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Like a video with an inflated view count, maybe / SUN 10-25-26 / Dal ___ (musical notation) / Stark sister from Winterfell / Artistic designs that glow under black light / Cover letters, say? / Zipper up vis-à-vis zipper down? / Blazer vis-à-vis a windbreaker? / Peridot vis-à-vis jade? / Man's name that means "prosperous" in Arabic / Typical landing page, online / NFL'er with horns on his helmet
Sunday, October 25, 2026
Constructor: Dylan Schiff and John Kugelman
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Theme answers:
- LITTERBUG (22A: Firefly vis-à-vis a fruit fly?) (because fireflies are "bugs" that are more "lit" than fruit flies)
- OLIVER STONE (24A: Peridot vis-à-vis jade?) (... Peridot is a "stone" that is more "olive" than jade)
- BUTCHER BLOCK (34A: Muscle Beach vis-à-vis Venice Beach?) (... Muscle Beach is a "block"[???!] that is more "butch" [rly?] than Venice Beach)
- LIGHTER FLUID (49A: Oil vis-à-vis water?) (... oil is a "fluid" that is "lighter" than water)
- SHUTTERFLY (63A: Zipper up vis-à-vis zipper down?) (... zipper up is a "fly" position that is more "shut" than zipper down)
- BUFFER ZONE (67A: Weight room vis-à-vis the cardio room?) (... a weight room is a "zone" that ... uh ... has more "buff" people in it than a cardio room does [rly?])
- EASTER ISLAND (82A: Maui vis-à-vis Oahu?) (... Maui is an "island" that is farther "east" than Oahu)
- BOMBER JACKET (94A: Blazer vis-à-vis a windbreaker?) (... a blazer is a "jacket" that is ... uh ... somehow more "bomb" [infinite "?!?] than a windbreaker is)
- SOONER STATE (109A: Delaware vis-à-vis the other 12 colonies?) (... Delaware was made a "state" more "soon" than any other state)
- HYPERTEXT (111A: "OMG THIS IS AWESOME!!!!" vis-à-vis "good job i guess"?) (... that first all-caps bit is "text" that is ... more "hype" [again, I say, "!???"] ... than the latter all lower-case bit)
Yokokimthurston (stylized in all caps) is a collaborative album by Yoko Ono, Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore, released by Chimera Music on September 25, 2012. "Early in the Morning" was released as a single, on June 5, 2012. The cover is from a Kim Gordon painting. // According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Yokokimthurston received "mixed or average reviews" based on a weighted average score of 57 out of 100 from 13 critic scores. On another aggregator AnyDecentMusic?, it was given an average of 4.3 out of 10 based on 8 reviews. (wikipedia) // "But if a collaboration between these three was inevitable, its timing is uncanny: It represents Moore and Gordon's first musical release together since announcing their separation after 27 years of marriage. While it would be overly presumptuous to believe that Moore and Gordon's union here has any bearing on the future of their relationship, it's heartening that they've chosen to spend this moment of their lives with Ono, a woman who understands all too well the difficult dance between creativity and matrimony. As such, YOKOKIMTHURSTON is not so much a decibel-bursting showcase for the Queen of Noise and her unruly understudies as a conversation between intimates speaking in tongues and tangles-- a voyeuristic glimpse into a private, discomfiting exchange." (pitchfork) [ed.: Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore are founding members of the seminal noise rock / post-punk band Sonic Youth]
• • •
But I haven't even gotten to the two themers that make the least sense to me. HYPERTEXT ... how can something be "more hype"? I get that there is more hype (i.e. enthusiasm) involved in an all-caps "text" than an all-lowercase one, but these "-ER" words are supposed to be comparative adjectives and ... if "hype" is an adjective, then I am too old to know it. And I'll say the same thing about "bomb." Moreso. I've heard of something being "the bomb," as in cool or fashionable, but if something is "bomb" it's ... what? A blazer is more bomb than a windbreaker? Is it an issue of formality? I am both at sea and ASEA (88: Not on solid ground). It's completely possible that there's just some Gen Z slang, some bending of pre-existing slang that I don't get, or hear, or whatever, but my god BOMBER and HYPER are fingernailing the chalkboard of my soul. I thought some of the theme answers actually worked pretty nicely—the ones that involved totally made-up comparative adjectives, like LITTER and OLIVER and SHUTTER and EASTER. The whole concept loses a little of its pizzazz when the -ER word is already a comparative adjective (e.g. SOONER, LIGHTER). But it's the beach answer and especially the BUFFER and HYPER answers that really did this one in.
ENOCH EZRA EYRE EIRE ARYA ONO UMA EVITE. There, I got that out of my system. Why are you hiding the gender of the FANGIRL in that clue??? (68D: One displaying enthusiastic devotion). So weird. Crossing "UH, NO" and "OH, OK"—not OK. SIGN crossing SEGNO, not much better. Cross-referencing them doesn't make me like SEGNO any better (37A: Dal ___ (musical notation)). Let's play some Dolly Parton and move on to bullet points:
[96D: Dolly Parton classic]
- 73A: Man's name that means "prosperous" in Arabic (YASIR) — one of the tougher names in the grid, made tougher by the fact that I had FERROUS running through there (instead of FERRITE) and I have no idea who EZRA Jack Keats is. With one cross an error and the other a mystery, YASIR took more effort than most things in this grid.
- 18D: Cover letters, say? (TEACH) — oof. I love when I figure out the "?" clue and it's clever or funny. This was not one of those times. TEACH KINDERGARTEN, maybe (in what other teaching context would you "cover letters"?). But just TEACH? Boo. I hiss at that answer.
- 39D: Richard who had his first starring role in 1978's "Days of Heaven" (GERE) — a beautiful man, a beautiful movie. Also a beautiful man—Oliver Reed in The Devils (1971), which has been rereleased and is in theaters now (I saw it yesterday). What a shocking, funny, fantastic film.
- 80D: Typical landing page, online (HOME) — why did you need to go "online" yet again for this one? Was AISLOP and BOTTED not enough? Can we not just let HOME be ... somewhere else? Something likable? Anywhere non-digital? That would be nice.
That's all for today. See you next time.
P.S. Jeff Chen wants you to know that he has recently launched two daily word games: Pair Down and Squeezy. If you're looking to add more word games to your daily menu, give them a try. They're fun.
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122 comments:
Oh, my favorite theme answers were the ones with silly improper comparative adjectives, such as LITTER instead of “more lit”, SHUTTER instead of “more shut”, and EASTER instead of “more east”.
The answer set – how did they come up with these? There is not only silliness, but there’s wit, and I’m guessing plenty of hard work behind creating this theme set. Several of these theme answers gave me jaw-drop smiles.
Sure, my brain enjoyed some areas of resistance, with slippery cluing, and it had a great time trying to come up with the theme answers with as few crosses as possible, which I didn’t find easy.
But, Dylan and John, give me silly that makes me smile, and I’m on your side for the whole puzzle. And you did, and I was. And that, to me, was the best part of this puzzle. This was a hoot and most satisfying. Please consider pairing again, and thank you!
Rex's analysis is appropriate - and amusing in its rage - but I liked it more than he did. I love that Lewis has posted the first comment, and it's a direct counterpoint to Rex. One clearly needs to be a little forgiving with the theme to fully embrace it. We found this to be an easy solve. Agree the East side was poorly done, with the YASIR-ESAU-EZRA-NATASHA crosses.
"Cover letters" (18D) could perhaps be construed differently, not just TEACHing kindergarten (as Rex suggests) if we consider Rex a "man of letters" himself?
Not as lame as I feared.
I guess unlike Joanie - Rex does not love Chachi. His clarity of critique today is pure and spot on though - I had many of the same groans working through this grid. It’s the old -ER play that we’ve seen in some form or another before - this one didn’t hit big.
My name is JOLENE but I hate that song
HYPER is as big a stretch as we’ve encountered - EASTER isn’t far behind. I get it - the theme needs to be performative somehow and go beyond bounds but this one is asking too much. The big guy’s detailed analysis may be a little over the top but he’s not wrong. I guess LITTER BUG is cute?
Uncertain Smile
Overall fill is a slogfest. Bible references, LA RAM, BOTTED, DR MOM etc. I liked TACIT, EFFUSES and FERRITE. NATASHA? OUTRO is the word of the day.
Sonic Youth
Low 30s this morning and we get this. Time to brew the Peet’s.
Unsatisfied
If you’ve never heard of Ezra Jack Keats, then you’ve never read The Snowy Day or read it to a child? Please do, and read about his life. He should have been your word of the day.
I thought you'd like AI SLOP, since it's so new. An easy but pleasurable Sunday puzzle.
let me get this 'straight' - today's puzzle gets the royal shaft - but Jeff Chen's Scrabble Yahtzee style word finder game gets PROPS? there's something rotten in Denmark all right.. it's called Attitude. happy Sunday.
Agree on most fill the fill, but I think "letters" is fine - as found, for example, in the traditional term "Arts and Letters," where "letters" refers to literature, writing, and the humanities.
So, it is not only Kindergarten teachers who "cover letters" when they teach, but also lecturers in the Department of English at Binghamton University. :) And proudly so.
Hey All !
10 Themers is impressive. The only one that is kind of out there for me is BOMBER JACKET. Is the majority of the world liking a blazer more than a windbreaker? I need to see the data. What about a leather Motorcycle jacket? That one seems BOMBER than a blazer.
Anyway, don't have as much disdain for this puz as Rex, and I'm sure others throughout the day, do. Fill good, considering working around all that Theme.
The -ERification of the phrases elicits a sort-of-chuckle from me. Wondering how many words they went through before settling on these 10.
Steady solve, got hung up on a few spots, but wasn't really ever ASEA.
Hope y'all have a great Sunday!
Five F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
Gee, Rex, I kinda liked it.
🙄 👎🏼
Shared many of the same critiques as Rex but on the whole liked it more than he did, which I guess isn’t uncommon on a Sunday. BOMBER JACKET is the worst of the themers imo, although BUTCHER BLOCK is pretty bad (and sloppy - we there is a Muscle Beach at Venice Beach). HYPERTEXT was my favorite themer.
UMASS crossing UMA (the abbreviation for UMass Amherst) is something. I don’t know what. But it is something.
Es hora de ponerse en marcha.
No way this was going to light up the 🦖 star system (it's worse than I imagined), but I had a dandy time with the groan-inducing amateurish-feeling cavalcade of punnery. A HAHA-IER TIME could not be bent into existence.
I think it would be possible to cram more gunk into this thing if they really cared. I mean why stop with only 21 names. Dig deeper boys.
My favorite theme entries were BUTCHER BLOCK and BUFFER ZONE.
❤️ POSHEST. FAN GIRL. BOTTED.
Gunkometer--
People: 21 {wow}
Places: 6
Products: 10
Partials: 9
Foreignisms: 2
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 48 of 138 (35%)
Funny Factor: 9 😄
🔥 Ooh-la-la! 🔥 Beefcake. SILK DRESS. TAN LINES.
Uniclues:
1 Rich girl learning to frisk you.
2 Lizard's leather.
3 End of a sad song about spilling garlic sauce on your ball gown.
1 POSHEST TSA TRAINEE (~)
2 NEWT'S BOMBER JACKET
3 AIOLI SILK DRESS OUTRO
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Went to war with bottomless mimosas. RASSLED OPEN BAR.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Came here to share this exact though.
I have never seen UMA used as an abbreviation for the University of Massachusetts at Amherst - only and always UMass Amherst.
I largely agree with Rex on this one. I admire that the puzzle attempts to go big, which made me overlook that some of the themers clanged. But I think we shouldn’t allow ourselves to get numb to people who espouse truly horrible ideas such as Sandy Hook denialism.
100,000,000,000,000 to this
> and I have no idea who EZRA Jack Keats is
i understand the urge to get far far away from today's puzzle, but EZRA Jack Keats deserved much better than this dismissal. i second the recommendation above to read The Snowy Day—to yourself, to a child, to other library patrons.
Ezra Jack Keats won the Caldecott for The Snowy Day. It’s a classic, and he was important in bringing multicultural protagonists into children’s books. Rex, if you end up with grandchildren, please buy this book (and others by EJK) and read it to them.
Hype is used as an adjective in Whoomp, There It Is, a massive hit song from over 30 years ago (“make this m-fer party hype”). So you’re not too old for that usage.
I’m with you, Lewis.🎈🎈🎊🎊
This is a time when I fully concur with Rex. One of the worst puzzles I've ever had the displeasure of doing. And I usually give great leeway to the creators. But this was physically unpleasant for me. Awful strained themers that, aside from a couple ...Oliver Stone, e.g..... made me cringe. Funless fill. My wife was trying to explain to me why Muscle Beach is "buffer" than Venice but I don't really want to hear it. This write up alone is worth my annual contribution...
Chalk up another confused Gen-Xer on what BOMBER could possibly mean. Assuming it's referring to something that's "the bomb" then in what universe is a blazer cooler than a windbreaker?! Certainly not to the generation who coined the phrase.
Found this puzzle ridiculously easy which only added to an underwhelming solving experience. Curious if there's ever been a thought to creating different tiers of puzzles each day, so those of us who aren't interested in the Monday to Wednesday puzzles have a challenge each day. Surely there are enough puzzle submissions to choose from. Anyone know if that's ever been considered by the NYT?
Two lazy men,
Each given a chore:
"You do neither,
I'll DONOR."
Bra straps might cause them: Erections.
The college Trump set up years ago: SHAMU
The inhabitants of Pisa are proud of the olive oil from their region, and use copious amounts in their cooking. Some dishes are also full of PISAN vinegar.
Two mistakes to avoid with AIOLI: (1) not enough garlic, and (2) ONEEYE.
I think having the name Jolene is the only possible reason to hate that song...
Thank you for the immediate counterpoint:)
My only issue was that it was perhaps the easiest puzzle I've seen. I didn't need to know that about Scott BAIO - I'm with RP on digital world being too much.
Loved all the punny themers, especially Easter Island. Enjoyed the Uma-Umass-Human mashup. Was not bothered by the junkier fill, take it as a given to load up with that many themes. The one point I absolutely agree with Rex, Scott Baio should be forgotten. A truly awful person.
The worst Sunday in recent memory. Butcher Block! Are you kidding? We need to do better than this one! 1/2 star minus!!!
Really agree with Rex on this one. But I’ll point out that kids these days indeed do use “bomb” as an adjective. Things aren’t “the bomb” anymore- they’re just “bomb.” I’m not sure if blazers are bomber than windbreakers though…
Mrs. Egs isn't much for remembering words to songs, but I've heard her HUMAN entire opera.
A FANGIRL is scarier than a fang on-line.
DRMOM didn't let us use the full F word, so we'd just say "Eff you"! Eventually, though she made us stop even the EFFUSES. She'd ask, "Is swearing a bad TRAITOR what"?
I'd SOONERSTATE the case for this puzzle than a lot of Sunday's. Dumb humor is da BOMB IMHO. Thanks for the giggles, Dylan Schiff and John Kugelman.
Great write up, Rex. Spot on assessment.
Well, I enjoyed it quite a bit, and most of the themers really clicked for me, with OLIVER STONE being the hightlight.
The huge outlier is BOMBER JACKET, which I didn't get, and still don't get after reading Rex, and still don't get after reading Wordplay (someone provides an 'explanation' but it does not do it for me).
And yes, th OHOK UHNO cross was terrible, but the rest of the puzzle was fun enough to offset that.
Sorry, @Gary, but newts are not lizards. Both in the same clade, but that clade also includes squirrels and ostriches.
You know, I quite liked this one. The long answers were original and tricky, and hard enough that I really had to puzzle on some of them. Not as easy as most sundays. I agree with above commenter that Rex should totally read A Snow Day. An absolute banger and a classic book that a literature prof should be familiar with, sir! And, I thought he would be happpy that “aislop “ appeared…we can be glad that it is accurately described and not some fawning “genai “ answer like was in the mini the other day.
Occasional NYT Puzzles, when viewed on my MacBook Pro, offer a print form that cannot utilize “ Ink saver” And does not print the left-hand column of clue numbers. Why is this? any ideas?
I'm sis, so I apologize if I misunderstood. I hate labeling people, so I hated that the puzzle labled Muscle Beach as more butch.
Let people be who they are. No lables needed.
What's happened to Bob Mills??
I widened the left margin manually, and on this printout I can see the left column numbers. I’ll see if it works. Next time this happens.
I liked this puzzle more than Rex did but I do have a few nits to pick with some of the theme answers. My birthstone is the peridot, and I don't consider the color olive in the least. I'd switch the jade and peridot positions in the clue. And some of the theme answers I definitely needed Rex's explanation (BOMBER JACKET, BUTCHER BLOCK (actually, I still don't get that one) and LITTER BUG).
LITTER BUG, I wanted the clue to be Fruit fly vis-a-vis firefly because I associate fruit flies with LITTER, flying around anything giving off the fumes they love. I understand that that doesn't meet the theme premise but that's how I felt about that one.
Having epee in for 76D, "Sticking point?" held up a lot in that sector, especially since I never saw the Hilary Duff sitcom so MCGUIRE wasn't a thing to me. Something sticking in one's CRAW, I get it now.
Dylan and John, I enjoyed this in spite of its flaws, thanks!
Ditto. A beautiful book.
The beach clue grated on me because "Muscle Beach" is actually a small area of the Venice Beach boardwalk. So, the part is butcher than the whole?
Worst Sunday NYT puzzle ever. I can’t believe you gave it a one and a half. Ridiculously easy but utterly dimwitted.
I guess that since we are now not necessarily wearing our bra under our clothes, the straps might cause TAN LINES. But I was reluctant to put that in. Really what they cause our red marks or painful shoulders.
Not only do I agree with your every word, Lewis, but I have put this puzzle in my running list for Sunday Puzzle of the Year. It's so funny, so original, so imaginative -- as you say, a hoot. For anyone interested -- anyone not on my group email list -- I've posted my full comment as I often do on the Wordplay Blog.
I think the title should have been "Comparatively Speaking" since what we are doing is filling in silly comparatives such as EASTER and HYPER (definitely the worst). I was frowning and feeling cross about this puzzle for quite a while but then realized I just had to accept that the terms were silly silly silly, and then I liked it more.
It took me a while to get SITE MAP crossing BOTTED; I thought the surfer's aid must be SIDE MAN, and BOTTED didn't come to mind easily. Also, I had MUSHY for the apple before MEALY and that made it tought to get ENOCH.
Not my favorite Sunday puzzle, but not so bad.
This was just awful. For all the reasons Rex cited, and possibly more. It should have been published with one of those disclaimers … you know the ones … they’re inserted for legal reasons, just in case someone engages with this thing and spirals into deep depression. And wants to sue.
(Oh c’mon, Les. It’s a crossword puzzle. At least, thanks to Rex, you got to hear a 10 minute slice of yokokimthurston. That should quell the anti-Yoko, torch bearing mobs. Or maybe not.)
And thanks to Son Volt for the Sonic Youth clip. Could I listen to that stuff (or Yoko) 24/7? No. But it’s reassuring to know people are trying to explore new ideas rather than just reiterating money-making formulas with slick dance moves.
Well Rex gave it 1 1/2 stars but it was my fastest Sunday ever with no typos so I'm happy :)
Thank you Dylan & John.
Have you heard the term "damning with faint praise?" I'm guessing you must have. Or am I overthinking your apparent troll?
So tired, so tired, so tired of the stupid dirty old man comments.
The adjectival use of “hype” comes from 80s hip-hop culture. I wouldn’t have known it then (being a kid whose parents were definitively not exposing me to hip hip-hop culture), but it was definitely still in use in the 90s and early 00s when I was in college. “This party’s so hype!” is something I definitely can hear college friends of particular cultural groups sayings.
Can we please not ever say Dr. Mom again. Jeez. So offensive.
Oh, I’ll also mention that after the controversy over B+ being considered AVERAGE in Wednesday’s puzzle, I did appreciate this puzzle calling out GRADE inflation directly.
The themers were very hit-or-miss for me today. EASTER ISLAND and SOONER STATE were good, but I agree with the BLOCK part of BUTCHER BLOCK making no sense, and I'm sure there are some windbreakers that are BOMBER than some blazers.
One Woe: I got the 34/40/46/54 block (upper-middle left) all from acrosses, and never checked the down answers. No happy music at the end, so it added about two minutes for me to figure out that the OKOK I had filled in for "Right, gothcha" should have been OHOK.
I’ve seen the complaint about the biblical names on another blog as well, but I think ENOCH and ESAU hardly count in a crossword. So ABRAHAM was the only unusual-to-see name, and as a president he’s on the top tier of well-known. I did think the clue was weird though. Presidential first name drawn from the Bible? That could be JOHN, THOMAS, JAMES, BENJAMIN, JOSEPH…
I didn't like the overlap between LAILA as an answer and LAYLA in a clue. They're two spellings of the same name.
We read that book to our kids 25 years ago but I had no recollection of the author's name.
Agree with Rex -- just a groaner all the way through. And "Amadeus" is NOT NOT NOT a biopic!!!!!! (8 down). 🙄
Awful, awful collection of horrible puns and I don’t blame Rex for hating it. However, I loved it! A super silly puzzle that must have delighted the constructor who had to know everyone would be groaning as they picked their way through it. Sustaining that level of silliness must have taken some effort. OHOK crossing UHNO was another perfect nail in the silliness coffin.
It's not necessarily referring to undergarments -the top of a 2-piece swimsuit is often called a bra.
In five minutes I knew i hated this on, so I put it in the "printer paper recycle" stack and made some pimiento cheese crackers.
Been "squeezy"ing for a long damn time, recently? per RP?
I completely agree with EVERYTHING you said about this one EXCEPT... How do you not know Ezra Jack Keats??? He's a renowned children's book author, he's on a stamp, and his books about "Peter" are classics for anyone who has ever read to a child in their life.
Thank you! I can't believe this one was unknown, of all the references to literature, this one was a gimmee!!!
Agreed. Gross.
Going in to YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING soon so it might be ~4 hrs before comments get approved again, thank you for your patience!
Average fill but I found the themers to be quite ingenious. The only questionable ones were “bomber jacket” and “hyper text”, but if kids are using those as adjectives, it’s fair game. The “butcher block” clue is pretty straightforward in my opinion. Muscle Beach is roughly a “block” within greater Venice Beach where bodybuilders flex and pose and generally act “butch.” Not obscure and not offensive, again in my opinion.
I went through the same progression you did, thinking the themers were awful but then realizing the constructor must just be being silly.
Why does a puzzle with so many half-baked gimmick answers get published?
💯
“Fingernailing the chalkboard of my soul”.
Best comment of the year. Stealing this one for sure.
@Liveprof 8:52 AM
The two lazy men poem is an instant classic. Put that in your "Best of" collection. I'm not sure what Anonymous 10:32 AM is grousing about, but I'm fine with dirty old men if they have a plan to rub-dub-dub in a tub soon.
Easy. I ambled through this one without any serious pauses. That said EFFUSES required a lot of crosses.
I did not know YASIR. I did know MCGUIRE and NATASHA.
I agree that some of puns were stretches, but I liked it more than @Rex did.
"Fingernailing the chalkboard of my soul"? I will never forget that line. Thank you Rex! You nailed it!
I was able to do finish on my own which makes it fun for me. Plus I liked the theme. That it was slightly off doesn’t bother me as much when I can puzzle out the answer. Also: The snowy day is worth knowing because it features a black child just being a child rather than providing a civil rights lesson
Same with Douthside!
Liked a speck more than Rex and on board with the theme answers that landed versus not. A bit surprised by the 1-1/2 star rating, tied for the lowest in the Ratings Era.
The puns have some wackiness (👍), but too many required a stop in the (solving) action to and say "I don't get it", "what does that mean?".
Coming here shed light on those issues, and on the whole it seemed like an ordinary, not sparkly, not hideous, typical Sunday.
Second on BOTTED, barf! But I kinda liked the UHNO/OHOK cross; if you're gonna do crappy crosswordese, *lean into it!*
Finished at the kealoa-ish SIGN/SEGNO cross. Disliked this puzzle, but less than Rex!
Well I'm a fan of silly but I like silly to make at least a little sense, and since I have never heard BOMB or HYPE used as adjectives those didn't. No aha! at all, just a huh? Don't think I'll be using either of these in conversation, as the people I talk to these days would be equally mystified.
I ran into at least three partials that gave me no help in AIS, DRM, and UVT. Usually the first three letters of a word lead somewhere, but not these. Didn't know DIANA, (have never seen The Crown), NATASHA, Ms. MCGUIRE or EZRA, although I will get a copy of The Snowy Day because reading to my grandchildren is one of my favorite things.
And hello AGUE. Nice to see you again. Hope you haven't been sick.
OK if very easy Sunday, DS and JK. I know it Did Suggest Just Kidding in its entire execution, but it didn't always land, at least for me. Thanks for a medium amount of fun.
I'm not going to say this is not crosswordese (it absolutely is) but at least it avoids UHNO crossing OHOK.
23D Remnant
34D ____ pong
35D It gives your eye its color
40A Bacchic cry
46A U.S. Commission against discrimination
54A Maximally reckless
I've never made a crossword before so be kind. But like... there's crosswordese and then there's just laziness.
I did this assuming I could not change the themer nor the long down. Mostly to prove that even those self-restrictions by the author did not have to go to UHNO and OHOK.
har. Nice range of opinions about this SunPuztheme ... from best of year candidate to worst Sunday in memory.
I thought it was definitely a funny-er puztheme. "Relatively speakin" for a SunPuz, liked it fine. yasir.
staff weeject pick: ABU. Nice little almost-no-know "kick in the side" for the solvequest, at our house.
Them 10 themers gobbled up a lotta the longball space, evidently. Did have a few leftover faves: LETSROLL. BEATSME. Sneaky TEACH clue. JOLENE [Hello, Dolly!].
Thanx for gangin up on us, Mr. Schiff & Kugelman dudes. Which one of U guys is the OLDERBUDWEISER?
Masked & Anonymo11Us
p.s.
Runt puzzle:
**gruntz**
M&A
I definitely chuckled at buffer zone.
The thing about Sunday puzzles is, they're so big it's often a real slog to get through them. And because they're so big, they need a lot of theme answers, so we get a few groaners. If you took the best 4 themers (eg LIGHTER FLUID) and made a normal 15 wide grid it could have been pretty great!
Looking at --MBERJACKET, all I could think was LUMBERJACKET! Not a word (had lumberjack on the brain).
You ever not enjoy a puzzle so much that you don't even bother to see whether the themers work/make sense
This lovely book, published in 1962, was one of the first children’s picture books with a child of color as the main character. I read it to my children 50 years ago - and funny thing, I don’t recall noticing this.
C'mon guys, these are just whacky, that's all. I love the bookends of HYPERTEXT and LITTERBUG.... just light and silly : ) Thanks, John and Dylan, I enjoyed this just fine : )
The Snowy Day, published in 1962, was notable for being one of the first children’s picture books to feature a child of color. I read it to my kids 50 years ago and never made note of that. It was just a lovely book.
I agree with Rex, that puzzle sucked, was absolutely painfully horrendous. But it was nothing compared to that Yoko Ono 'song'. I'll probably never recover from that.
The failure to understand any of the theme clues and answers is exclusively mine. Thank heavens tomorrow offers a Monday puzzle.
Amen!
Me too!!
Rather on the easier side today, at 58 percent of my average, and my average is back under my 10-minute milestone. (I guess this is the first time it's been strictly under it.)
The theme is pleasant enough, but I agree that the clue for BUTCHER BLOCK is a bit off. It doesn't seem like it would be that hard to fix by taking it off the beach and into a city somehow. (Might make the clue too long, I suppose.)
I would write "slew" for SLUE. Are they the same word with two different spellings? Yes, apparently it is.
Errors: THAI, briefly, for LAOS. PEWS for NAVE. MACDUFF (!) for MCGUIRE. CAIN for ESAU. Pretty clean.
This puzzle. In the immortal words of Wicked: “Loathing. Unadulterated loathing… let’s just say, ‘I loathe it all,’ every little trait however small makes my very skin begin to crawl…though I do admit it came on fast, still I do believe that it can last, and I will be loathing, loathing you my whole life long.”
dmsilev
About butch The meaning the answer was going for seems to be hyper masculine. So a muscle beach would be more masculine. But of course that is not how the word is usually used these day Buffer as someone said works perfectly for the clue. I suppose they felt it was close enough for crosswords.
Interestingly, uma Thurman is from Amherst. Her father was a professor at Amherst College when she was growing up.
Bob Swidler
1 1/2 is low. for Rex. And if you read the comments, many liked it. Matter of opinion.
L. E. Case.
When I saw the DRMOM answer I thought Rex would say something about it. I also thought it would never be dad which is the point you are raising. But cultural traditions like this are very strong and very hard to change. So it didn’t surprise me.
Ciclista21
FWIW Shortz has no rule against dupes in general. (except usually no dupes in the same clue/answer) Rex said they have become so frequent he stopped complaining unless they are “egregious “. For Shortz this is a minor dupe.
Personally, they don’t bother me.
M & A noticed it Range of reactions from “worst ever “ to “candidate for best of the year “. (A rare recent comment by Nancy) Apparently, Rex never has gone below his rating today. I liked the puzzle.
I agree it was on the easy side. I actually thought the themers made the puzzle much easier. All I had to look for was common phrases with er in them. Anyway, I thought they mostly worked ( after bomb was explained to me here). I thought in contemporary language butch doesn’t work but as I said maybe close enough for crosswords.
My favorite was EASTER.
Do you mean "cis"?
This one was thematically right up my “I love well crafted silly punny puzzles that make me smile, chuckle or laugh.” There’s always a “but” looming out there in “Possible Land,” and today the but fits. As OFL mentions, a few themers really hit, but not all. In fact, not most of them. And yet, I enjoyed the theme concept and applaud with a giant “Bravo!” the effort our two very able constructors expended to create so many theme entries. Creative minds in overdrive.
Alas, the overdrive overdid. LITTER BUG, OLIVER STONE, LIGHTER FLUID, and SHUTTER FLY would have made a dandy Wednesday puzzle. Maybe even BUFFER ZONE. the remainder simply tried too hard and contributed to the inevitable Sunday Slog. That’s the point at which I have figured out the theme, enjoyed what’s enjoyable and am simply ready to move on - and I’m a solver who really enjoys a great big fat exceptional Sunday “all day sucker” of a puzzle. (Probably making me the all day sucker).
Fill was all doable and the crosses helped with names and the SE corner where HYPERTEXT slowed me down. Other than that, smooth sailing and a couple good chuckles today. I appreciated the chuckles. Been a tough couple of weeks out here.
I agree that this was overall not great, but I'm nearly 50 (albeit with a lot of elder millennial friends) and have heard both "this [thing] is bomb" and "I am so hype," so technically both of those work as adjectives.
I’m 34, and the use of HYPE as an adjective, as in a TEXT that is HYPER than some other text, made clear sense to me.
First, no, what you are hearing is “that thing is THE (or DA) bomb” and “I’m so hypeD.” Second, even if bomb made sense as an adj, how in the world is a blazer more “bomb” than a windbreaker? The blazer could be ugly as shit and the windbreaker really nice. The comparison makes no sense.
Stupid comment. I read to my kids a lot and I’ve never heard of this author or his “Peter” books. It is possible to recommend a book w/o sounding like a pompous ass. Try it next time!
The only thing I disagree with is that Ezra Jack Keats was awesome (check his work out, srsly). Oh, and perhaps that 1 1/2 stars is a bit of 119A.
Fourteen minutes of my life I'll never get back. But, as ever, looking forward to the next one!
@Nancy 10:14 AM
Hi Nancy! 🙋🏻♂️
Disagree on TEACH. Universities have Colleges of Letters and Sciences, and so on. I think it means much more than learning the alphabet. Found it to be a clever clue.
Bra straps cause tan lines? Only if you sunbathe in your underwear. Maybe “bikini straps might cause them” would have made sense.
That diss did hurt
Of course men are fine with dirty old men. But women are forced to read this- the sun’s not even up yet :/
My wife got her very first UV TATTOO on Saturday, and until then I had never heard of one. The UV bits are just accents on one of her existing tats. They're fun!
Agree. Hated this puzzle.
Except none of the options you listed have seven letters… Did you forget this was a crossword? Most certainly and literally could not have been any of those.
Yeah, I too thought “letters” was well understood to be beyond teaching the alphabet. My major was part of the college of letters and sciences, and I certainly wasn’t learning the alphabet for half of that. lol
I thought the Muscle Beach worked because it’s a “block” of Venice Beach. And it’s def the butcher block lol. The rest of Venice is hippies and skateboarders. (Who can also be butch, but hard to be as butch as Muscle Beach)
A good number of women wear bras on the daily as an undergarment that serves a practical purpose. We don’t need to hear how a visible strap might cause your erections. (Yes, apparently you, too, Gary, since you are co-signing with Liveprof’s dumbass premise.)
That’s why the clue does work. Muscle Beach is the “butcher” block of Venice Beach.
Agreed!
@Anonymous 8:28 PM that is totally wrong. Nobody has said “da bomb” or even “the bomb” since 1999-2000. It absolutely became “bomb”. As in, “This sushi is bomb!” You’d be laughed at and mocked by even people in their 30s if you were say “THE bomb” now.
Same with hype. Sure, you can still be “hyped” but “hype” is absolutely an adjective. “This set is hype!”
Signed, also almost 50 in CA
When I learned ancient Greek at 18, the teacher covered letters (there are other alphabets!). So yes, there are other contexts, the clue is fine as is.
Hated this puzzle. No pizzazz at all in the theme answers. So I'm with Rex. But Rex should know the book "The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats, a classic children's story, an important book in integrating the kids book world of the early 1960's, well known, and still a delight. https://www.ejkf.org/ezras-books-the-snowy-day/
Late to comment, but here’s the bottom line to all of you out there dreaming up puzzles…don’t try be so “clever” and convoluted with your clues/answers that you ruin the fun of doing them. It’s a fine line but this was a perfect example of what not to do.
I found it a terrible puzzle. Neither Oahu nor Maui is an Easter island nor is Delaware the sooner state. AND hypertext is not as described. It is, https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/websites-apps/what-is-hypertext/“ it’s just plain wrong.
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