Tag Archives: NYT Crossword

NYT Crossword Puzzle 1-10-22 Complete (contains spoilers)

Leave a reply

I pulled out 3D Perennial embarrassments for teens: PARENTS because today would have been my grandfather’s birthday. He passed away back in 2014, but he would have turned 99 today. He made custom kitchens in his sheet metal shop in Los Angeles, and I have a table that he made out of butcher block scrap that was excess from a butcher block countertop build and a stainless steel base he welded together.

Theme!

17A Where to get one’s Kix?: CEREALBOWL.
25A Singer/songwriter nicknamed “Piano Man”: BILLYJOEL.
31A Forlorn, directionless type: LOSTSOUL.
40A Survey of Election Day voters: EXITPOLL.
47A Greener energy source: CLEANCOAL.


56A Categorize simplistically: PIGEONHOLE.

I don’t see a linking clue, but these all rhyme.

Finished this one in 4:37.

NYT Crossword Puzzle 1-9-22 Food for Thought Complete (contains spoilers)

Leave a reply

I pulled out 21A Hurting more: ACHIER because that’s how I’ve been the last couple days. I’ve been in the process of making a planter for Calah for her succulents, and I’ve been slaving away at the table saw. The table saw probably is a bit too low. Then yesterday I did a lot of cleanup around our home, which meant moving things from place to place and bending over and squatting down and stuff. Ugh. The soreness hasn’t stopped.

The title of this puzzle is Food for Thought.

24A Carmen McRae or Anita O’Day, notably: JAZZVOCALISTS -> (J)(A)(Z)(Z)VOCALISTS.
32A Endpoint of a Shinto pilgrimage: MOUNTFUJI -> MOUNT(F)(U)(J)(I).
52A Fete: GALAAFFAIR -> (G)(A)(L)(A)AFFAIR.
69A Birthplace of five U.S. presidents, with “the”: EMPIRESTATE -> (E)(M)(P)(I)(R)(E)STATE.
85A Start of some conventional wisdom: WHENINROME -> WHENIN(R)(O)(M)(E).

98D Who was famously hit over the head with inspiration?: NEWTON.
116A Scientific contribution from 98-Down, discovered in a manner suggested by this puzzle’s theme: LAWOFGRAVITY. The story goes that Newton was hit by a falling apple and was like, ‘Whoa. Gravity.” Jazz apples, Fuji apples, Empire apples, Rome apples. How ’bout dem?

Finished this one in 36:21.

NYT Crossword Puzzle 1-8-22 Complete (contains spoilers)

Leave a reply

I pulled out 20A Longtime distributor of James Bond movies: MGM because I had initially put in EON, but that wasn’t working. Calah and I have been watching the series from the start and are on Quantum of Solace now. We’ve seen them go through United Artists and MGM and Columbia. Desmond Llewelyn is sorely missed. But Daniel Craig as James Bond has way more chill than Pierce Brosnan did as James bond.

No theme for this Saturday puzzle, but there are some crazy long answers.

1A Number pattern named after a 17th-century French mathematician: PASCALSTRIANGLE.
16A Teddies and such: INTIMATEAPPAREL.
17A Exhausted beyond belief: TOOTIREDTOTHINK.
52A Do some modeling: SETAGOODEXAMPLE.
55A “Life is short. _” (Jacques Torres quip): EATDESSERTFIRST.
56A Captain’s phrase: STEADYASSHEGOES.

Finished this one in 49:11.

NYT Crossword 1-7-22 Complete (contains spoilers)

Leave a reply

I pulled out 13D _ vide (culinary technique): SOUS because Calah put together dinner tonight, and the entree is chicken that she’s cooking sous vide. We have an Anova pro cooker and a Coleman cooler whose top I had cut a hole in to fit the immersion cooker. Actually we have two Coleman coolers. Sometimes we’re cooking a lot, so we need the big one, and sometimes we cook a little, so we don’t need so much volume of water to warm up and keep at temperature.

No theme for this Friday puzzle.

Finished this one in 24:51.

NYT Crossword Puzzle 1-6-22 Complete (contains spoilers)

Leave a reply

Streak is to 100 boiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeee!

I pulled out 34A N.B.A. legend nicknamed “Black Mamba”: KOBE because it reminds me of when I found out that Kobe died. It was bizarre. Calah and I were at my dining room table. Her phone chimed. A message from her brother read something to the effect of “Kobe just died in a helicopter crash.” It sounded absurd. Frist of all, Kobe doesn’t die. Second, in a helicopter crash? Third, how can her brother know before we do when he lives in Israel? Of course, it turned out to be true, but it made no sense. Also it’s interesting that this is 34, the number of his rival on the team, Shaquille O”Neal.

Theme!

17A Genre for Agatha Christie or Arthur Conan Doyle: CROWCROWCROWMYSTERY -> [CROW][CROW][CROW]MYSTERY -> MURDER MYSTERY.
22A June: LIONLIONLIONMONTH ->[LION][LION][LION]MONTH -> PRIDE MONTH.
51A Early 19th-century Australia, for one: PENALANTANTANT -> PENAL[ANT][ANT][ANT] -> PENAL COLONY.

60A Intellectual conformity … or a hint to interpreting 17-, 22- and 51-Across: GROUPTHINK. It’s too bad they didn’t do another crossover with the Spelling Bee and have HIVEMIND. But Wordle has replaced the Spelling Bee as all the rage.

Finished this one in 19:39.

NYT Crossword Puzzle 1-5-22 Complete (contains spoilers)

1 Reply

I pulled out 32D Goad: EGGON because this morning I made two single-pan egg sandwiches. I had two pans going. One sandwich was for me, and one sandwich was for Calah.

Recipe

Ingredients

2 slices sourdough bread
2 eggs
2 leaves romaine lettuce
4 slices tomato
9 slices part of a bell pepper
? mozzarella cheese
? butter for the pan

Directions

Pre-heat pan to egg-cooking temperature. Add butter when pan reaches temperature.

Scramble two eggs.

Pour scrambled eggs into pan and put slices of bread into pan with rounded parts toward the edge of the pan so the bottom parts of each slice face one another.

When the egg is cooked, flip the contents of the pan over so the scrambled egg is open to the air and the bread is hidden.

Add cheese and wait for it to melt.

When cheese is melted, add produce.

Fold the omelet over.

There will be pics in the future.

Theme!

9A *One of two extremes in a saying: FEAST.
20A *Description of a glass, maybe: HALFFULL.
38A *Word in a classic Tolstoy title: PEACE.
62A *Certain forecast: SHINE.

54A One who identifies with the answers to the starred Across clues: OPTIMIST.

4D *Description of a glass, maybe: HALFEMPTY.
9D *One of two extremes in a saying: FAMINE.
35D *Word in a classic Tolstoy title: WAR.
53D *Certain forecast: RAIN.

36D One who identifies with the answers to the starred Down clues: PESSIMIST.

FEAST or FAMINE
HALF FULL or HALF EMPTY
WAR and PEACE
RAINE OR SHINE

Finished this one in 12:36.

NYT Crossword Puzzle 1-4-22 Complete (contains spoilers)

Leave a reply

I pulled out 6D Bond is a special one: AGENT because Calah and I have been going through the series, and we’re now on Casino Royale from 2006. We started at the beginning and have watched them in the order of release, including the original Casino Royale and Never Say Never Again. Calah’s assessment of Pierce Brosnan as James Bond: “He has no chill.” It’s true! He’s too easily rattled.

Theme!

19A Start of an optimistic quote by 57-Across: YOUCANTTHINK.
29A Part 2 of the quote: OFYOURTROUBLES.
35A Part 3 of the quote: WHILESOLVING.
54A End of the quote: ACROSSWORD.

57A First puzzle editor of The New York Times: MARGARETFARRAR.

As someone who has a solve streak now of 98 days and has solved 867 puzzles, I can attest without reservation that this is just straight bullshit. And can we not be stressed out about things while also thinking about answers to things? Aren’t we so capable? If this is what Will Shortz’s predecessor said, it makes sense how he acts like he’s a gift to the world if this is his role model.

Finished this one in 15:19.

NYT Crossword Puzzle 1-3-22 Complete (contains spoilers)

Leave a reply

I pulled out 9D Hose holder, or a kind of snake: GARTER because I absolutely thought that a garden snake was a thing. I didn’t know there was a garter snake. And I guess there still is. I didn’t even realize until writing this that the hose in question was for the legs and not for the plants.

Theme!

17A Telepathic sort: MINDREADER -> MIN(D)(R)(E)(A)(D)ER -> DREAD.
27A Embedded spy awaiting a mission: SLEEPERAGENT -> SLEEPE(R)(A)(G)(E)NT -> RAGE.
37A Scattered here, there and everywhere: ALLOVERTHEPLACE -> AL(L)(O)(V)(E)RTHEPLACE -> LOVE.
45A “Quit arguing, kids!”: STOPITYOUTWO -> STO(P)(I)(T)(Y)OUTWO -> PITY

61A Intuition without logical explanation, or a hint to this puzzle’s circled letters: GUTFEELING. DREAD, RAGE, LOVE, PITY. But the real crime is that the theme clues all ended in 7 except for the fourth one. Kind of annoyed at that.

Finished this one in 5:12

NYT Crossword Puzzle 1-2-22 Color Mixing Complete (contains spoilers)

Leave a reply

I pulled out 41D Wood in some incense: CEDAR because I’m in the process of making a cedar planter for Calah. She has been talking about a planter for a while because her succulents are individually potted, and planters are better. I picked up some cedar from House of Hardwood the other day, along with a bunch of other wood for projects. Some say that cedar planters need a liner. Others say cedar planters do not need a liner. If it needs a liner, I have to buy more wood. If it doesn’t, I can finish it tomorrow.

The title of this puzzle is Color Mixing. It’s an anagrams theme.

21A CERISE + LAVENDER = certain baby animals: REINDEERCALVES.
32A CORAL + GOLD = pet store purchase: DOGCOLLAR.
46A AMBER + GREEN = imported brew: GERMANBEER.
52A PEAR + CRIMSON = fighting group: MARINECORPS.
60A LIME + MAGENTA = visualization: MENTALIMAGE.
74A RUST + SCARLET = celestial group: STARCLUSTER.
83A CREAM + PEACH = nonviolent protest: PEACEMARCH.
94A TEAL + OCHER = breakfast option: HOTCEREAL.
107A MAUVE + TANGERINE = restaurant handout: VEGETARIANMENU.

Finished this one in 38:40.

NYT Crossword Puzzle 1-1-22 Complete (contains spoilers)

Leave a reply

I pulled out 32A Line just before a comma: ZXCVBNM because I didn’t understand what the hell this meant. Then I figured it out. As I was typing it. Because it’s the bottom row of the keyboard. So dumb. I feel like it’s so bad that I should like it, but the thing that bothers me with the clue is it’s a comma, not just comma. I don’t know how else I’d phrase it, but I definitely hate it more than I love it.

Also 45A Coin featuring Lady Liberty and a bald eagle: PEACEDOLLAR. But that’s soooooooooooooo many US coins. No big deal or anything, but I’m a life member of the American Numismatic Association (hooray for never getting a renewal notice!), and I worked in rare coins for a bit. Yeah, the Peace Dollar is a pretty coin, but it replaced the Morgan Dollar, which has Liberty on the obverse and an eagle on the reverse. What I’m saying is that Will Shortz is an idiot. What a reminder to have a the beginning of a new year.

No theme on this Saturday.

Happy new year, all!

Finished this one in 38:23.