Tag Archives: NYT

NYT Crossword 11-23-21 Complete (contains spoilers)

I pulled out 18A Font akin to Helvetica: ARIAL because it’s not exact, but it’s kinda close? They’re both sans-serif fonts that are clean and easy to read. I also prefer Arial to Calibri. I don’t know if it’s because I was raised with Arial or what, but it’s true.

Also the #raabidfun T-shirts are in Helvetica.

The #raabidfun T-shirt available in many sizes!

Theme! Today’s has down clues rather than across clues. Weird.

3D M.L.B. record-holder for most career home runs: BARRYBONDS. *
11D Singer profiled in the biopic “Walk the Line”: JOHNNYCASH.
29D N.B.A. commissioner starting in 2014: ADAMSILVER.

20A Sort of investment suggested by the ends of 3-, 11- and 29-Down: PERSONALFINANCE. Bonds, cash, silver.

Finished this one in 4:25–a new record! The old record was 5:22 that I had set back in July of this year.

DayThis WkBestAverage4-Wk AvgStreak
Monday4:133:499:185:0184
Tuesday4:254:2513:0611:458
Wednesday7:3816:5111:5524
Thursday12:1227:5022:1610
Friday10:2929:2318:1824
Saturday16:3330:3321:2624
Sunday15:1150:5738:3011

NYT Crossword Puzzle 11-22-21 Complete (contains spoilers)

I pulled out 27D Dehydrated plum: PRUNE because prune just means plum but in other languages. Here’s the etymology:

prune (n.)

mid-14c., “a plum,” also “a dried plum” (c. 1200 in place name Prunhill), from Old French pronne “plum” (13c.), from Vulgar Latin *pruna, fem. singular formed from Latin pruna, neuter plural of prunum “a plum,” a dissimilated borrowing of Greek proumnon, from proumnē “plum tree,” a word probably, like the tree itself, of Anatolian origin and thus from a language of Asia Minor. Slang meaning “disagreeable or disliked person” is from 1895. Prune juice is from 1807.

Theme!

17A Pastime for armchair sports enthusiasts: FANTASYBASEBALL. Fantasy baseball is pretty much the worst. The season is so, so long. And to play it right, you gotta do rotisserie rather than head-to head, so you don’t even really know how it goes until the season ends. It’s way too much of a commitment, and how can you be a fan of the game and play roto fantasy baseball? If you throw being a functioning human, forget it. Stay away from fantasy baseball.
29A Unidentifiable protein: MYSTERYMEAT.
45A Holy site in Jerusalem: WESTERNWALL.
61A Spanish or French, but not German: ROMANCELANGUAGE.

67A What the start of 17-, 29-, 45- or 61-Across is, in a bookstore: GENRE. Fantasy novels, mystery novels, westerns, and romance novels. Also what’s a bookstore?

Finished this one in 4:13.

DayThis WkBestAverage4-Wk AvgStreak
Monday4:133:499:185:0184
Tuesday5:2213:0611:457
Wednesday7:3816:5111:5524
Thursday12:1227:5022:1610
Friday10:2929:2318:1824
Saturday16:3330:3321:2624
Sunday15:1150:5738:3011

NYT Crossword Puzzle 11-21-21 Complete (contains spoilers)

I pulled out 98D Shower times: APRILS because I like to make the joke when it rains in April that Thanksgiving is the following month. Because April showers bring Mayflowers. But this month is November, and Thanksgiving is toward the end of this week. Thank you to all my readers. May this 411-day streak continue ad infinitum.

The title of this puzzle is Screen Sharing.

23A Salma Hayek: 1996, 2002: FROMDUSKTILLDAWN.
31A Dev Patel: 2008, 2016: SLUMDOGMILLIONAIRE.
50A Brad Pitt: 2001, 1995: OCEANSELEVEN.
68A Owen Wilson: 2005, 2006: WEDDINGCRASHERS.
86A Joaquin Phoenix: 2014, 2013: INHERENTVICE.
102A Al Pacino and Robert De Niro: 1974, 1995 (twice!): THEGODFATHERPARTII.
116A Modern tech feature for watching two programs on one screen … or an alternative title for this puzzle: PICTUREINPICTURE.

Finished this one in 23:26.

DayThis WkBestAverage4-Wk AvgStreak
Monday6:123:499:185:0583
Tuesday10:515:2213:0611:457
Wednesday11:427:3816:5111:5524
Thursday14:2312:1227:5022:1610
Friday14:5910:2929:2318:1824
Saturday16:3316:3330:3321:2624
Sunday23:2615:1150:5738:3011

NYT Crossword Puzzle 11-20-21 Complete (contains spoilers)

I pulled out 12D Fountain fare: MALTS because Calah and I got an ice cream maker for our wedding, and although we haven’t yet used it, malts will be something we will be able to create once we do. I men malteds are way better than regular mikshakes. The malty flavor elevates milkshakes to a level far beyond.

I don’t think there was a theme to this Saturday puzzle.

Finished this one in 16:33.

DayThis WkBestAverage4-Wk AvgStreak
Monday6:123:499:185:0584
Tuesday10:515:2213:0611:458
Wednesday11:427:3816:5111:5524
Thursday14:2312:1227:5022:1610
Friday14:5910:2929:2318:1824
Saturday16:3316:3330:3321:2624
Sunday15:1150:5742:3911

NYT Crossword Puzzle 11-19-21 Complete (contains spoilers)

I pulled out 2D “Too _ Handle” (Netflix reality show): HOTTO because Calah and I have watched the version in English and the Latino and Brazil ones. While I am a proponent of watching the subtitled versions of things in foreign languages in order to preserve the feeling of the dialogue (dialog?), I strongly recommend the dubbed versions of these shows. Dubbed is way better for these for the exact reason it’s terrible for everything else! The trashiness of the program is made more comical with the stiff dub voiceover and inconsistent translations between the dub and the subtitles. It’s an enhancement for sure.

No theme for today’s Friday puzzle. Just some long answers:

1A Phrase popularized by Long John Silver of “Treasure Island”: SHIVERMETIMBERS.
16A It’s “on a dark desert highway,” in song: HOTELCALIFORNIA.
17A Ways in which different cultures interact: ETHNICRELATIONS.
55A “Don’t sweat the naysayers”: HATERSGONNAHATE.
58A Opening statement of an appeal?: INEEDAHUGEFAVOR.
59A Digs near a flower bed, say: GARDENAPARTMENT.

Finished this one in 14:59.

DayThis WkBestAverage4-Wk AvgStreak
Monday6:123:499:185:0583
Tuesday10:515:2213:0611:457
Wednesday11:427:3816:5111:5524
Thursday14:2312:1227:5022:1610
Friday14:5910:2929:2318:1824
Saturday20:1130:3323:2323
Sunday15:1150:5742:3910

NYT Crossword Puzzle 11-18-21 Complete (contains spoilers)

I pulled out 65A Not claim, say: WAIVE because it reminds me of when I worked in financial statement audit. We would encounter variances between what we expected and what appeared in the books. If the variance was below what anyone would care about, we marked it with an m for immaterial, and we would use w to indicate that we were waiving on recommending that the client correct the error. I do not miss that life.

The theme for today was decent.

16A → Di ← Gaga Godiva: FIRSTLADY. Before those words, you put LADY, and you’ve got Lady Di and Lady Gaga.
24A R.p.m. → m.p.h. ← k.p.s.: SECONDRATE. Compared to the RPM and KPS, MPH is the second rate, given the arrows.
36A Art → Calculus ← Spanish: MIDDLECLASS. Calculus is the one in the middle of those two. Also clearly there will be five of these if No. 3 is the middle. I would have preferred Statistics as the middle class because there is a lot of middle about stats.
52A Housewarming masquerade → tailgate ←: THIRDPARTY. I guess the answer is the third item in the list because it’s blank?
62A Ha-ha chortle → tee-hee ←: LASTLAUGH. Same reason as the above. Kinda quitting early and making us come up with something to round it out.

Finished this one in 14:23.

DayThis WkBestAverage4-Wk AvgStreak
Monday6:123:499:185:0583
Tuesday10:515:2213:0611:457
Wednesday11:427:3816:5111:5524
Thursday14:2312:1227:5022:1610
Friday10:2929:2319:1623
Saturday20:1130:3323:2323
Sunday15:1150:5742:3910

NYT Crossword Puzzle 11-17-21 Complete (contains spoilers)

I pulled out 36A One of 12 on a die: EDGE because I have been dealing with this while making cutting boards. I put a chamfer on the edges of the cutting boards to make them easier to handle. If you’re unfamiliar with the term chamfer, think bevel. There are a lot of edges, and it’s important to get all of them to kick out a product of good quality.

Theme!

Since the answers are long and span many clues, I’ll start with the clue theme and then spell out the answers.

58A What the five formations of circled letters in this puzzle represent: YOGAPOSES.

DOWNWARDDOG

Downward Dog from EkhartYoga.

COBRA

Cobra from Ekhart Yoga.

CHAIR

Chair from EkhartYoga.

CAT

Cat from EkhartYoga.

BOAT

Boat from EkhartYoga.

Now I know what those look like.

Finished this one in 11:42.

DayThis WkBestAverage4-Wk AvgStreak
Monday6:123:499:185:0583
Tuesday10:515:2213:0611:457
Wednesday11:427:3816:5111:5524
Thursday12:1227:5024:449
Friday10:2929:2319:1623
Saturday20:1130:3323:2323
Sunday15:1150:5742:3910

NYT Crossword Puzzle 11-16-21 Complete (contains spoilers)

I pulled out 60A Question of apathy: DOICARE because this is a big thing when it comes to magic. Someone can be very skilled in terms of technique, but if nobody cares, what’s the point? There are many ways to alienate an audience, and one of those ways is for the magician to care more about doing a thing than having people be entertained. From my perspective, it’s way better to put in the extra effort to make the audience feel than to just do something no one cares about simply because it’s difficult.

Theme!

25A Author of “The Bell Jar” (1963): SYLVIAPLATH.
38A Author of “Black Beauty” (1877): ANNASEWELL.
52A Author of “Wuthering Heights” (1847): EMILYBRONTE.

18A With 63-Across, “The end” … or what can be said about the novels in the clues for 25-, 38- and 52-Across: THATSALL.
63A See 18-Across: SHEWROTE.

On the topic of women in media, a Frida Kahlo painting just sold for $34.9 million.

Finished this one in 10:51.

DayThis WkBestAverage4-Wk AvgStreak
Monday6:123:499:185:0583
Tuesday10:515:2213:0611:457
Wednesday7:3816:5112:5823
Thursday12:1227:5024:449
Friday10:2929:2319:1623
Saturday20:1130:3323:2323
Sunday15:1150:5742:3910

NYT Crossword Puzzle 11-15-21 Complete (contains spoilers)

I pulled out 11D Outdoes in a back-and-forth: ONEUPS because I’ve been doing that against myself with my newest woodworking projects. They’re all cutting boards, but each is different and has its own story. I’ve written about the first already, and tomorrow I start the second series on a different style of cutting board. So check out the new post each Tuesday at 10am PT.

I don’t think there was a theme, but these are the longer answers.

20A 1986 #1 hit by Falco: ROCKMEAMADEUS.

31A Title lyric heard 41 times in a 1965 Beach Boys hit: HELPMERHONDA.

40A Red-haired toy craze of 1996: TICKLEMEELMO. This is still sold. Saw it at Target the other day.
51A Request from the voracious plant in “Little Shop of Horrors”: FEEDMESEYMOUR.

Finished this one in 6:12.

DayThis WkBestAverage4-Wk AvgStreak
Monday6:123:499:185:0583
Tuesday5:2213:0610:507
Wednesday7:3816:5112:5823
Thursday12:1227:5024:449
Friday10:2929:2319:1623
Saturday20:1130:3323:2323
Sunday15:1150:5742:3910

NYT Crossword Puzzle 11-13-21 Complete (contains spoilers)

I pulled out 43D 2019 Super Bowl loser, for short: LARAM because it’s not easy to win a championship, but it is easy to get on the field of SoFi Stadium for a holiday party if you’re going to a holiday party on that field. Pics to follow, perhaps.

No theme this Saturday.

Finished this one in 21:29.

DayThis WkBestAverage4-Wk AvgStreak
Monday4:133:499:205:2783
Tuesday10:265:2213:1110:507
Wednesday13:317:3816:5612:5823
Thursday34:0312:1227:5824:449
Friday19:3810:2930:0219:1623
Saturday21:2920:1131:3623:2323
Sunday15:1151:4937:489