Zhouqin Burnikel’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap
NY Times crossword solution, 10/4/24 – no. 1004
Is it me or is it editor Joel? Because I used to solve Friday NYTs in the neighborhood of 4 1/2 to 5 minutes, and there sure have been a lot of 7+-minute Friday solves for me this year. I love tough themelesses, but it helps to sync up expectations and reality. I wonder if the NYT’s data shows that fewer people are finishing Friday puzzles and that the average solving times are longer.
At any rate, I was pleased to see Zhouqin’s byline! Fave fill: PINOT NOIR, HIDEY-HOLE, ENIGMAS, LGBTQIA, GEN Y (aka Millennials), “INITIAL HERE,” HITS A SNAG, DREAM GIRL, BONUS ISSUES. And POORI, it’s delicious! And AESOP, I love their spendy hand soap.
New to me:
- 56d. [Liu regarded as China’s first supermodel], WEN. Here’s her Wiki. Her Instagram’s got 6 million followers.
- 15d. [So-called “explosion shot” from a sand trap], BLAST. I’m not up on my golf terminology but I think Zhouqin golfs? There’s also some baseball in the mix.
- 11d. [Long lunch?], ITALIAN HERO. The sandwiches aren’t called heros here. “Italian sub” sounds perfectly normal to me, though.
This week I watched the Netflix 6-episode show The Perfect Couple, and indeed, an HEIR is a [Common suspect in a murder mystery]. This story centered on a wealthy Nantucket family with plenty of heirs, and it’s a murder mystery. Entertaining show, and you can knock it out in 6 hours.
3.75 stars from me.
Great to see a CC puzzle. Liked it a lot. I thought pretty easy for a Friday until the SE corner. Had GENY but because of the clue read it not as Gen Y but Genie. Am not one of WEN’s 6 million followers (shame on me) and spelled AU NATUREL with an A rather than an E. On balance quite a mess. Loved LQBTQIA crossing with the slightly quainter DREAMGIRL.
Fun Friday despite my mishaps.