Eli Cotham’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap
NY Times crossword solution, 7/13/24 – no. 0713
Hey, what’s up with a Friday difficulty level for a Saturday puzzle?
Fave fill: WPA MURALS (though I think the mural in my local post office wasn’t funded by the WPA), MAHERSHALA ALI, the bowling classic SEVEN-TEN SPLIT (though probably these should be numerals rather than spelled-out numbers), GOSSIPY, “YEAH, SURE,” HAIR METAL, REVEILLES (my high school newspaper bore the implausible name The Reveiller), LEMON LAWS, “I’LL SHUT UP.”
I’m not entirely sold on “IT’S A SETUP,” TONY NOD, “LIKE HELL I WILL,” “TASTE THIS,” and NO RAIN. I’m absolutely opposed to “AH ME.”
Did not know: 25d. [Nickname for hoops great Isiah Thomas], ZEKE. They called me Zeke in college so I can’t believe I didn’t know this.
3.5 stars from me. Onward into the weekend!
Paul Coulter’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Playback” — benchen71, filling in for pannonica
WSJ crossword solution · “Playback” · Paul Coulter · Sat., 7.13.24
This is my first Fiend write-up of a non-meta puzzle (I live and breathe metas; I’m the constructor responsible for MOAT on xword-muggles) so I probably won’t be as thorough as pannonica usually is. I should also note that I am not a huge fan of 21×21 grids: I feel like they can be more work than fun. Well, let’s see how this one goes…
The puzzle title is “Playback”, so (before starting the solve) I am assuming that themers will involve words going backwards. But after opening the puzzle I see there are five down entries that have been marked, so maybe the direction will also be upwards?
It turns out there are five themers and one revealer:
- 23a. [Whatever] ANYTHING[AT]ALL.
- 29a. [Continue working hard on] HAMMER[AW]AYAT.
- 50a. [Noncommittal behavior] FENCES[TRAD]DLING.
- 67a. [Belabor an issue that’s already been decided] F[LOG]ADEADHORSE.
- 99a. [Predator of tropical seas] WHITET[IPS]HARK.
- 107aR. [“Your secret plan ends now!” (and a hint to the circled letters)] THEGAMEISUP.
I was onto the theme after dealing with the first marked down entry that I came to: the across themer also includes the marked down entry, which is itself a game that can be played going upwards:
- 24d. [Gangster’s gun] GAT = TAG.
- 30d. [Cold and wet] RAW = WAR.
- 61d. [Fancy fiddle] STRAD = DARTS.
- 67d. [Promote heavily] FLOG = GOLF.
- 100d. [What comes to those who wait] TIPS = SPIT.
In the end, this was a fun theme: I enjoyed anticipating what game was going to “come up” next (pun intended!) As for the fill, there were a few entries for which I had absolutely no idea, but with friendlier crosses I never had to resort to Google. (That said, I use an app that indicates errors, which helps a bit.) Clues of note:
- 2d. [Male person, biblically] SONOFADAM. I would have expected a clue involving “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”.
- 6a. [Site of some sweaters] SPA. Sauna, absolutely. But a spa?
- 17a. [Price and Pons, e.g.] SOPRANI. I have absolutely no idea what this clue is referring to. Presumably opera singers; but I’d like it to be characters in “The Sopranos”!
- 33a. [Homes for many commuters] BURBS. Should there be an abbreviation indicator in this clue? Or has this abbreviation become its own thing, now?
- 38a. [Hit a buzzer, maybe] SWAT. This clue made me smile.
- 85d. [Literally, “empty orchestra”] KARAOKE. I did not know this; thanks, Paul, for filling in this lacuna in my etymological knowledge.
- 100d. [What comes to those who wait] TIPS. My initial thought was “all good things”, but that was never going to fit!
Ricky Sirois’s Los Angeles Times crossword — Stella’s write-up
Los Angeles Times 7/13/24 by Ricky Sirois
I can’t quite put my finger on why I wasn’t into this puzzle. Maybe it’s that there are only three entries of 10 letters or longer: BOONDOGGLE, which is fun, BUCCANEERS, which is OK (and only somewhat lifted by the punny sportsball clue of [Brady bunch, once]), and LONG HAUL TRUCKER, which I didn’t find interesting at all. Bits of crosswordese like IS OK, ORRIS, PAH without the OOM, SO RARE, CSN, and UNC having to be clued as a shortening of UNCLE since cluing it with reference to the University of North Carolina would have meant two U. answers in the puzzle with UCLA at 33A.
I hate being such a downer so here are some things I did like:
- 1A [Part of the healing process] feels like a fresh angle for SCAB.
- 1D [Soup strainer, informally] is ‘STACHE. I had not heard of “soup strainer” as slang for a mustache, but it makes total sense!
- 8D [Flightless bird in “Up”] is KEVIN. I am a sucker for animals with people names. Especially animals named KEVIN. A former client of mine at my day job had an adorable fluffy dog named Kevin whom we would ask for on video calls sometimes. Made the lockdown era a lot more bearable!
- 10D LIFE HACK is a modern usage that doesn’t feel overused in crosswords yet.
- 57D HOAs are so commonplace in modern life that I think this entry should be in puzzles more than it is. Check out this subreddit for lots of HOA horror stories.
Anna Stiga’s Newsday crossword – “Saturday Stumper” —Derek’s recap
Newsday – July 13. 2024
Man, it has been a MINUTE since I blogged a Stumper puzzle! Solved this one on the Puzzle Society site, so I hope it is the correct puzzle! Time was 13:50 while leisurely watching the women’s doubles final at Wimbledon. If I recall correctly, “Anna Stiga” is one of Stan Newman’s pen names (anagram of STAN AGAIN), but he hasn’t lost his touch! Another stellar puzzle from one of the masters. 4.2 stars from me.
Just a few notes:
- 14A [It’s Amsterdam north of 59th St.] TENTH AVE. – TENTHAVE?? I thought this was a Dutch word!
- 18A [Our Children Magazine publisher] PTA – This could have been PBS. Is this a national magazine? All new to me.
- 28A [Fancy word for “#”] OCTOTHORP – This one I actually knew~
- 31A – [Name seen above Burglar and Innocent] SUE – No idea what this is referring to. Will be checking the comments!
- 1D – [Certain co-ruler] PENTARCH – One of five rulers, I presume? New word to me!
- 26D [7 1/2 minutes on a pony] CHUKKER – This is a polo reference. For some reason I had it spelled wrong. Oh wait! I know the reason: I DON’T PLAY POLO!
- 44D [Pole vaults have them] ZLOTYS – Best clue in the puzzle, hands down. Bravo!
Until next time!
NYT: I’ve enjoyed MAHERSHALA ALI’s performances in “Moonlight” and “House of Cards,” so that answer was a gimme. Too bad I mistyped it and made the Tibetan ethnic group the HHERPA (which sounds like an unfortunate medical condition).
I made several semi-educated guesses with COPA and ANTZ, then lost a bit of time to Yeah SURE.
The NX of SPANX looked wrong, and I misunderstood the “Bra-llelujah” clue, thinking it had something to do with brahs.
Fun puzzle that I found a good bit easier than yesterday’s.
@Eric H, you HHERPA medical condition cracked me up– like multiple episodes of Herpes turn into Hherpa.
The SW corner was hardest for me, and I had to sleep on it, and then cheat to complete IMPALA so I could finish. But it seemed like a good Saturday overall.
And now I’m wondering how Amy ever became ZEKE…
I had TONY NOM not NOD at first. But I liked LIKE HELL I WILL as an answer. NOLITA was pretty much impossible for me without the crosses; I had to google it to figure out what neighborhood it’s supposed to be (north of little Italy…). It was a bit disconnected with the narrow passes, so NE was the last for me.
The problem with NOLITA is that it’s a “neighborhood” that was invented by real estate agents literally 100 years after the date cited in the clue. Nobody was saying “Hey let’s grab a slice in NOLITA” in 1905.
I’m glad to hear this, as I was sure this had to be “Little Italy” which obviously didn’t fit. Never heard of NOLITA.
But I loved both I’LL SHUT UP and LIKE HELL I WILL, both apparently NYTXW debut answers, and totally in-the-language.
Like Amy, I thought this was a Friday-level challenge (but not yesterday’s level, because yesterday’s puzzle was way easy for a Friday).
I found it mostly easy but finished with an error that took a long time to track down. I had ANTS as the movie title, giving SEKE as the nickname — which seemed strange, but I know next to nothing about basketball. Eventually I figured the problem out…
People have by now mentioned most of what kept me from finishing, especially in the north half. I’d never have got the central long actor in a million years. And yeah, Christopher Smith nailed Nolita. I still refuse to use it. (Hesitation with Noho’s capitalization on Soho, too, or newcomers harking back to Hell’s Kitchen after decades of residents trying to shed the bad associations in favor of Clinton. Or much newer claims for “Rose Hill,” which isn’t even in the least hilly.)
John have you seen Moonlight? it’s really good, i’ve been meaning to rewatch
I apparently found today’s puzzle a bit harder than yesterday’s— maybe the stacked entries across the middle and the little tough spot at the center-left. A nice puzzle.
NYT – I feel stupid. Can someone explain DELE to me for “Take-out order?”?
Opposite of STET in proofreader-speak.
Thank you.
Stumper: What does 31A refer to?
Sue Grafton: “B is for Burglar,” “I is for Innocent”
Thanks! I was not getting that — and I loved Sue Grafton’s books and read every one of them. I was thinking movies.
Another Stumper stumper: 57D. I don’t get it. Can anyone enlighten me?
Same here — all I can think of is that TNT can stand trinitrotoluene, which has an ending of “ene,” but I’m not sure how that is “upsot.”
Oops! “Upshot.”
Pretty sure that’s it. “Upshot” meaning “ending” sounds very Anna Stiga.
That possibility crossed my mind, but I thought, nah, even the Stumper wouldn’t go for that. I guess I misunderestimated Stan.
You and me both!
“Upshot” doesn’t mean ending to me. (Grumble!)
**NOTE FROM AMY: Ah, so this is what AI looks like. I deleted the URL the bot was hoping to plant here to boost its SEO, and approved the comment because it amuses me that anyone would instruct AI to review the puzzle reviews and offer a pointless summary. Blogging the blog!**
It seems like the puzzles reviewed had some interesting highlights and a few mixed opinions. For Eli Cotham’s New York Times crossword, there was appreciation for specific entries like WPA MURALS and MAHERSHALA ALI, but some reservations about certain phrases like “IT’S A SETUP” and “AH ME.” The overall rating was 3.5 stars, suggesting a decent but not exceptional experience.
Paul Coulter’s Wall Street Journal crossword featured a theme around words that could be played upwards and included some challenging fill like SONOFADAM and KARAOKE, with overall enjoyment of the thematic concept despite the puzzle’s larger grid size.
Ricky Sirois’s Los Angeles Times crossword received mixed feedback, with some highlights such as fresh clues like ‘STACHE for “Soup strainer” and KEVIN from “Up,” but also criticism for crosswordese and less engaging longer entries like LONG HAUL TRUCKER.
Overall, each puzzle seems to have offered unique challenges and enjoyable moments, albeit with varying degrees of success in terms of fill and theme execution.
Amy: I indeed found your re-post of this to be enlightening (now I’m trying not to sound like an AI myself!). It is amazing what these guys try to get away with.
This reads just like an Amazon “Customers say” review summary. Hilarious!
NYT was fairly easy today. I solved it more quickly than I did yesterday’s.
Wsj unavailable to download puz file today and not downloading via Shortyz crossword app (which, apparently, is no longer available for download, at least for Android devices). Bummer as I’m flying today. Downloaded the PDF for solving later, likely tomorrow.
puz file is there now.
Great! TY
If anyone else is baffled by 46-Down in the LA Times, “Takes over”: TAGSIN is lingo from tag-team wrestling: https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/tag+in
I’m not seeing the grid/review for the Stumper — did that disappear?
Now it’s there.
We’ve had quite a streak now of themers that dip in the middle, using a down answer, before completing. It’s allowed for distinct themes. The WSJ, though, has the extra twist that the corresponding down answers, read up, are words with something in common, too. (One also falls at the start of a word, maybe a tad inconsistent, but no big deal.) In fact, playfully enough, they’re games. I thought that was a nice way of adding to the past puzzle type.
My last to fall was the SW corner, with LHASA (a bit of geography I’d forgotten), ASHE, a kind of shark, remembering back to who won the World Series in 2019, and AW MAN (where I started with C’MON, the wrong number of letters, and looked for ways to adjust). Maybe that’s fair grounds for complaint, but still an interesting puzzle.