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Relative difficulty: Easy
THEME: REDUCE / REUSE / RECYCLE (11D: With 31- and 43-Down, an environmentalist motto ... as suggested elsewhere in different ways in this puzzle) — some are "reduced" (with shorter synonyms found inside those answers in circled squares), some answers involve "reused" letters (with the second half (shaded squares) reusing the letters from the first half), and one answer (CAN) is recycled (i.e. used four times) [apparently the CANs are actually the REUSEd bits and the shaded squares are RECYCLEd—this could’ve been clearer (more on this below)]
Theme answers:
An easy, dull puzzle with repeated CANs. That's the upshot. I went back and looked at the shaded squares, and the circled squares, and saw all the architectural business that was going on, but none of that was important to the solve. All the REDUCE and RECYCLE stuff would be invisible were it not for the shaded and circled squares, so all it gets from me is a post-solve "huh" [shrug]. The Actual Solve (which is the thing that so many Architectural Marvels™ seem to disregard) involved filling in a weak and lackluster grid with no distinguishing characteristics. Imagine a boring and easy themeless puzzle with a boatload of crosswordese and two extra CANs—that's what this felt like. We get to go to Initialism Hell over and over with ADHD RSVP VSOP UPC NSC EDU VMAS. We get a bevy of overfamiliar crossword names in AGEE ELISHA ARMANI UTA ELBE ET AL (I'd add GARR to this list, but all appearances of GARR are good, Teri GARR forever!). We get your usual assortment of crossword gunk in BANC HELI IMAC INNO (!) ENOS NONA, your usual assortment of crossword exclamations in SHEESH YEOW UGH. None of the theme answers are interesting answers per se. TEAMMATE? REAPPEAR? Not exactly blowing the doors off the place. No, this is a puzzle to be admired after the fact. The problem is: I like the fact. The fact itself. I don't want to wait til after the fact. Give me better fact!
- ENCOURAGED (17A: Spurred on) ("urged")
- DAUBS (36A: Applies, as facial cream) ("dabs")
- INSTRUCTOR (60A: One offering lessons) ("tutor")
- SHEESH (21A: "Good grief!")
- PULL-UP (28A: Exercise for the arms and back)
- REAPPEAR (31A: Emerge once more)
- TEAMMATE (44A: You might pass to one)
- CAN (35A: Ax)
- CAN (37A: Paint container)
- CAN (59D: John)
- CAN (42D: Is able to)
: not reputable or decent // Louche ultimately comes from the Latin word luscus, meaning "blind in one eye" or "having poor sight." This Latin term gave rise to the French louche, meaning "squinting" or "cross-eyed." The French gave their term a figurative sense as well, taking that squinty look to mean "shady" or "devious." English speakers didn't see the need for the sight-impaired uses when they borrowed the term in the 19th century, but they kept the figurative one. The word is still quite visible today and is used to describe both people and things of questionable repute. (merriam-webster.com)
• • •
Worse, the theme itself, for all its elaborateness, is still a little murky. I'm still not 100% sure which is the REUSE part and which the RECYCLE. I figure the repeated CANs have to be the RECYCLE part, since you RECYCLE cans (beer, soda, etc.). But CAN is definitely reused ... three times. With the shaded squares, you could also make an argument either way. The letters in the first half are definitely reused in the second half, but they are also recycled (i.e. transformed into something different—in this case by reordering/reversal). Also, the symmetry of the puzzle is oddly ... off. You get symmetry for the circled-square answers, but with the shaded-square answers, two of them are symmetrical, but the other two just ... aren't. And then with CAN ... you have this perfect symmetrical pattern going, why not finish it off? Instead we get CAN ... CAN ... CAN ... PHO!? That fourth CAN is in the dumbest place (42D). There's no joy in the solve and an awkwardness in the execution.
The puzzle was easy except for a couple of moments. I know that some mattresses sit on SLATS, but I did not know that BEDSLATS was a term, so when I got BED and had no idea what was supposed to follow (9D: Supporters of a king or queen?). FRAMES, SHEETS, LINEN? That answer was the only way out of the N/NW section, so I had to interrupt my flow and go start again in the NE. I weirdly had trouble coming up with both Scots clues today (47A and 34A: Like some Scots). I say "weirdly" because I've been to Scotland many times, studied abroad in Scotland in college, written about Scottish literature in grad school, etc.). Those repeated ("reused") clues added another bit of confusion today—were they part of the theme? The answer is no, I think, as repeated clues (unlike repeated answers) are a conventional feature of crosswords. And yet in a puzzle with a REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE revealer, the reused clues seemed thematic. Again, a carefully made puzzle would've avoided the repeated-clue gimmick and avoided the confusion.
Bullets:
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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[Some Scots]
- 1A: "All the world," per Shakespeare's Jaques (STAGE) — first, all the world's a stage. Feels weird to be asked to remember the line, and then be required to leave a word out of the line. Second, I've totally forgotten who Jaques is. Who is this "c"-less Jaques!? Oh, right, As You Like It. Never was a huge fan of the Shakespeare comedies. They all bleed together in my head. Mistaken identity, Forest of Arden, bawdy hijinks, what not. This particular Shakespeare line is obviously famous. So famous that you end up finding references to it in the unlikeliest of places ...
- 8D: James who wrote "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" (AGEE) — he was just a crossword name to me for the longest time, but I started reading some of his film criticism and it's stunning—smart, engaging, energetic, original. I got the first half of this Library of America set at a used bookstore in Rochester, and I keep it by the comfy chair downstairs and dip into it from time to time.
- 20A: Condition that may involve stimming, for short (ADHD) — "stimming" = self-stimulation through any number of repeated movements or sounds. Remember fidget-spinners? Do those still exist? Those are stimming tools.
- 10D: Dish traditionally flavored with Saigon cinnamon (PHO) — good clue. I learned something about PHO that I did not know, but not knowing the PHO factoid ("phoctoid!") did not prevent me from getting the answer (three letters, "dish," "Saigon," inferable)
That's all. See you next time.
[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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- Westwords (Berkeley, CA, Jun. 14, 2026)
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- Pop Sensation (vintage paperbacks)
ReplyDeleteI guess they ran a Monday-Easy puzzle on Wednesday because of the Earth Day theme. UGH. But I liked it a little better than @Rex did.
* * _ _ _
Overwrites:
ELBa before ELBE for the 32D German river.
At 6A, my countertop piece was a tile before it was a SLAt(?) before it was a SLAB.
WOEs:
Actress ELISHA Cuthbert at 12D, or The Girl Next Door, for that matter.
The astronaut-shaped awards at 41D (VMAS)
Carolina WREN at 57D
Earth Day Rant: plastic zipper bags are easy to find, plastic bags WITHOUT zippers are almost impossible to find, I hate using zipper ones for single use, i.e. left overs, or even for short term use, i.e. blocks of cheese. I feel get a better seal wrapping things tightly than I can with heavy zip bags, even for freezing. I even REUSE the blasted plastic grocery bags I get when I've filled (or forgotten) my REUSEable totes. Oh, one more thing, I'm sorry for your loss but PLEASE, don't send balloons aloft to waft for miles to get snagged on wires and hung up in trees.
DeleteEND OF RANT
Responding to @Anon 6:13 AM Earth Day rant. Amen! I do everything possible not to use plastic storage bags at all, and I will not use the zipper ones. Period. Since I grew up without plastic storage containers until Tupperware came along (ugh), I have a glorious collection of Pyrex storage containers (the good kind from the UK that won’t explode if you try to go from freezer or fridge to oven/microwave), and I use waxed paper or “cheese paper” for wrapping things for storage in said containers. It makes me much more mindful of what’s in the fridge that needs to be used. Happy 🌎 Day!
DeleteDifferent strokes for different folks, I guess. I love love love this theme! I guess I think the CAN is actually getting REUSEd while the letters are getting RECYCLEd.... but @Rex is write that the distinction is slightly murky, because CANs are something we typically recycle, where as bottles or plastic tubs or bags might be more likely to get reused. But anyhoo.... this took me forever last night (I was a little sleepy, so there was that), at least 15 minutes. But I really enjoyed how each of the subthemes came into view as I solved. Lotsa fun for me! : ) . Took me forever to parse BEDSLATS. PINCERs are nice, and a varied set of famous names, from GOODALL to ARMANI to HEROD. **** from me--thanks, Hoang-Kim!!!
ReplyDelete@Anon 6:13AM. YES!!!! I had the same take on the CANs. Hitting both REUSE and RECYCLE. So clever. The can That took me forever was in response to Ax. In fact, its N was the last letter of my solve. I knew the NBA’s Jeremy was either LIu or LIN (I follow NCAA ball but not the NBA much) and I already had a bunch of CANs to RECYCLE. That was my only real hangup in today’s breezy Earth Day delight. And I only hit on “ask” for Ax, post-solve.
DeleteI liked this puzzle. A lot. I enjoyed solving it. A lot. And I admired it. A lot.
ReplyDeleteI read A Death in the Family many years ago while in middle school (except we called it junior high school then). I still remember vividly the experience of reading it, the feelings I felt when I finished it, and the thoughts I was thinking in the days following. Sadly, the "young adult literature" industry that has boomed since then - one that, to my mind, is condescending to adolescents and youth, and makes reading "safe" for them - will make it highly unlikely young people today will have the experience of reading such a book.
I also went to Junior High School that were grades 7-9. My kids went to a middle school but also 7-9. Now my understanding is that most of the Middle Schools are grades 6-8. My feeling, for various reasons is that the students are better served if they remain in Middle School thru grade 9. But as a wise man once said... "what the hell do I know?"
Delete@Rufus and Anon: I have advocated for 7-9 Junior High since the early ‘70s when “Middle School” started becoming the norm. School Boards seem to care more about economic facilities usage than the best environment for human development and learning. I firmly believe that students have a better experience in the 7-9 environment in which they come from elementary school after being “the big 6th graders with some leadership responsibilities to their very young peers and go to being “the young kids” again, looking up to the much mire “grown up” 9th graders. One of my teacher-husband’s profs in grad school described each educational grouping as its own “heap.” Elementary school students start kindergarten at the “bottom of the heap,” a d as they socialize, learn snd develop
DeleteOops-continuing my reply to Rufus et al. As elementary students acquire social skills and knowledge, they move through the years to the 6th grade “top of the bottom heap,” as the prof described. The process continues most successfully (according to said prof’s developmental research) in a 7-9 Junior High setting where 9th graders begin to become “young adults” and end up at the “top of the middle heap.” The “top of the top heap” of course is high school graduation. I’ve always liked this description.
DeleteWe need to focus first on helping our children successfully navigate those “heaps” and leave the decisions regarding logistical difficulties subservient to the needs of the students. Children (not a single one of whom asked to be alive) are the single most valuable resource on the planet. If we intend to survive, we must treat our younger generations as the precious resources they are.
At least when I did the puzzle, it highlighted which clue corresponded with which part of the slogan, making it clear that the cans are for Reuse and the doubled up anagrams are for Recycle.
ReplyDeleteThe Reduce and Recycle bits did actually help me get some answers (INSTRUCTOR, SHEESH) so it’s not just an after the fact thing. I think Rex’s solving method and expertise might prevent him from appreciating this type of puzzle because he’s often mostly through before it becomes relevant.
Wait you’re telling me the CANs are *not* “recycled”??? Why would you use CAN as your word?!? You could REUSE any word. But CANs are specifically recyclables!!! The CANs should refer to “recycling!” Who reuses CANs lol?
DeleteCAN is reuse because you reuse the exact same letters in the same order.
ReplyDeleteThe shaded squares are RECYCLE because you take the non-shaded squares of the word and re-cycle them in a different order.
REDUCE is as described. Same meaning with fewer letters as circled.
Huge fail to make CAN your “reuse” word. Why would you make a *recyclable* your “reuse” word?!
Delete“Recycling” the non-shaded letters is clever but not nearly clever enough to justify those god-awful recycled non-words: ESH, L-UP. I say, “Esh!”
DeleteI didn’t even notice the highlighting till after reading your comment. Thanks for explaining!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know Agee wrote about film, thanks for the tip, I'll keep an eye out for it. I was drawn to Let Us Now Praise Famous Men as a Walker Evans fan when I was a kid considering photography/photojournalism as a career. In retrospect it might have played a part in deciding against that as I came to feel I would be too uncomfortable documenting people's lives or wartime suffering
ReplyDeleteI just learned he was also a screenwriter, The African Queen was his.
DeleteI enjoyed figuring out the theme, though I never see anagrams nor understand their point of interest. Of course, since it looks like it’s barely 7am and we’re already arguing about which is REUSE and which is RECYCLE, it could be a bit cleaner. (James and Anon 6:39 must be right because of the app, though I understand the qualms about CAN).
ReplyDeleteWell, for a word-quirk loving guy, I was in heaven over this one with its:
ReplyDelete• Words that contain their synonyms.
• Words whose second halves use the same letters as their first halves.
• Rare-in-crosswords five-letter palindrome (SHAHS), and rarer-in crosswords six-letter palindrome (PULLUP).
I was agog at how much theme Hoang-Kim fit into the box, and how he was able to get the words with circles – which I’m thinking are hard to come by, to begin with – symmetrical.
Plus, this was a very sweet solve. Realizing what the words with circles and words with gray did brought happy pings. Beauty, with SLIVER, ENAMOR, and LOUCHE, warmed my heart. I also liked seeing the rhyming HOPI and ROPY.
Just a playground of a solve, Hoang-Kim, and thank you. Congratulations, too, on hitting the cycle (a puzzle for each day of the week)!
Basically solved as a themeless - messy and disjoint I didn’t have the patience or interest in the scheme. Loaded with shorts - the overall fill was clunky.
ReplyDeleteWinter Birds
I liked GOODALL and ENAMOR. The LOUCHE x ELISHA cross will be a topic today. YEOW, ROPY, VMAS - UGH.
A Robin Or A WREN
A flat solve that I guess is apt for this gloomy Wednesday morning.
The thrushes' bleeding battle with the WRENS
Disrupts my reverie again
The concept is good, but too many boring or weird entries. And what's up with "Like some Scots?" Are there other Scots who are not Gaelic? Or not Celtic? Or does the puzzle think that those are two different ethnicities? No.
ReplyDeleteI was going to question BED SLATS as well, but I looked them up and they are listed that way on some stores' sites--Ikea, for example--so I'll let that one go.
My last entry was 59-D; I was about to put it in when I noticed another CAN at 35-A, and spent another two minutes assuring myself that both were correct, until it suddenly dawned on me.
Speaking of which, the theme refers to the words in the grid, not to the meanings of the words. While CANs are recycled IRL, the letters C-A-N are just reused as they are, while the letters in PUL are recycled to make LUP.
My guess is that CELTIC refers to Scots as a people, whereas GAELIC refers to Scots as a language (actually a West Germanic language, but having an admixture of GAELIC).
DeleteAfter further “examination” due to the Celtic v Gaelic discussion I found that Gaels are a sub-group of Celts. So, I while I didn’t check to see whether ALL Scots are CELTIC (I doubt it in 2026), not all CELTs were GAELs. And, somehow the language of Scotland, Ireland, and Manx is considered GAELIC so those guys must have been influential!
Delete"Are there other Scots who are not Gaelic?" Yes indeed.
DeleteHighland Scots are a Celtic people whose ancestral tongue is Scots Gaelic.
Lowland Scots are a largely Germanic people (Britons and Angles) whose ancestral tongue is Old English, which evolved to become the Scots language.
But most Scottish people today speak Scottish Standard English, a dialect of Modern English that is heavily influenced by the Scots language.
Tht.
DeleteHmm. Maybe. Problem
Is Scots is also a language. So i’m not sure how your answer elucidates anything.
34A was clearly referring to individuals of Scottish heritage who have played for the Boston NBA team.
DeleteOr if your grandparents moved to Scotland from another country you probably consider yourself a Scot but not a Celtic or Gaelic
Delete@Anon 12:23. That's what I was saying: Scots is a language.
DeleteI loved this puzzle despite its shortcomings. Awesome theme, weak fill, still 3.5 stars.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this puzzle and the various theme elements helped with solving some parts. I definitely took the clue for 34A and 47A (Like some Scots) as an expression of reuse - one clue was reused and one answer CAN was reused.
ReplyDeleteWell, the bifocal lenses on my spectacles are somewhat unaligned and, as a result, this puzzle gave me neck cramps. I kept trying to infer what was going on with the gimmick and getting absolutely nowhere. So, I just solved the clues. I did notice CAN was repeated and that led to a AH, not an AHA, moment.
ReplyDeleteAh vs. aha - that’s a very apt distinction.
DeleteI think the cans are recycled, the shaded words have letters that are reused and the circled letters reduce the answer to a simpler form. None of this helped in the solve, though the solve didn't really need much help. I like the concept, but I agree with Rex that the execution is dull.
ReplyDeleteWell, beauty is obviously in the eye of the beholder. This one has a theme so convoluted than even Rex struggled to figure it out. I guess if you really, really like struggling to discern a themed puzzle’s actual theme, then this one has potential.
ReplyDeleteIf this is your bag - enjoy it. The best this theme gets from me is a “why bother?”. It’s a little unfortunate though. It’s almost like the NYT has a “joy tax” in that the solving experience for the majority is degraded for the benefit of the privileged cohort that enjoy a theme that may charitably be described as “challenging”.
Southside Johnny
DeleteYou are making an assumption that a majority agree with you. Don’t know if that’s true or not. . The reduce part off the theme was obvious, with those little circles, that even I recognized (I often solve M through W puzzles ignoring the theme). But I didn’t pay much attention to the rest of the theme. My GUESS is that a majority had a similar reaction to the theme Whether people liked the puzzle is another story. Commenters seem all over the place about it As for the vast majority who don’t comment here, who knows.
Little odd that all of the RECYCLEd words were palindromes except TEAMMATE. That threw me for a second. Kept trying to make ETAMMATE fit in there.
ReplyDeleteLighten up, Francis. This was an extremely clever puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI still don't get it. Why ESH, LUP, PEAR and MATE? And why is DAUB in circles. A weird puzzle.
ReplyDeleteIf you highlight any of the triplets reduce, reuse, recycle a subset of clues will also be highlighted (can for recycle)
DeleteHey All !
ReplyDeleteSHEESH! There is a boatload of stuff happening in this puz. You got yer circles! Yer shaded squares! But also repeated CANs four times, plus having Themers within Themers, smaller words meaning the same thing in larger words. PLUS, a three-answer Revealer! My goodness, the ole brain has a "TILT" sign hanging from it. And still only 38 Blockers. YEOW!
Wow. I'm sure the construction of this beast was, well, beastly. Hence all the initialisms that Rex fretted over. They are essential to tie all this together.
Funnily, as much as one (me) notices dupes in the grid, I didn't see the repeated CANs. Silly brain.
Ha, just now clicked on each Revealer, and it highlights the answers for each. E.g., click on REDUCE, highlights the circled letters answers, click on REUSE, highlights the CANs, click on RECYCLE, highlights the shaded square answers. Tres cool.
I liked this puz a lot more than a SLIVER. It gave me a GRIN or two. INNO uncertain terms. 😁
Have a great Wednesday!
No F's - Am AVERSE to that, though. Har.
RooMonster
DarrinV
On her way out of HEROD's office wearing her new bifocals, she fell down three flights of stairs.
ReplyDeleteI have to be careful not to read too much traditional Irish and Scottish literature, because GAELIC upsets my digestive system.
My poet friend asked me to read AVERSE of his. I didn't know how to tell him his skills had slipped from bad to verse.
On our way to visit my beautiful daughter and exquisite grandchildren, we pass by the Morris County (NJ) School of Glass. (Several students were recently expelled for throwing stones.) The minute I saw it, I knew I had to tell my punster friend Carl. So I emailed him telling him I took a class in pane management but the professor was pretty bad -- I could see right through him. Within seconds he wrote back asking if they serve GLAZED donuts.
I think I’m one of the few that did not find this puzzle easy. I solved it without cheating. But the payoff has to be enjoyed and/ or fun. This puzzle had neither. No 🎈for me.
ReplyDeleteRex's "after the fact...Give me better fact" is spot on. Almost every puzzle lately (Fridays and Saturdays excepted) have had architectural gimmickry (often quite impressive) that in no way impacts, adds to, or is a prerequisite for, the solve experience. So we finish the puzzle, then go back and read the relevant clues, discern the theme, and react.
ReplyDeleteAll the circled and shaded squares, including the ones that appear shaded in yellow at times, were ignorable toward solving the puzzle which is the raison d'etre (n'est-ce pas?) I guess that's the way it is now. We accountant types could call this form over substance; I'd prefer more substance.
Despite that, I thought Rex would be more lenient for two reasons: First, it's Earth Day, after all. The constructor CRAMS a lot of relevance into the puzzle. Although it did make two out of the trio "REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE" gimmes once we got the first, armed with having been alerted to Earth Day.
The second was the appearance of Teri Garr (RIP); I said "this will make Rex happy" out loud when seeing her name in the puzzle. Ditto here. Appreciated the "Tootsie" clip; think I'm going to re-watch.
REAP PEAR-harvest time
ReplyDeleteTEAM MATE-orgy
Plenty of it was Easy, I'll grant you: for me the NW fell quickly. But the repeated (sorry, REUSEd) CAN entries were disconcerting enough that I thought something might be seriously wrong with my answers. This slowed me way down.
ReplyDeleteThe puzzle was certainly ambitious in its thematic density. How long did it take to construct this? I thought the REDUCE answers were splendid. Honestly, I'm going to have to give at least a whole other star to add to Rex's two, just for the ability, and the CANniness, to pull all three themes off, at the cost of some gunk/junk.
I've already written this in response to @jberg, but a word (rather, a hypothesis) on the CELTIC + GAELIC thing, which I believe Rex missed: the CELTIC goes with Scots as a people, and the GAELIC goes with Scots as a language. It's classed as a West Germanic language, but with some Gaelic mixed in, i.e., some of Scots is Gaelic, if you want to make sense of the clue. Tricky.
I like Teri GARR too (RIP), but I can imagine ELISHA Cuthbert reading Rex's review and wondering, "what am I, chopped liver?". (I don't have any knowledge of her work, and therefore no opinion about her. She's pretty, is all I'll say.)
It's been gray and cold and drizzly these last three days. Hope it's nice and sunny wherever you are.
I commented on this earlier, but I'll say it again here for further clarification: there are two different ancestral languages now referred to as Scots, often distinguished as Highland Scots (or Scottish Gaelic) and Lowland Scots, a Germanic language descended from Old English. Modern Scots is primarily rooted in the latter. Robby Burns may have loved the Highlands, but he was himself a Lowlander, and wrote in Lowland Scots, not Gaelic.
DeleteSailor
DeleteThanks for the clarification about the terminology and the immigration of Old English speakers into the Lowlands. I had assumed that what you defined as Scots resulted solely from the English control of Scotland off and on over centuries. .
FWIW Scottish Gaelic, Irish Gaelic and Welsh are related languages. All these languages are in turn, distant cousins of the Germanic languages like English.
If you shoot someone for telling a lie, is he a DEADLIER?
ReplyDeleteEgs: Care to hear my new GAELIC poem, bae?
Mrs. Egs: Not AVERSE. Where would you grade yourself as a poet, with Dante being an "A"?
Egs: IMAC
Does it seem odd that 2D is TEND.
As I get older I have a hard time remembering, AMI a golden ager or a golden AGEE?
Little known fact: Our new Homeland Insecurity Secretary grew up idolizing Lou Reed and Che Guevara. In fact he named his first son LOUCHE.
This was. A wonderful Earth Day puzzle with thematic material coming out the gills. I loved it. Thanks, Hoang-Kim Vu.
Don’t usually say this, but I’m 100% with Rex.
ReplyDeleteA lot of talented effort to make a so so puzzle with an ambitious but confusing theme. Not sure why this one wasn't in a Thursday slot- I think the discussion would be different for a Thursday solve. Id give it 3 stars for impressive construction but not really a satisfying workout this morning
ReplyDeleteI'm on vacation and I'll do these because I do them but this was not worth the mental gymnastics to see everything that was going on. Hooray for the emphasis on recycling and not much else.
ReplyDeleteProbably was a bear to put this one together, HKV. A Happier Kinder Version would have been more fun though.
While I think we may be in the minority today, RP expressed my thoughts exactly … a marvel of construction vs. ho-hum solve. The theme did help in that I got the three R’s from the revealer clue. However, beyond that, I paid no mind to the circles or shaded squares until I was finished and then only looked out of curiosity.
ReplyDeleteBut I am THE recycling gal, as I tell anyone who will listen and while educating my neighbors, whom I sometimes suspect don’t appreciate my dedication. Harumpf. And in that respect, I will support and applaud anything that draws attention to the cause, including this puzzle. Happy Earth Day!
I had no idea - still don’t in fact - who out what are UTA, LIN, NONA or VMAS. No one else mentioned them as obscure. Sigh. I’m getting more and more out of step with popular culture.
ReplyDeleteUta Hagen was big in the '60s. Strega Nona was published in the '70s, per the clue. The VMAs have been around since the '80s. Only Jeremy Lin was from this century.
DeleteInteresting… after today’s two-star review, Rex’s average rating (covering 141 rated puzzles) is now EXACTLY 3!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the puzzle, and smiled when I saw the recycled CANs, but the laugh-out-loud moment came when I saw Rex's "phoctoid." I may be 74 years old, but the little boy inside never dies!
ReplyDeleteBesides it being Earth Day and seeing the three R's and three CANs (4, yes, but I only saw three until I read Rex), I didn't get anything about this puzzle's theme. I didn't have any shaded squares in my version and wouldn't have figured out why they were there if they had been.
ReplyDeleteI had a heck of a time in the far SW. The clues for TEAMMATE, INROAD and GRIN were far too obscure for me. And was it Strega anNA? I finally realized that "draining" didn't have to be about OOZE-ing and I got TIRING into the 44D slot which finished off the rest.
Hoang-Kim Vu, I wanted to like this puzzle but it was just too confusing. Thanks for the effort.
This morning was rescued by the Teri GARR clip. Have been a fan for so many decades, so many comedies…all a hazy but comfortable blur now…The puzzle was a constructor’s gymnastic feat, amazing attention to detail and thanks to Rex’s analysis I finally appreciated its full impact including the recycle bit. But technically I think CANs are rarely re-used so have to grant some creative poetic leeway to concur with that reference.
ReplyDeleteDidn’t notice the shaded squares… Only the ones with circles where words inside the circles mean the same thing as the full word. Not very interesting
ReplyDelete5
ReplyDeleteJeremy Lin makes history as Toronto Raptors win first NBA title ...
Jeremy Lin played a total of roughly one minute (specifically 52 seconds or 0.9 minutes) in the 2019 NBA Finals, appearing only in Game 3 of the Toronto Raptors' championship series against the Golden State Warriors. He did not record any point or stats in that appearance.
Medium for me, no costly erasures and no WOEs.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was clever and fun, I liked it a lot more than @Rex did…a fine Earth Day puzzle.
Cool Earth Day puztheme idea. Hard puzgrid to build with all that theme stuff, I'd think. I notice the constructioneer went with 80 words, to help all the fillins play well with one another.
ReplyDeleteWondered about the REUSE/RECYCLE targets, like several other solvequestors ... but didn't fret over it too much. Works either way, I reckon.
staff weeject picks: ESH & LUP. honrable mention to CAN.
faves included: Jane GOODALL. BEDSLATS & DEADLIER, crossin all that there theme material.
Thanx for those 3 R's of crossworrd buildin, Mr. Vu dude. Nice job handlin it all. Happy Earth Day.
Masked & Anonymo8Us
p.s.
runt puzzle:
**gruntz**
M&A
I liked this puzzle a LOT more than @Rex and it made me smile since I was an environmental attorney until I totally retired about six months ago AND it’s on Earth Day! Like @tht said above, the REDUCE themers were on the money. My thought is that the CANs are RECYCLED using different clues, and the shaded squares are letters in part of the answer that are REUSED to complete the answer.
ReplyDeleteI also got a kick out of thinking about situations when I would think a black mamba is DEADLIER than a python. Assuming the python is big enough…I think it depends on whether I’m sitting stock still near a hungry python versus walking on a path near a nervous Nellie black mamba…. :)
Not being fond of 'circles' this one wasn't for me. I was glad when it was over.
ReplyDeleteC'mon Rex - there are three separate mini-themes running through this puzzle - awesome! Does anyone know when the last time AGEE was clued referencing ex-Met great Tommiie AGEE? He was a favorite in our house back in the day.
ReplyDeleteFor me, crosswords like this are less about words and more about being clever with arranging words in a way that I can’t bring myself to care about. There is no shortage, in fact, there is a huge variety of puzzles using words to create clever, designs, etc. I’ve tried to be interested, but most of the time, I’m not.
ReplyDeleteWhy not honor Earth Day without making me grimace at the tiresome shaded and circled squares? I solved the puzzle easily while ignoring them.
ReplyDeleteQuite a lot of factual knowledge embedded in this one that I completely lacked. This was a very challenging Wednesday for me.
ReplyDeleteI found it more amusing than Rex did. I enjoyed seeing the REDUCEd ""encourage" etc. And I always seeing words repeat with their different meanings
ReplyDeleteI have definitely heard of "bedslats and it gave me a smile because I had been trying to think of a support for a human king or queen.
However, I could not see what he shaded squares were all about.
Now that I see the y are RECYCLEd I like it more.
I saw the circles and went *groan*, but Across Lite didn't have the shaded squares so I didn't see them until just now in Rex's screenshot! Then I read the long clue for 11 down and thought: oh boy, maybe I'll come back to this later. Then later I ran into all the CANs and it was ah!... recycling theme! But I still didn't understand the circles until I read Rex. And even now I don't understand the shaded squares... anyone? What the heck?
ReplyDeleteOnce again lots of short names. AGEE ODIN USC HOPI ELBE LIN UTA VMAS IMAC NONA BETSY GARR CAN NSC! And I've said before I dislike cluing college inits by their sports team names; two of them here.
I am an avid recycler; here the city picks up everything except glass and plastic bags, which I take to the bottle depot (where you can also recycle TVs and appliances). But our bottle depot burned down! I've got a load of bottles, glass, and plastic bags in my basement. Help!
Very ambitious but very messy with some really dull short fill.
ReplyDeleteA couple of things: I don’t find anagrams that rewarding. I’m willing to accept the TEAM/MATE and REAP/PEAR combos because, at least they make real words. SHE is a word but ESH is not. And PUL/LUP? WTF?
And for those of you who have asked, “Who reuses cans?” I do. I use canned tomatoes to make sauce when my garden supply is depleted. They usually come in 28 ounce cans, about 4” in diameter and maybe a bit higher. I clean them and take them to my studio where I put them to use in all sorts of ways. Main use is on my painting table - a 2’ x 6’ glass-topped behemoth upon which I mix my paints and at the back of which is an array of 40 - 60 brushes stashed in, you guessed it, tin cans, some much larger than the aforementioned 28 ouncers. I always have four or five around with a few inches of solvent (water, if I’m working with acrylic and turps if in oil) to drop my loaded brushes in cuz I don’t feel like interrupting the process to clean them. They will hold, I’ll get to them when I finish for the day. Or maybe tomorrow; I’m kind of lazy.
Eventually they will get rotated out and recycled. I’m such an eco-saint. Happy Earth Day, all.
For me this was a very nice fun theme and execution! Loved the way the 4 CANS appeared. I did not know VMAS or ELISHA or WREN but the crosses solved those. I found the Scots clues straightforward. Altogether a very fine Wednesday thank you! Thank you for remembering our poor earth, if only for a day
ReplyDeleteits Earth Day and Jane Goodall is in the puzzle - it's about recycling to honoring the Planet Earth at least somebody bothered to make a puzzle honoring our PLANET
ReplyDeletethe grinch who stole earth day Dr. Suess lol
ReplyDeleteHuang-Kim Vu’s puzzles always have some of the most complex, layered and enjoyable themes. I am a huge fan, and was delighted to see his byline again. It’s been a couple years, I think since we’ve had one of his to enjoy. And enjoy it I did. More than enjoyed. This is me raving with blown mind. 🤯
ReplyDeleteThe actual solve was easy. As I breezed along, the Earth Day theme was obvious, but the layers were complex, and delightfully deceptive. Often, and especially for oldsters like me, a familiar theme style - take yesterday’s “oh, it’s the first word of a two word answer” theme - barely registers in an early week easy puzzle. Then Huang-Kim Vu comes along and shows us how it’s done.
Sure, the Earth Day mantra stands out. Anyone unfamiliar with the REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE gets an introduction and artful demonstration today. Layers upon layers of theme. This is also an exception to my dislike of techno-tricks in the puzzle. Without the highlights at each mantra component, I would have missed some of the brilliant construction. There’s nothing extra; it all needs to work exactly as it does. Superb. Tidy. Clean.
Each of the three mantra components artfully called attention to Huang-Kim’s masterful organization of the grid. The CANs’ letters are REUSEd as the CAN itself is RECYCLEd throughout the puzzle. The brilliant depiction of both the REUSE as and REDUCE elements is nothing short of creative genius. How on earth he found all the words for each category and then created a grid to make it all come together literally had me staring at the completed puzzle and clicking on the mantra words several times just to re-blow my mind. Every single element that I often (and occasionally vociferously) deride serves a specific purpose and functions as designed to inform and accurately to illustrate its portion of the theme. Thanks Huang-Kim Vu. This is a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Wednesday for me and a clinic on appropriate use of techno-gimmickry.
I think OFL must have solved a different puzzle this morning.
Timely theme with so many layers and a LOT going on. Sometimes...sometimes, the "after the fact" makes all the work worth it and that was the case for me today. I do understand (and don't disagree) with @Rex's thoughts, but an impressive feat of construction tends to always leave me happy and amazed no matter what the solving was like - maybe that's just me. But my several "aha" moments were not without joy.
ReplyDeleteIt clicked with the first CAN reuse and then it all came together for me. And then all the post solve realizations really made me happy.
Thank you Hoang-Kim, this must have been quite a journey to construct, it was quite the trip to solve as well!
@Hugh, well said!
DeleteActually I loved this puzzle. Great and interesting construction although I don’t get the theme until I had already filled in this puzzle thanks NYT
ReplyDeleteTheme and execution of theme were cool. However, a lot of the unthemed clues and answers were absolutely garbage! Pun intended. But actually a very ugly and uninteresting and highly specific and useless fill of short nonsense answers. Ugh. This is why some people dislike themes because the rest of the puzzle suffers so.
ReplyDelete