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Snackable seaweed / WED 4-15-26 / Veg out in a spa? / Indian P.M. of the 1990s / Genre for Blink-182 and Sum 41 / When and where, in slang / Toy inventor Rubik / Hunter's attire, informally / Tokyo-based brewery / Destination for Frodo in "The Lord of the Rings"
Wednesday, April 15, 2026
Constructor: Adam Wagner
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Theme answers:
- MAKE A STINK (17A: Put all the bold letters in this clue together?) (bold letters = "odor")
- CREATE A MONSTER (Put all the bold letters in this clue together?) (bold letters = "brute")
- FORM AN ALLIANCE (Put all the bold letters in this clue together?) (bold letters = "pact")
- BUILD-A-BEAR (Put all the bold letters in this clue together?) (bold letters = "Pooh")
Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao (28 June 1921 – 23 December 2004) was an Indian independence activist, lawyer, and statesman from the Indian National Congress who served as the prime minister of India from 1991 to 1996. He was the first person from South India and the second person from a non-Hindi speaking background to be prime minister. He is known for his role in initiating India's economic liberalisation following an economic crisis in 1991,[2][3][4] a process that has been sustained and expanded by every successive prime minister of the country. (wikipedia)
• • •
The ominous feeling actually started a little earlier, with that ASAP ASAHI SIA combo, but I was like, "maybe it's a fluke, let's keep going." And then immediately OPED EDAM and (ugh) Morse code DAH piled on, and I was like "OK, OK, yeesh" and I took the screenshot. If I stop to take that screenshot, it means I'm making a kind of bet that the whole grid is going to suck. I just want to document the precise moment at which I knew. And actually, I had no idea, because this grid was relentless. ASAHI SIA ASAP OPED EDAM DAH GIBE OBOE IBIS EEK ERNO NINO ANSEL ORO CNET RAO AMO AROD ARLO ALT and a bunch more that I'm not including because of the mercy rule. I know there can sometimes be a cost if you want to get in a bunch of flashy long Downs, and while I appreciate those Downs, I really do, the cost today was far, far too steep. Nice theme, nice long Downs, but dear god give some attention to the rest of the grid (which, after all, is the bulk of the puzzle).
But back to more positive things. Took me a while to warm to the theme, but the deeper I got, the better it seemed. It's a clever idea to begin with, having themers that describe what I, the solver, am doing. Then to have all the theme clues be the same, with only the boldness shifting from answer to answer? That's pretty neat work, to come up with a clue that sounds completely natural but that also contains the correct letters, in the correct order, to make four different variations of bolding make sense. And then the final answer actually makes nice use of the capital "P"—it's capital by position, but if the "p" had been lowercase, the clue simply wouldn't have worked. Gotta be "P" or else you just get pooh, which is not a bear: it's one half of a dismissal. I assume everyone knows what the BUILD-A-BEAR workshop is. If not, the phrase BUILD A BEAR is gonna seem awfully strange.
It was a pretty easy puzzle overall. Working out the themers was probably the biggest challenge. I got slowed down by the Morse code answer, duh could've been ... what's that other one, DIT? Yeah, DIT. The crossword is going to single-handedly keep dits and dahs alive in the popular imagination forever and ever, it seems. Nevermind that this pleases no one—until another meaning of DIT or DAH comes along, we're stuck. It's a minor inconvenience, so no big deal. Just low-key annoying. The one part of the puzzle where I got slightly bogged down was in and around CASE, which had a clue I didn't understand until after I'd finished the puzzle and thought about it for a bit (40D: Suit, e.g.). I was like "suit ... case ... yes, those two words go together ("suitcase!") but a suit is not a kind of case, what the hell?!" It wasn't til however many minutes later that the legal significance of "suit" dawned on me. "Suit" as in "lawsuit." A legal case. At least I think that's what the clue is after. If I'm wrong, shrug, I tried. Sorry. In the same vicinity as CASE, I had SKATE ROCK before SKATE PUNK (18D: Genre for Blink-182 and Sum 41) and no real idea about the front end of MT. DOOM (not a big LOTR fan) (44D: Destination for Frodo in "The Lord of the Rings"). Do you really abbreviate it like that? Does Tolkien? Seems oddly informal for something so horrible-sounding.
Bullets:
- 12D: Apt letters missing from ret__ement pl_n) (IRA) — hated this clue. You're already doing the whole "spell things using letters from the clue" thing in your theme! We don't need more. We truly do not. Let the theme be the theme and clue IRA in one of the infinitely available other ways.
- 4D: When and where, in slang (THE DEETS) — not a big fan of definite articles before nouns unless it's absolutely necessary, but here, I don't mind. "DEETS" is short for "details."
- 40A: Veg out in a spa? (CUKE) — this is pretty clever. Context:
- 15A: Musical instrument whose second syllable sounds like a part of other musical instruments (OBOE) — this clanked. First, I was trying to think what kind of instrument has an "O" (broke the syllable in the wrong place). Second, I just don't think of the "bow" as "part of" the violin. Obviously it's required to play the violin (not always, but for the most part). But it's a separate entity, not a "part."
That's all. See you next time.
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30 comments:
Easy-Medium. Thanks, @Rex, for explaining why CASE works for the clue at 40D.
* * _ _ _
Overwrites:
gEe before EEK for the 9D interjection
At 37D I had OK i'm SURE until I realized that I'm was in the clue, then it became OKAY SURE.
WOEs:
The genre SKATE PUNK or either of the examples in the clue for 18D
At 45D, the clue for LAY LOW should have been present tense. I guess LAY can be past tense but I would say LAID LOW for "Tried not to draw attention."
With 45D in past tense (“Tried not to draw attention”) how does LAYLOW work? What am I missing?
LAY is the past tense of “lie”
It’s a weird phrase because in common usage the grammar is frequently incorrect, ie “lay” is used as *present* tense. But technically you LIE LOW, so LAY LOW is the past tense
The trick clues didn't work in the online printed version; no bolding of letters.
Medium-difficult for me. I had dIss instead of GIBE and had a lot of trouble in the top center section. And a lot of the cluing didn't land for me. SKATE rock before SKATE PUNK as well, and a bunch of others, but I did enjoy the theme and really grinned when I got to BUILD A BEAR.
Since on the iPhone app the bold letters were indistinguishable from the regular ones this puzzle was lost on me. The NYT ought to do better.
Gotta run but wanted to chime in. Tough for me for a Wednesday (like 17 mins) just cuz it took a while to get the theme, and cuz I barely have heard of BUILDABEAR. My trouble was all in the south.... Definitely puzzled over the tense issue with LAYLOW for a long time. Mordor before MTDOOM. Also couldn't understand the CUKE-spa connection. Thanks @REX for the picture, that explains it well!!!! Pretty unique theme, thanks, Adam!!!!! : )
Well, Rex, I for one have never heard of BUILD-A-BEAR, so that answer and that whole part of the grid was tough for me. Having some singer I don’t know right next to it certainly didn’t help, either. Not a lot of joy in getting it finished, unfortunately. And as a former oboe player who generally loves seeing that beautiful instrument’s appearance in a puzzle, I agree with Rex that the clue clanked.
I’m sitting here, shaking my head in amazement, looking at this theme. How did Adam come up with it?
A theme involving capital letters in repeated clues that make a word suggested by the answers to those clues – where does this come from? This is not low hanging fruit. This comes from a highly creative mind.
Then came the skill of fleshing out this theme. Coming up with a clue from which the four suggested words could be drawn. Coming up with four theme answers that fit the same pattern, that fit puzzle symmetry. So, mix high skill in there with the high creativity.
And here’s something else coming from such a mind – a new clue for OBOE, a word appearing in the Times puzzle more than 800 times. An angle none of the inventive bunch of Crosslandia constructors ever used before.
You rock, Adam. You bring meteoric spark to the box, and thank you a splendid outing with a generous helping of amazement.
Solved as a themeless as the app does not highlight the clue letters in dark mode. The concept is cute - but obviously not critical or even relevant to the solve as I went through this grid with no issues. I like SKATE PUNK, OKAY SURE and BONE TIRED.
Joni
Who mixes VODKA with TONIC when gin is available? THE DEETS, ROTO ROOTER are rough. Doubling down on the plurals with BONS AMIS was a poor choice. CLAMOR and SERENE are the words of the day.
Life At A Top People’s Health Farm
Pleasant enough I guess - going blind on the theme though made for an odd Wednesday morning solve.
The Stranglers
The "bold" letters didn't appear in the home printed version either.
Any puzzle with POOH is good by me.
SAKE, NORI, ASAHI are two (maybe three) Japanese edible/potable words too many. Part of a very international mix today along with Australia (SIA, GDAY), Spanish (NINO), Italian (ORO) Russia (TROTSKY, VODKA), Scotland (SKYE), Eastern Europe (LATKE), India (RAO), Hungary (ERNO) and French (BONS AMIS).
TROTS and TROTSKY are a nice echo.
Hand up for Mordor before MT DOOM. Checking my old copy of "The Return of the King," the title of chapter 3 of book 6 is Mount Doom, but the fold-out map in the back labels it Orodruin, with MT. DOOM in smaller letters underneath. I didn't reread the whole text, the description of Sam and Frodo climbing it mostly calls it "the Mountain." But the map is authority enough for me.
I get Rex's point about the short fill, but I didn't really notice it, I was having so much fun working out the theme--which I didn't understand until I saw Pooh in the last one.
Argh. I had FORMAL ALLIANCE instead of FORM AN ALLIANCE and couldn’t see the SKATEPUNK - which is a term I’d never heard of.
What an unusual puzzle. It was a pleasure to solve.( I also hesitated with the lay low answer) 🎈🎈🎊🎊
Also on the print out , yes I do it on paper, no bold, I m told I needed to print in newspaper form. So I did it as themeless
¡Santo cannoli!
Cute little theme and a nice, funny, and crafty little puzzle. Nice work everybody. I'm staring a difficult day in the face this morning, so I needed a pleasant jump start.
MAKE A STINK is straight up officially funny.
I've decided I don't like the word GIBE. I can't imagine using it in the real world.
Just saw SIA in an episode of Company Retreat and she really can sing.
People: 8
Places: 2
Products: 8
Partials: 6
Foreignisms: 4
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 28 of 74 (38%)
Funny Factor: 4 🙂
Tee-Hee: A BREAST. [Brest besties.] BONE TIRED.
Uniclues:
1 Makes one serious joke.
2 Written suggestion for reducing tourism in Estes Park, Colorado.
3 One way to attract a boyfriend.
4 When you weary from freaking out about mice.
5 Best solution to our troubling political times.
1 CASTS AVID GIBE (~)
2 KISS ELK OP-ED (~)
3 EDAM ABREAST
4 EEK-BONE TIRED
5 METE VODKA TONIC (~)
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: More than Comet pretty. AJAX PHOTOGENIC.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Looked fine on my iPhone app. Maybe see if you need to update the app?
Hey All !
Seemed the bold letters could've been a bit bolder. Tough to see 'em. Had to squint at the screen and tilt my head to discern them. Wrote them out on a piece of paper to help with the solve.
Speaking of paper, great clue on OPED.
Liked it. Maybe this was the TuesPuz that should've run yesterday. I guess it was deemed a tad too tricksy to be run on a Tuesday.
Suppose I need to take a point for MONSTER. Such a burden being this popular! Har. Unsure if combining that with the ROO in ROTOROOTER is wise. Seems like it'd MAKE A STINK. 😁
That gets me to 5 points. YAY ME!
Hope y'all have a great Wednesday!
One F
RooMonster
DarrinV
Makes total sense now. Thanks for the thoughtful explanation.
I didn't even bother looking at the bold letters once I figured out where itwas going. hardest thinks for me was skater punk. I was looking ska something. Then stared for what seemed like forever till the C in cuke made any sense.
Rex nailed it with his “bad vibes” characterization. This one has plenty not to like. It’s basically a potpourri of slang, foreign stuff and trivia, with a theme tossed in. Sorry, I know people enjoy learning and testing themselves by parsing together tough entries, but I’m tired of being bludgeoned by this stuff on a daily basis, I mean it’s everywhere.
ASAHI has so overstayed its welcome that it should be put on probation and threatened with a 90 suspension. Today it bumps up against THE DEETS and yet another one-named singer. The bad vibes began early.
Then we have BONSAMIS crossing NINO - yuk. Throw in some more stuff like EEK, OKAY SURE, and today we learn there is yet another member of the never-ending music “genres” with something called SKATE PUNK.
Speculation has been widespread (at least here) that the NYT is “dumbing down” the puzzles to “appeal to a wider audience” - today I only see a puzzle that’s not going to generate much enthusiasm from newer solvers, and may well continue to alienate old-timers like myself. Just no fun.
Easy-Medium is what I'd say as well. Somehow the plethora of three- and four-letter entries didn't bother me so much, certainly not enough to MAKE A STINK about it. The nice thing about the themers is that all of them resolutely avoid any eat-a-sandwich vibe, even though they have that exact grammatical structure.
I can't make up my mind whether I like BONS AMIS. I keep seeing little Japanese TREES there.
Unintentional hilarity: ANGLES. I suppose this is what many people think mathematicians do: things like add long columns of numbers, or multiply really big numbers, or, if you're a geometer, you measure angles. That's what you do. The thing is, many pure mathematicians would, when asked by another mathematician what they do, start with something like "oh, I'm a geometer" (they might modify that by saying e.g. "I'm a differential geometer", etc.). But don't say that at large to people at a cocktail party. They'll think you spent four years undergrad and five years writing your PhD thesis, only to wind up with some cruddy menial job where you're calculating angles all day.
It's starting to get WARM! We in Connecticut hit about 80 F yesterday. I think I'll try to get some sunshine in today. Hope your day goes well.
The English language has some weird quirks. It's amazing how many people from other countries learn/speak it.
In the print version the bold letters were also indistinguishable.
And, is there an unlimited number of ways to create a clue for OBOE?
Bold letters were indistinguishable in the NYT app. This basically made the themers unclued. Turned a Wednesday into a Saturday for me. No fun had here.
Solved without noticing what letters were in boldface. They weren't distinguishable on my device.
In hindsight, it would have helped the solve; but in the end the theme phrases became obvious without understanding the gimmick.
So "the worst fill...in a long time" balances out a "charming" theme and "some nice longer Downs" to merit three stars. Cool.
Only thing that stumped me today is the relevance of "IT'S ALIVE" and the shot from the hilarious movie Young Frankenstein (which I can't even type silently without correcting the pronunciation in my head).
Also on my iPad. And since I solve on paper, no bold at all there.
Agree!
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