Billy Bratton’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap
NY Times crossword solution, 10/11/24 – no. 1011
There’s a lot of terrific fill here, and then there’s also a 10-letter entry that I’ve been seeing too much in the last couple years and it’s not really an idiomatic, stand-alone phrase, is it? Who is rushing into places shouting “AM I TOO LATE?” I’m picturing Kool-Aid Man crashing through the wall and asking this. No. I’d love for constructors to give it the boot from their wordlists, or at least downgrade it significantly. /soapbox
Fave fill: PAVE THE WAY, CON ARTISTS, EDGELORD (modern word for a very particular sort of asshat), BATWOMAN, RAIN BARREL, SILENT MODE, “YOU NAME IT,” SECRET MENU, WASTED POTENTIAL, hockey SIN BIN, OUTKAST, JELL-O SHOTS, “I’M SERIOUS,” and GOES DEEP. A lively batch of vocab here.
I’ve tried VINING and/or VINY in the NYT Spelling Bee and it’s been rejected, but you know what? Both vine as a verb and VINY as an adjective are in Merriam-Webster.
Three more things:
- 19a. [Island home of a goat known as the kri-kri], CRETE. Never heard of this long-horned goat before, but this Greek guy tells us on Insta that unfortunately kri-kri populations are down owing to hunting.
- 28a. [High 90s, say], A PLUS. Say what? I think if you get a 98 or 99, that’s just an A. Can any teachers weigh in here?
- 32a. [“The ___ of the System” (David Foster Wallace’s first novel)], BROOM. What an odd title. I’ve never read any DFW, nor flown to DFW.
Four stars from me.
Zhouqin Burnikel’s Universal crossword, “Bowl Cut”—Jim’s review
Theme answers are familiar phrases whose outer letters spell out (thanks to the circled squares) one of the NCAA College Football Bowl Games.
Universal crossword solution · “Bowl Cut” · Zhouqin Burnikel · Fri., 10.11.24
- 16a. [It’s pressed to mute a mic (In this answer, note the first 2 letters + the last 4)] COUGH BUTTON. Cotton Bowl.
- 35a. [Cold symptom (… first letter + the last 3 letters)] RUNNY NOSE. Rose Bowl.
- 40a. [Place for cattle to roam (… first letter + the last 5 letters)] OPEN RANGE. Orange Bowl.
- 61a. [Where anyone can build a sandcastle (… first letter + the last 4 letters)] PUBLIC BEACH. Peach Bowl.
Nice enough theme, especially if you’re into college football. If not, well, it’s still a pleasant solve. I don’t think the Peach Bowl is as big of a game as the others, but it makes for a good theme entry. At least we’re not trying to force the Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl into a theme answer.
Of course the highlights of the fill are the long Downs: COUNT TO TEN, TOTEM POLES, GINSENG, RING POP, and LEGO ART.
Clues of note:
- 4d. [Works done with toy bricks]. LEGO ART. Did you know you can purchase and build your own “Starry Night.”
- 9d. [Court fine]. PENALTY. I can’t tell if this clue is aimed at the legal profession or basketball. I guess it works for both.
Enjoyable solve, if you’re fortunate enough to have circles in your grid that is. 3.75 stars.
Enjoyable NYT, pitched at the right level of difficulty. Entertaining clues and fill.
I liked it too. Nice mix of fill and clues, with some that held me up for a bit, but not too hard overall. VINY is the only word that made me scowl slightly.
Me. too, although I didn’t care for VINY and didn’t know OVERLORD (or, for that matter, “asshat”).
NYT: In my experience, grades are in ranges of ten (eleven for A). A = 90-100, B = 80-89, C = 70-79, D = 60 – 69, F < 60. Each grade is split into – and +: A- = 90-92, A = 93-96, A+ = 97-100, B- = 80-82, B = 83-86, B+ = 87-89, and so on.
If 98 and 99 were just an A that would only leave 100+ as A+. So what would B+ be? 90+? That's in the A range.
When I was teaching I used only letter grades, no plus or minus. How are they figured into a grade point average? KISS!
27 year teacher and my A+ cutoff has varied through the years. Currently it is anything 95 or higher but previously I only gave A+ for over 100. I think there’s probably 20 different cutoff points used by teachers at my campus and a bunch of teachers that never give A+ grades.
NYT: I had a couple mistakes. EDGELORD new to me. Disappointed I missed CONARTISTS (had CAD, CGI) since I am a pyramid scam wonk — always fascinated people still fall for these!
Solid Friday, despite my miscues (had VIII instead of the ugly VINY)
Oh, we have the Starry Night lego set. Our son wanted it after seeing it at MOMA (both the painting and the kit for sale); he put together, and it’s a really fun one. Even includes a little Van Gogh minifig with a paintbrush and a lego copy of the canvas.
“Our son wanted it…” Sure, sure, Dallas. (Not you.) ;-)
(Just good-natured teasing here!)
I learned today that there is a film with major Oscar buzz due to be released next week called ANORA. With those letters, we may as well start learning it now. AM I TOO LATE to break this news?
Ooh! I hadn’t heard of the movie. Just watched the trailer. Those are some good letters in the title!
Amy- this blog got a shoutout in today’s Slate crossword (14A).
Thanks, Dan! Ben Zimmer is a good egg.
Say hi to R. for me!
I rated the NYT puzzle last night. Now, it looks like I haven’t rated it. I don’t want to rate it again if the rating system is already counting my rating.
Anyone else notice this?
WSJ: Despite not being a big fan of “professional sports team(s),” this meta was very easy.
Which was nice, because I’ve failed to solve every other meta I’ve tried in the last few weeks.
NYT: An enjoyable solve, perhaps a bit on the easy side for a Friday.