Tag Archives: Brad Wilber

NYT Crossword Puzzle 7-28-21 Complete (contains spoilers)

I pulled out 14A Cookie that has been deemed kosher since 1997: OREO because I remember when this happened. I’d grown up eating Hydrox, the cookie that Oreo copied and that helped nationally recognized kosher symbols rise to prominence. But even after they’d stopped using lard or whatever was making it not kosher in their ingredients, I didn’t eat oreos for months, lest the ones in front of me were from the old pre-kosher run. Now I keep oreos in the freezer because they’re way better frozen. Also freezing the cookies fixes the staleness that seems to plague some sleeves in the Costco boxes.

This puzzle’s theme made a splash.

17A Porky’s significant other: PETUNIAPIG -> PE[T]UN[I][A][P]IG -> TNIAP | PAINT.
11D Somewhat: UPTOAPOINT -> U[P]TO[A]PO[I][N][T] -> PAINT.
29D Where you might find love away from home?: TENNISCAMP -> [T]E[N]N[I]SC[A]M[P] -> TNIAP | PAINT.
61A _ station, Central London railway terminal: PADDINGTON -> [P][A]DD[I][N]G[T]ON -> PAINT.

53A With 21-Across, artist known to 39-Across pigments back and forth onto canvases: JACKSON POLLOCK.

39A Make art like 53-/21-Across (as suggested by this puzzle’s circled letters?): DRIBBLE.

Finished this one in 29:35.

DayThis WkBestAverage4-Wk AvgStreak
Monday7:013:499:288:2067
Tuesday7:515:2213:4012:3810
Wednesday29:357:3817:3617:198
Thursday12:1229:1928:057
Friday16:2334:5629:227
Saturday27:4334:0633:367
Sunday15:1156:4742:247

NYT Crossword Puzzle 6-26-21 Complete (contains spoilers)

Woohoo! Three Saturdays in a row! It says 1 DAY STREAK, but that’s nonsense. I finished at about 11pm here in LA, and that’s well into Sunday in New York, but I still get my Saturday as a Saturday.

I pulled out 7D Tropical island whose name comes from the Spanish for “snows”: NEVIS because I hadn’t known what Nevis was. Other than the partner of St. Kitts, of course. Now I know. But only kinda. I don’t have time to look into it and write about it right now. I’ll get around to writing about it later.

There wasn’t a theme I could detect in this one, but there were some all-the-way-across answers.

15A Hyperbole from one approaching the buffet: ICOULDEATAHORSE. Confused at this. I thought that’s a thing you say when you’re hungry and are asked to what degree. It also would be weird to say, “I could eat a moose,” because mousse is meh. Go for the ice cream and brownies for dessert.
17A Literary team playing in front of “ten thousand eyes”: THEMUDVILLENINE. There was no joy, though.
34A Like popping bubble wrap, for many: ODDLYSATISFYING. Maybe watching someone finish a long bubble wrap sheet is oddly satisfying. Doing it yourself is fun as shit!
55A “Can you be less cryptic?”: CARETOELABORATE. I think this is the second time in recent weeks that this passive-aggressive statement has been in the crossword. I don’t like it.
58A Times when NPR listeners are engrossed enough to linger in their idling cars. I had never heard this phrase before.

Finished this one in 46:38.

DayThis WkBestAverage
Monday6:443:499:30
Tuesday10:175:5213:43
Wednesday10:287:3817:38
Thursday50:0913:0930:17
Friday28:1116:2335:58
Saturday46:3827:4337:21
Sunday15:111:00:46