three-letter word. I'm going to pin a lot of blame for that (the easiness, not the flaming out) on the editorial team, who, rumor has it, typically takes over the majority of the cluing, which is largely where the difficulty level resides. A little more pushback there would have been welcome.
Have a good one!
Totally agreed with Rex’s critiques—I’ve been reading the blog long enough to be frustrated with the extra women and to have noticed that ELMO and MR ROBOTO should not have been in the grid. However, I did appreciate the preponderance of women in the clues themselves, which was a nice way the continue the theme outside the theme answers: the clues for OUR, BAYWATCH, AT LAST, and IOWA. But then once again I’m disappointed to realize that Babe the Blue Ox is apparently male, so now I have to take LEGEND off my list of clues to chose to use female names to clue ordinary words.
Got back the hour I lost last night
FIW National Domino Day. Couldn’t figure out how it was celebrated by so many.
I love the sentiment here and applaud the constructor and the NYT puzzle crew. After all, if it wasn’t for the women in my life, I’d be a mess. But, more than that, if it wasn’t for women in general - their beauty, their wisdom - this world would be unbearably bleak.
Having said that, this puzzle only worked as a celebration. I’m hoping tomorrow’s grid is more challenging.
Well, kudos to the outstanding women who populate this grid. Maybe a random collection for this purpose but it’s a workable theme nevertheless. As for solving, it was my usual disaster when faced with names—a PPP fest that overwhelmed me but I look at as a learning experience. BAYWATCH was something of an outlier in terms of subject matter and theme but was a throwback I could remember. GRAINIER was to me a surprise answer—I wanted a more traditional “unedited”—but this is clearly a bow to modern tech.
Yes, easy, fortunately I knew most of the names.
ODAWA was my last fill also.
Impressive construction, liked it a bit more than @Rex did.
Me
Mostly easy, but talk about a name fest. Yikes. This was especially timely for me because last night was an overnight for our eight-year old granddaughter, and one of our bedtime stories was all about Katherine Switzer, who was the first woman to run the Boston marathon. She actually registered as "KV Switzer and was given a race number. At the time there were fewer than 800 runners in the whole race and now there are more than 10,000 women who do this every year. As a former runner, I found the whole thing to be quite wonderful.
The overwhelming number of women's names and the paucity of men's had me imagining the constructor thinking "How do you guys like it?" but that may be ungenerous. No trouble with all the French and Spanish today--I wrote lots of CARTAs back to my sweetheart from Madrid, air mail, onion skin paper. Memories.
Technical DNF on the ODAWA MOLD crossing, never heard of the ODAWA and describing MOLD as a "frugal structure" is a real stretch. ALDIS only exist in crosswords for me. Unlike OFL I think my favorite answer was ONETOGO.
Very impressive construction, KR.. The women's names just Kept Rolling in. Thanks for a fair amount of fun.
Anonymous @ 10:11 am, no need to clarify you’re a dude. Thank you for your brave allyship, but for many women it is quite meaningful to have our gender linked to our accomplishments. You correctly identify that there is usually an implied “because X group can’t do Y thing” but you’ve missed that the sexism, racism, other -ism is there regardless. No matter how inclusively it’s worded or how determined you might be to be color- and gender blind, some people could benefit from having it spelled out explicitly: yes, women can do these things, and we have.
Haha…whenever I see the king or queen of the islands I put in L or K to start and wait for the crosses! Likewise, with SRIRACHA I somehow can spell most of it but always forget if the last letter is A or I.
Isn't ETAT a no-no with ÉTATS in the clue?
OLE SPICE had me flummoxed.
1 sq. DNF for me.
Naticked due to the (unfair) cross of the hawaiian queen and the rooster sauce.
I leave it to @Harry/Gary to uniclue the Hoagie-shaped Speedo..
Otherwise, what the big man said.
Love your women and have a nice Sunday, all!
I'm in the "like" column for this one. I enjoyed reviewing the parade of women as they appeared across the grid from left to write (just happened to be the way I solved). A little extra smile for LILI'UOKALANI - some years ago when visiting the Iolani Palace in Honolulu and learning more about her accomplishments, I decided it was time to learn how to spell her name (instead of LILI..something...something...ANI), and now was my moment :)
Totally agree!
Oh my stars. On top of all the proper nouns there was an awful lot of non-English, which seems automatic if you’re a speaker and impossible if not.
Faux-Rex Gump
Guys, I need to be short because my wine is waiting as is my APERITIF. I'm sure I've heard of International Womens Day at some point... or IWD as the kids call it, but I couldn't have told you it was on 3/8. The only thing that happens on 3/8 is my cat's birthday. But overall, a puzzle with 22 prominent women obviously can't be bad. Except why we have to hear about Hermione Granger is beyond me. Are Harry Potter and Star Wars the only two entertainment products?? And why are some women not crossing the IWD clue? SLOPPIEST constructing ever. Oh, I just watched a HEDY Lamarr movie on TCM (not TMC for the love of God!) but then I realized it was the one about TINA Turner. I wasn't wearing my glasses so I guess it was GRAINIER than usual. So many baseball clues, and I love baseball, but MENON is not an announcer update. I think it's a deodorant. Please hold... Okay, it's Mennen but you get the point. Speaking of sports, you should all watch the WBC, it's great, but why two tennis clues? Just one would have been ACES! At least it wasn't about golf. How bad is golf, am I right? It's like the Devil's game! They should kill anyone who plays golf. The only thing worse than golf is a Taylor Swift clue. At least four French answers that I see... mon dieu. How bad are the French? The only good thing they've ever given us is their way of kissing. The fill was not great for a Sunday, but I'd expect nothing less. I had wry before DRY, agony before AGITA and Nah before NAW. Also AANDM is ugly to look at. It's kind of like Andor, but not really. Why are you making me think of Star Wars again!! Also, why the clue on becoming rich and successful? Let's not celebrate the capitalists when the socialists are doing just fine! I don't need to see BAYWATCH in my women's puzzle. Let's not cloud things up with misogynistic television. Though I don't really watch television, or even own one anymore. Though I own a shortwave radio. Where I listen to MRROBOTO, which may be too old for some of you, but not for me, right in my wheelhouse! Speaking of wheelhouses, I see REO Speedwagon and ILIKEIT! That's all. Go Michigan!
Easy-ish due to all the crosswordese. Apt theme, clever construction. Brava, Ms. Richardson!
"I want to say a little something that's long overdue. The disrespect to women has got to be through. To all the mothers and the sisters and the wives and friends, I want to offer my love and respect to the end." - Beastie Boys, "Sure Shot"
Powerful lyrics. Not something I expected to hear in an early '90s rap song, but it changed my worldview at the time. (Fun fact: the dog sample in the intro is from a Dominos commercial, featuring a dog woofing "I love you.")
The worst/best/somethingest Proper Noun puzzle I've ever seen: Sunday NYT 5/15/1949 ("People and Places" by Eugene Maleska)
If, for whatever reason, you want to solve the puzzle: Have fun.
Of Course it is. . . It's like having "State" as an answer to "Division of the United States"
I really enjoyed doing the puzzle and how great that it was published on INTERNATIONALWOMENSDAY. I confess I was shocked at Rex’s star rating but I guess some of his points are valid but seems like it would be VERY difficult to come out with the perfect puzzle given the circumstances. I will say that at one point my mind wandered during the solve to think “I wonder if Kelly majored in French?”
Thank you Kelly for an enjoyable puzzle.
I CANNOT believe I was stuck on WOVEN! And ODAWA, LILIUOKALANI,
NYONGO - ok, that's understandable but WOVEN???
I liked this puzzle a lot & a big thumbs up for the theme INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY.
Any puzzle with TINA TURNER, ETTA JAMES & NINA SIMONE is just fine with me.
Interesting write-up today, Rex. I always laugh when you comment "OOF".
Congrats on your submission, Kelly & again, I liked your Sunday a lot (not only because there was no freaking rebus :)
Don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good. This was a crossword puzzle, not a defense of the value of women. I thought it was lovely, and I echo the comment above reminding us that you see a lot of criticism on this blog about the lack of female representation and so it sounds a little sus when you complain about there being too many women in the puzzle.
None of my business, of course, but you went to bed at 6:30 pm???? Did you have a good night's sleep at that time? I ask because I walk the track at dawn & I sometimes fall asleep on Jeopardy but then I get up & that's it for the night. Lucky you!
👏
Totally agree. You’d never clue “STATE” with “Division of the United States”!
Tomorrow being Monday I kinda doubt it…?
Not “frugal,” “fungal.” Not a stretch at all.
No Joy (Behar or otherwise in this puzzle. The only AHA was the “kind of moment.”
My house was a "frugal structure" until my wife insisted on a new kitchen.
When I read “leave a tip” I commented to my wife “Rex is going to say “eat a sandwich.” You did not disappoint!
ODAWA was new to me and the Ottawa tie-in makes sense. I've long wondered if Wichita and Ouachita are similarly related.
While it didn't bother me to find the other women in the puzzle, I did have a moment to wonder why they weren't crossing the grid spanning revealer.
Yes to Rex's need for ICE Spice (ICa not likely), running into trouble in the SW and saying to self, "c'mon crosses" for LILIUOKALANI.
Kelly Richardson, thanks for celebrating women today.
Any child who aspires to do great things should be encouraged to do so. Telling that child that people with whom they share certain morphological qualities that make them “minorities” also means that they’re statistically less likely to accomplish the thing they are after is discouraging from the start. On the contrary, if your daughter wants to enter a space that is largely populated by men, if you discount that part and encourage her in her pursuits, she’ll be more likely to achieve her dream AND feel like she earned it because of her personal ambition instead of having her accomplishment reduced to a sort of class warfare win.
I understand the inclination to tribe up but what I want to see is a world where all children are encouraged at every turn. I may be living in a fantasy, but I’ll stand by the principle of “begin with the end in mind”. If the desired end is “all are equal” but we start with “some are more equal than others” then we need to reevaluate the trajectory…because we aren’t headed where we said we wanted to head.
My fastest Sunday solve ever. I'd like to think I'm getting better, but I think this puzzle was too too easy.
Agita? Does anyone use this word? I had angst and agony… caused me mucho agita!
tht 10:16 Love your response.
From where I sit, the clue read "Californie, par exemple". No "etats" in the clue.
Egs "sagacity comment:LOL, well chuckled anyway.
Appreciated that the puzzle was not impossible with so many names. Knew many and the rest filled in easily with crosses. Had not realized the UK had a woman PM after Thatcher.
I cheated to get Sriracha (still have no idea)
Usually I like extras related to the theme. But this time I agree with Rex. The theme would have had more impact if the only women's names were those that cross the revealer.
Absolutely agree! I loved this puzzle and being reminded of so many admirable and interesting women.
@Christopher XLI 🤣
The clue for MOLD reads "fungal structure". Did you mean to write that? I thought the clue was okay.
I, on the other hand, got up three hours earlier. One to make up for the time change, one to get ahead of the time change and the third to feed the cats.
Wasnt bothered by stray women's names but WAS annoyed by MR Roboto, Elmo, and MEN on. No men should be no men!
My major pet peeve is too many names, so this one never had a chance with me. I admire what it's trying to do, and the ability to make women's names work for all the crosses of the revealer. But even though I did know most of those names-- maybe 65%?-- nope, not a chance.
Not too many typeovers: GDDAY MATE then GDAY MATEY is all I can remember from last night.
Very mild here... +18 C (65 F) yesterday; overnight low 9 C (49 F). They are still forecasting "periods of snow or rain" for Wednesday, but we'll see.
Please explain why ACES is the answer to 89D. Thx
Would MOLD make more sense if it was described as a "fungal structure"?
Why is Bayeatch antithetical to This day? Because the women are gorgeous and in revealing bathing suits?
I for one appreciate feminine beauty.
Heroine. Shevwas a women.
I’d hate to to see what your idea of a long post looks like.
@Liveprof: good point. But Pride Month seems more an organically-emergent celebration of and by people themselves and the others seem more imposed by decree. Black History month in particular feels that way, since Black history is basically American history that should be studied every month.
Not a Baywatch watcher but I believe it's raison d'etre was to ogle bikini clad women, so not really the best way to celebrate women.
@Anon 10:29 AM - I see absolutely nothing in @Colin's comment that suggests ignorance; quite the opposite in fact. If you hold a different opinion re BAYWATCH, I would be interested in seeing you (courteously) explain your position. I'm always disappointed to see an ad hominem attack in place of a reasoned counterpoint.
no question its a good tribute to women the fill however - aside from their names - is not a fitting tribute these pioneering women deserve Better Fill
I had HOtdIE for thing on a roll. And felt proud of myself. Doh.
Same DNF with MOLD and ODAWA. We consider MOLD a structure?
I fully expected Rex to pop a gasket over this. Since he doesn't mention it -- and based on tht's comment above -- I'm wondering if the online and print edition clues differed? The clue in the print edition is "Division des Etats-Unis", for which "ETAT" should have been verboten as answer. (I waited on filling it in, assuming it had to be something else.) Was the online clue something else? If so, probably because people screamed about it, too late to fix the print version.
Erratum: Little Caesars ad, not Dominos. Doh! (I, MAN/IDIOT) Arr-roo-roo! (Close enough.)
@Anon 2:10 pm: tennis aces.
It’s not condescending, it’s fatuous.
Definitely different, and timely. Sooo ... I like that. Had to get to know several no-know ladies along the way, tho. Many precious nanoseconds were nobly sacrificed.
[0] days without an ICE answer.
staff weeject pick, from a rich 34 choices: ANI. Was partial to its semi-sneaky clue.
some fave stuff: LILIUOKALANI spellin challenge. FRIDAKAHLO. The funny Ow de Speration of HALFTWO. The Ginormous Jaws of Themedness. MONETS in MOMA. SRIRACHA & PERRIER & RYEBEER mini-theme.
Thanx, Ms. Richarson darlin. Welcome to the SunPuz circuit.
Masked & Anonymo3Us
As an Australian, "G'day, mates" is not a thing: to greet multiple people that way you would just say "G'day".
The version I solved, in the app, was clued as “Californie, par example.”
What a lovely thing to say about women @Les S.More. I only wish there had been MORE comments like yours in the blog :(
Clever gimmick. Otherwise, zzzzzzzzz.
I thought Elmo's pronouns were Elmo/Elmo.
Totally misread "fungal" as "frugal". I'm naught but a ninnyhammer.
Well, I do downs-only on Monday so there's a slim chance.
Agreed! 💯
My wife supplied the answer for “wisdom” appropriately and together we sussed it all out.
I’m on Team @RooMonster (with @Roberta, @Andy F, @Kate, @egs et al)! Congratulations to @Kelly Richardson for putting this together. Not usually a fan of PPP but this list is full of winners. I enjoyed looking up the TIL Lupita NYONG’O.
Thanks, @Roo, for those very touching. words of appreciation for women. Simply but elegantly put, and a quiet example of how to be gracious.
Composer of the Day: Valerie Coleman, an American composer and flutist as well as the creator of the wind quintet Imani Winds. Coleman is a distinguished artist of the century who was named Performance Today's 2020 Classical Woman of the year. Imani winds focused on championing composers that were underrepresented from the non-European side of contemporary music.
https://youtu.be/jsyFhmPOPZA?si=U2HZhwzXpvuKx1cf
Red Clay and Mississippi Delta
Thank you!
I hadn't considered that, but I take your point. I feel that way about the NFL's transparent sloganeering. "We put 'End Racism' in the end zone, so...on to the next thing." Like...that's it? You pat us on the head and then just carry on like it's sufficient?
Your comment reminds me of a very insightful comment I heard from a woman on a late-night talk show (might actually have been EMMA WATSON): she was saying that it's silly that the word "feminist" even exists, because expecting equality between the genders should be the default. We don't really have specialized words for the default, because it's the default. There's not really a word for someone who isn't ageist or isn't racist or isn't homophobic. Because we understand those are the defaults. We instead have words to identify when someone deviates from the norm: ageist, racist, homophobic. But with gender, it's reversed: we have the word "feminist" to say "I think women are equal." We shouldn't even need that clarification. There should be normal people who of course think women are equal, and then we call the outlier group "misogynist."
That really made an impression on me. It says so much, and we take it for granted.
Anyway. Just sharing a thought, and my appreciation for yours.
@Anon 1:09PM re “What I want to see . . . “. We shall never have a world “where all children are encouraged at every turn,” if we do not start with equality and excellence in educational opportunity. Children are the most valuable resource in the world. How this world provides for and nurtures this resource will determine the future. Would that this future be based on a presumption of equality.
I understand your sentiments, entirely.
Now that was a puzzle. Over an hour, and finished with 47 squares blank or incorrect.
Anonymous @ 1:09 I was a teen girl in the 1990s, where we were told that our gender was no impediment to what we could achieve. That was actually true—what we COULD achieve had nothing to do with gender, but what we WOULD achieve in the real world, and what we would have to put up with in order to reach our goals, was very much influenced by our gender.
Our kids aren’t stupid. They see what the world actually is. I appreciate your good intentions, and I also wish for that ideal world, but I’m not sending my own girls out unequipped to face reality. It is a truly awful thing to be unprepared for certain kinds of harassment, for example; because it’s almost impossible to protect yourself and direct the embarrassment back on the offender if you’re caught off guard.
Believe me, it’s miserable to have to prepare my teenagers for this stuff, and it was a real eye-opener for my husband. Many good feminist men do not grasp the reality of being female.
Don’t get me wrong, I applaud this tribute to and especially the wide variety of women included in the grid, and appreciate INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY recognition. I give an extra round of applause to Kelly Richardson for her ability to engineer this one. Throughout my quick solve (for a Sunday) I kept wondering which was more difficult, fitting notable women's’ names across the reveal or adequately filling the non-name grid squares with suitably challenging material. For me, the props far outweigh the “meh.”
Tribute puzzles start out a bit behind the 8 ball; sort of like putting part of a constructor’s powers in quarantine. I rarely enjoy tributes for that very reason. Today’s however I enjoyed. Well, I enjoyed the names and the wide variety of accomplishments they represent. The necessary remaining fill was a bit of a slog.
Speaking of slogs, I am beyond weary of even having to continue to celebrate “women’s accomplishments” just because said women accomplished notable things.
“Notable things” accomplished by women start with giving birth. Can we just acknowledge that at least in 2026 and for the foreseeable future, we would have nobody on the planet if a woman did not give birth. You’re welcome everybody. While I continue to draw breath, I shall envision a world of people who also live in a world of people. All kinds of people who accomplish all manner and description of things.
Congrats to Kelly Richardson on her first Sunday Times grid!
Would love to see Gary’s gunk factor. YUK
Join together I look at together being there for emphasis not as a redundancy. Tht mentioned another one gather together.
Language is not a mathematical equation
tht
The dead tree edition had Division des ETAT-UNIS as the clue.
Karl Grouch
FWIW sriracha has shown up fairly often lately and that’s why I knew it I thought the puzzle was hard but many thought it was easy. I don’t think that cross was unfair.
Anonymous 1:15 pm
AGITA based on the Times puzzle where it shows up fairly often, people know it. It was popularized by various and sundry Mafia movies and TV shows. As an Italian-American I can say I hear it fairly often.
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