Tag Archives: NYT Wednesday Crossword

NYT Crossword 10-28-20 Complete

OK. What. In. The. World! I know I’m a little out of practice, but when did Wednesday get to be so difficult? I’m used to taking a beating on Thursdays, not Wednesdays. And I completed this partially by brute force until the it finally told me that I had finished and am on a one-day streak despite clearly being on a three-day streak. Way to cut it unnecessarily Shortz, NYTXW.

That’s clearly three days.

This puzzle was absurd, but before the madness, there’s some fun.

68A U.S. Navy builder: SEABEE
This reminds me of riding bikes on at the beach with my family. I think that was the first time I had heard of the Seabees. My dad told me about how they build stuff like bees do and on the sea because the US Navy. But also that it was CB for Construction Brigade. It was among the easy clues for me to get in this puzzle.

But this puzzle was ?????????????

1A With 21-, 30-, 49-, 61- and 74-Across, end of a Carrie Bradshaw quote that starts “Men in their 40s are like the New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle …”: TRICKY. From the word go. Holy smokes!
21A Part 2 of the quote: COMPLICATED AND
30A Part 3: YOU’RE NEVER
49A Part 4: REALLY SURE
61A Part 5: YOU GOT THE RIGHT
66A Casual ristorante: TRATTORIA. You know, just to see if you’re paying attention.
74A End of the quote: ANSWER

So Men in their 40s are like the New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle Tricky, shamelessly self-promoting, complicated, and you’re never really sure you got the right answer.

I had been able to work a bunch of these parts from letters that were in there and the reference to the Sunday puzzle, and you’ll notice above that I did not complete Sunday’s.

Now, this puzzle took me just under half an hour to complete. In contrast, my best Wednesday was 7:55 on August 5, and my average is 18:01. So for this to be what it is and for me to have struggled with it like I had is head-shaking times.


NYT Crossword 8-19-20 Complete

OK someone tell me what’s going on here. I’ve never seen this in my LIFE.

1A. With 5-Across, means of survival
1D. With 41-Across, generational sequence

The answers to 5A is BOAT, and the answer to 41A is CYCLE. The answer to both 1A and 1D is LIFE.

I haven’t discussed Will Shortz in a while, but dude! Come on! If it’s not sloppiness, it’s totally WayLame.com. Real sad, bro.

Is he slipping? Did he forget to edit this one? I’m still at a loss for words on this one, and that’s a surprise because I had to come up with one fewer than I thought I’d have to.

NYT Crossword 8-5-20 Complete

Holy smokes! I wanted to get the crossword post out before I watch Twin Peaks through Netflix Party with some friends. I start it at 7, so I don’t have a lot of time. I looked at the clues and just went for it. I started at the top left and ended at the bottom right.

I know there is a theme in this one because some answers had to do with a theme, but I figured out the answers as I went through without ever considering the theme. I’ll look back on it later to see what that was, but this post goes out first.

This is the first time I’ve done a Wednesday this fast. I did the whole thin in 7:55 with no errors. For me, that’s amazing. I’m still stunned. I have more than 10 minutes until Twin Peaks.

NYT Crossword 7-29-20 Complete

I’m still watching the hearing, and it’s driving me crazy. Why should these guys even show up if they’re not going to tell the truth?

I was going to write a long thing about how Jim Jordan is hurting America (Matt Gaetz just said pundint instead of pundit. Ugh. How easy must the Florida Bar Exam be?!) and how his opponent Shannon Freshour https://twitter.com/ShannonFreshour should be able to capitalize on Jim Jordan’s lunacy to make up the war chest gap, but that’s an off-topic post for another time.

This crossword has a tech safety theme. 49A It may require letters, a number, and a special character — as seen in 20-, 33- and 39-Across: STRONGPASSWORD.
20A Reduced-fat option: TWOPERCENTMILK
33A Mobile device that debuted in 2016: IPHONESEVENPLUS
39A Highly sought-after restaurant rating: ONEMICHELINSTAR

I like the story about how the Michelin rating system started. Michelin, yes, the same Michelin as the tire manufacturer, is the Michelin that started the restaurant ratings. They did in 1926 what people have been relying on AAA for for our entire lives: helping people figure out where they should go and therefore creating a need for the company to be needed. See, if you hear about an amazing restaurant, don’t you want to go there–to drive there? You wear down your tires whenever you drive, and then you need more tires! AAA cares about you needing roadside assistance, and I never would have gotten a flat if I never drove. (Interestingly enough, the AAA tow truck that came to my aid was hanging out around the corner and was was very familiar with the pothole that sliced through the sidewall of my Michelin Primacy. I now have a set of Michelin Pilot tires on my car. I am very happy with them.)

NYT Crossword 7-22-20 Complete

Longest puzzle of the week so far, but I finished! Total time was 20:37, partially because I couldn’t figure out what B+ was. Every answer I thought of (NOTGOODENOUGH, JUSTMISSED, NEVERGETTINGINTOCOLLEGE) didn’t fit. Which brings up a weird dream I had last night that I was taking Spanish class in college and aced the first exam and then got the second exam back and got like 45%. I was confused because I did the same processes of studying and prep as I had done for the first exam, and I thought I’d nailed the second one, but I was deficient. I can take that dream in several ways: (1) I’m still having nightmares about taking tests in college; (2) my proficiency in Spanish is severely lacking, and that isn’t great for someone who lives in Los Angeles; (3) it’s a dream, so whatever; (4) I need to remember that even when I think I’ve nailed it, there’s more to do.

So pretty much this.

Remember the WSJ puzzle where they agreed it was hard to keep up with THE TIMES? Well NYT took the high road in 25D WSJ Competitor (NYTIMES). But I’m not a fan of putting NYTIMES as the answer to a clue in a puzzle published in the NY Times. It’s possible that nobody tells Will Shortz when an idea is bad or isn’t even his because he lives in the world of 57A People are protected when they’re in it: SAFEENVIRONMENT.

I did like the theme of the symbol and element name. I don’t think that should have tipped me off that B+ was a Boron ion, but that wasn’t the worst answer for B+. Also for 61A Man of the cloth? I was thinking DYER, but evidently it was DIOR. Even though it was Christian, it wasn’t religious.