Margi Stevenson’s New York Times crossword — Sophia’s write-up
Happy July everyone! And happy NYT debut to Margi!
New York Times, 07 01 2024, By Margi Stevenson
Today’s theme has a different type of “right” in each theme answer:
- 15a [Author on behalf of someone else] – GHOSTWRITE
- 21a [Bat mitzvah, for example] – RELIGIOUS RITE
- 45a [One half of a noted aviation team] – ORVILLE WRIGHT
- 55a [Straight to the point … or, homophonically, what this answer is relative to this puzzle?] – FORTHRIGHT
So FORTHRIGHT is literally the “fourth right” in the puzzle. Pretty clever! I also liked how each “right” was literally on the “right” side of the answer. GHOSTWRITE is my favorite; it’s such an evocative term.
I had a slow start in this puzzle right off the bat, putting in “lmao” instead of ROFL for [“That’s hilarious!,” in text shorthand] and “port” instead of ISLE for [Cruise stopover]. (Side note, between ROFL and FTW, this puzzle had more early internet slang than I’ve seen in a while). Once I got going, though, everything fell smoothly. And aside from a glue-y TSLOT and ENE, the fill is overall very nice.
Fill highlights today include SKINTIGHT, FLOOR MATS, NAME ONE, and CONTESSA. I loved the two clues [Park place?] for GARAGE and [Mark of literary distinction] for TWAIN, which both felt appropriately tricky for a Monday. I thought it was funny that the clue [Michelin product] for TIRES crossed the word STARS, another Michelin-related thing. I have never heard of THEO Von and needed every cross for that answer, but my family cat’s name is Theo so I’m always happy to see that name in the puzzle.
Doug Peterson’s Los Angeles Times crossword — Stella’s write-up
Los Angeles Times 7/1/24 by Doug Peterson
The theme here is pretty self-explanatory, since it’s in the clues — there’s a way to “see stars” in each of the theme entries:
- 17A [Where to see stars on an app] is a YELP REVIEW.
- 30A [Where to see stars after a blow] is a BOXING MATCH. This is the theme entry you probably shouldn’t try in real life. At least, don’t try to get to the point where you’re seeing stars.
- 47A [Where to see stars under a dome] is a PLANETARIUM.
- 65A [Where to see stars in Hollywood] is the WALK OF FAME. Here’s who will be added to the Walk next year. You mean Prince didn’t have a star already?!
Paul Leistra’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Neighborly Talk”—Jim’s review
Theme answers are familiar phrases that have been punnily altered to Canada-speak. Each one originally ended with “day” but now ends with the stereotypical “eh?” The revealer is CANADA DAY (35a, [July 1, as honored humorously by this puzzle]).
Wall St Journal crossword solution · “Neighborly Talk” · Paul Leistra · Mon., 7.1.24
- 17a. [“So only a single person was ticketed?”] ONE FINED, EH? One fine day.
- 24a. [“Delicious, right? I’ve not cooked it like this before.”] GOOD FRIED, EH? Good Friday.
- 49a. [“So she was a farmer?”] HAD A FIELD, EH? Had a field day.
- 58a. [“Um, okay…. Not sure you needed to show me that pic.”] IT’S A NUDE, EH? It’s a new day.
Cute. I like the wordplay, and I enjoyed trying to parse these out. That said, some of these were a little awkward (like the first one—who would say that?) or the clues weren’t quite on target (like the last one—doesn’t hint at nudity). But on the whole, I enjoyed the theme. (So much so that I tried to make the revealer a theme answer: CANADAD, EH?)
Fill highlights include LONG CON, “GET A LIFE!”, “AMUSE ME,” and “SAVE ME.”
Clues of note:
- 48a. [Sticks in the fridge]. COOLS. You thought this was going to be about butter, right?
- 54a. [“___ Only Just Begun”]. WE’VE. Carpenters ear worm, anyone?
Nice puzzle, eh? 3.5 stars.
Chandi Deitmer’s New Yorker crossword, “Uncharted territories”—Amy’s recap
New Yorker crossword solution, 7/1/24 – “Uncharted territories”
I typically grouse when a coveted “tough themeless on a Monday” gets replaced with a themed puzzle, but Chandi’s rebus puzzle posed plenty of challenge and I liked unraveling the unclued answers hiding in the rebus squares. The “Uncharted territories” in the title are EL DORADO, BRIGADOON, SHANGRI-LA, and ATLANTIS, running down through the rebus squares beside the clued answers. For example, 11d is [Memorable jaunts for some Apollo astronauts], MOONWALKS—with BRIGADOON alongside so that the Acrosses all make sense with rebus squares in place. MAIL IT IN pairs with EL DORADO, HACKATHON with SHANGRI-LA, and VEGEMITE with ATLANTIS. Elegantly wrought, challenging, and possessing alarmingly smooth fill for a puzzle with 34 rebus squares.
Fave fill: HULLABALOO, TO NO AVAIL, “HOT IN HERRE.” New to me: 10d. [“Later, gator!”], “I’M OUTIE!”
4.5 stars from me for this finely crafted puzzle.
Doug Peterson’s July 1, 2024 Los Angeles Times crossword puzzle is a real find for puzzle lovers. The theme “see the stars” runs through all the clues, offering original and interesting solutions. In each of the 40 word definitions, Peterson skillfully weaves in a way that allows you to “see the stars,” which adds intrigue and fun to the solving process. This crossword puzzle is not only entertaining but also intellectually stimulating, making it a must-have for all fans of the genre.
Are you, like, Doug Peterson, maybe?
Lol!
Actually, I suspect it’s a spam comment, but it was so *specific* that I approved it after deleting the commercial URL attached to the comment.
“A must-have for all fans of the genre” … which genre might that be?
You know, the genre!
I assume it’s an AI-generated comment (“40 word definitions”?), but I’m not sure why it keyed in on my puzzle.
NYT theme was cute; the NW corner was a tough start, and I first had GHOSTWROTE rather than WRITE because the clue sounded past tense to me, but other than that initial misstep, it all went smoothly. Great Monday.
I found the NYT easy but fun. When I got to “Bar mitzvah,” I immediately typed in RITE. The biggest challenge may have been deciding (without actually counting) which square to start WRIGHT in.
I missed the FORTH/FOuRTH pun, possibly because I was solving quickly.
Really nice debut.
I caught on to the idea (differently spelled write/right/wright) when I got to the Bar Mitzvah, after ghost write… BUT… Rite of passage fits there too :D and I didn’t grok on the rite being the second word … so that held me up for a few minutes. Otherwise, smooth and reasonably easy solve, nice for a Monday.
Kudos on the debut!
I agree — nice debut with a good theme and revealer. But is ODOR, in crosswordland, now specifically defined as a “foul smell”? I guess a nice smell has to be an aroma…
nyt: @David L – Wasn’t there a similar comment a while back? (i.e., “isn’t ODOR nonpejorative?”) Anyway, pannonica’s write-up here alludes to this weird/common phenomenon, as well: https://crosswordfiend.com/2024/02/19/tuesday-february-20-2024/
Since it has felt like the majority of nyt ODOR clues just make it synonymous with STINK (instead of SCENT), I decided to nerd-out with xwordinfo. It was clued as [Stink] on Feb. 1, 1994, i.e., early Shortz era. Previous to 1994, the closest to an implication of STINK were clues about skunks, e.g., [Skunk’s defense].
FYI: Common “Modern Era” clues include: Scent (20), Skunk’s defense (12), Stench (10), Stink (8), Repute (8), Smell (7), and What the nose knows (6)
Oh, and terrific Monday puzzle, I thought. Clean theme; good fill; fun/easy clues; quick solve. Nice debut, Margi!!!
This is a longstanding peeve of mine.
Well, B.O. body odor is never a GOOD smell 😄
Really? Some of my fondest memories of women I’ve been intimate with is their smell. The smell of a baby is absolutely delicious!
That’s not what most people associate with the term BO. We’re talking funky undeodorized nervous sweat smell here, not clean baby smell or sexy smell.
WSJ:
To turn the revealer into a Canada Day themer, you could go with something like:
“You want me to fire that one guy who’s not working out?”: CAN A DUD, EH?
TNY was clever but slow because of all those rebus squares. I never noticed IMOUTIE because I got it from crosses.
When I finished I got a message saying something was wrong, but I couldn’t find a problem. I thought it might be HOTINHERRE, with its strange double R, but the crosses were obviously correct. So I hit ‘reveal’ and was presented, as far as I could tell, with exactly the same grid. Oh well.
[Grumble] I knew the New Yorker was a rebus, but as far as I can tell, there’s no way to enter double letters when you do the New Yorker on an iPhone.
Just did it on my iPhone. There’s an R button above the grid.
TNY: Much rebus fun like the other day’s “stuffed crust pizza”. Yes, that many rebuses can get onerous, but the payoff for me was worth it…
I remember “I’m outie” from the movie “Clueless”, but Mental Floss says its been around since the ’70s. And yes, some sources say they are saying “I’m Audi” which doesn’t make sense to me, but I’ll believe it when the screenwriter says so.
Anyway, great fun and those Uncharted Territories were a great bonus! Took me a while to see them, so the Aha was very satisfying when it hit.
Great puzzle. Interesting, original theme and still hard, in part owing to have to make sense of all those extra layers. As an extra treat, the theme revealed itself in stages: too many letters so a rebus may be required, so many letters that we really need a very special accommodation, finding or guessing they’ll line up in long column entries but not making the expected sense coming down, and finally aha! But no, I wasn’t sure I’d got it with this use of “outie.”
New Yorker: It’s impressive construction that I didn’t fully enjoy. I saw a spoiler here alerting me to rebuses, but they were pretty obvious anyway.
I failed to read (or maybe just failed to remember) the title, so even when I had the VEGEMITE/ATLANTIS column, I had no idea how ATLANTIS fit the clue. It didn’t help that there I had some unknowns like two “Parks and Recreation “ characters, the “Three Sisters” character and I’M OUTIE (ugh).
Even with one letter per square, I find it difficult to read top to bottom — even though I know 6D has MAIL IT IN, trying to parse that just gives me eyestrain.
I wish I had enjoyed it more.
Don’t pull a stunt like this again. I’m going to want this time back someday when I’m on my deathbed.
Too difficult for mere mortals