Well, it is Friday, so one shouldn’t be surprised it’s a bit of a killer for all but the most crossword-wise of us.   Since it’s Friday, it’s also themeless, so a few hints:

Fever that reached America in the mid-1960’s:  No, not a disease, though some parents thought it was.

Nominee who was the subject of a 2006 filibuster attempt:  Most NYT readers undoubtedly still wish the filibuster had succeeded!  Well known last name, first name common enough, but rarely referred to.

Major Eur. oil producer:  a 4-letter abbreviation with oil.   Well, think of the even bigger oil producer that’s almost part of Europe and once you get a down clue or two you’ll figure it out.

Matter found in briefs:  No, NYT is not getting risqué, so maybe it’s a different kind of brief(s).

Digital evidence?:  Pay attention to that question mark!

Toss down Tequila: 2 words

Publisher with a borzoi logo:  What the hell is a borzoi?  Not that it would have helped me.  What publisher has a low tolerance for vowels?

Relative of John Bull:  With the accent on the word “relative”  John Bull: England as ______ : United States; (I though John Bull might be a beer at first!)

They indicate shyness:  this particular use of shy has been showing up a lot lately

Bazooka Joe’s company:  Poor Bazooka Joe, he was always so stiff and flat and stale.  Must have been the company he kept.  Still it was high company, not low.

Rascal, in slang: Never heard of this word.  Sounds like someone who should have been hanging out with Bilbo Baggins.

Percolate:  2 words, the second of which does not indicate a direction

Virtuous behaviors, in Hinduism:  Jeez, I always thought they were just bums.

 

A general hint:  Always take a quick look down the whole list of clues to see if there’s one that indicates a “theme” for the puzzle.  On Thursdays one always has to be on the lookout for something that’s a help in “getting” whatever trick the puzzle-maker is up to.  Of course, as the cruelty of life would have it, there is no “special clue” that guides us to the theme.   (By the way:  You can rarely get the answer to the special “key” clue from the clue itself.  That will come much later in solving the puzzle.)

First, an admission, I’m 3/4 of the way through the puzzle and still don’t have a clue about it’s theme.  Though I can see something’s wrong…seemingly impossible combinations of answers, but then these have gradually resolved…still no obvious rebus (one square containing a symbol, or, more commonly, several letters)

Well, now that I’m done (full disclosure:  I hit the “check button” several times and found several entries wrong),  I only now understand the theme, after staring at the completed puzzle for a while.  There are several answers that don’t really work without the little wordplay going on between an across answer and a down answer.  Now that I see it, it’s pretty clever. 

This isn’t a hint exactly, but there are a lot of specific clues and answers I’d personally never heard, or, in one case couldn’t remember and probably won’t remember tomorrow either!

Meanwhile, a few individual hints:

lament after a loss, maybe:  2 words; remember that lament can be more than one part of speech

Like un + quatre vis-å-vis deux + trois:  You knew you’d need those damn French (and Italian, and Spanish, and a few German ones also) sooner or later.  But what’s worse, even if you figure out what the numbers are you still don’t know the French word for what they are.  Well, the French words sounds a lot like the English world of the same meaning.

Something generally known:  2 words

Hearing problems?:  (I case you don’t know, question marks indicate that the clue / answer combo is a little bit of a pun, a weak joke.)  For these kinds of hearing problem, you don’t need an ENT.

Like a buzz, say:  Don’t think either saw or bee.

Agenda’s beginning or end: Well’ it’s not a long “a,”  but it’s also just one word, a word plus a letter.

 

 

 

 

Theme: Well, it’s fairly obvious this time. Name of a film spread out between 11-down and 40-down with its lead actor (and a quite famous one at that!) in 17-across. The “setting of 11-/40-Down” isn’t a place. And the award it received (64-across) is what you might expect for one of the all-time epic films. Don’t get misled by the answer to Meriadoc the Magnificent, even if 17-across would have made a great lead actor.
Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria: Think generically rather than specific type.

Gather, with difficulty: Don’t be frightened!

Sicilian city: Very similar to the volcano, but not the same

Techs may have long ones: Which is why you get to hear so much wonderful music on your telephone!

Hot spot: Think -> in a house or chalet

Petrol measures: Remember, british clue, British answer

Theme, 35-across Figure associated with eight answers in this puzzle:

First, I have to admit I didn’t see the commonality until after I had most of the squares of 35-across filled by down clues.   Then I did a definite “Doh!”   Just one hint: The answer to 24-across (High-stepping horse) should have been a dead giveaway.   You may have some trouble getting 46- across until you get the theme, unless you know a lot of German.

Havana beauty, maybe:  Remember a foreign city might not signal a foreign language answer; 2 words

“Good as done”: 3 words

Somewhat: 2 words

Sexually attractive woman — another example of an answer/clue combination you’ve seen recently in NY Times’ puzzles.

Illusory pictures — think museum

 

 

Maybe Monday NYT crosswords are over and done too quickly to satisfy your need to feel like a know-nothing idiot?  Brendan Emmet Quigley happily solves this problem by providing a Monday puzzle that’s nearly always challenging.  He’s likely to throw in a current slang or hip hop clue that will make you feel old (if you are old), a sports clue that’ll make you feel like a nerd and a nerd clue that’ll make you feel you aren’t nerdy enough!  Lot’s of fun.  Occasionally he violates the “Don’t cross two rare names/words” rule, but usually even the most obscure answer is deducible (though not deductible, I’m afraid).  He isn’t as “Sunday morning family breakfast” G-Rated as the NYT, but never really in bad taste.  I highly recommend his site:  www.brendanemmettquigley.com.

I met a guy once who did the NY Times Puzzle without using any of the down clues.  He sometimes could get all the way to Thursday (You know they increase in difficulty through the week up to Saturday.  Sunday’s bigger but the clues are often relatively easy.)   without using any down clues.  I tried it for a while.  Not easy.

Words added today to Words every puzzler needs to know:  Old dagger, Corp Money Managers; Feedbag Morsel

Already there: French Friend

Theme:  Well, we have these asterisks on the corner down clues…and 26-down also…of course 21-down tells us how they’re related (and they don’t just mean spatially) . ..and getting the idea will help with the asterisked clues you haven’t solved yet.

other:

Capital of Arizona:  He was a River in Sunday’s puzzle.  There are occasional carry-overs from one day to the next and one week to the next.

Boundless enthusiasm:  Must be the name of a perfume also

 

 

If you look at the time of this post, you can see I’m getting to it rather late this Saturday eve (or Sunday morning, really).  Just back to Vermont from a trip to NY for the Philharmonic.  So if my hints are a bit short this eve, hopefully you’ll forgive me.

Here we go:  Theme — the title tells all, as usual.  My advice is to do enough down clues to get one of the long acrosses to fall into place and you’ll have the pattern for all the rest.  Many of the answers are amusing puns, so there’s some reward here.

A couple specific hints and I’ll call it a night:

It flows through Orsk:   Flows -> river Orsk -> Russia, so it’s our old crossword favorite river.

Chewing gum ingredient:  I always thought this was a brand of gum, but apparently its an ingredient

“Love Train” group:  same R&B group as a couple days ago

Turn signal:  No, not from a car;  think bigger and wetter

Ankle length: as in a dress

Rest area:  Deserves a ? at the end (i.e. it’s a bit of a pun)

Place to rest a guitar:  remember Oh Susanna?  Where’d he rest his guitar?

Looked bad in comparison:  As in  “______ in comparison”

Fibbie:  doesn’t have anything to do with lying

And if you need a little help with the long theme answers:

Entry in a metal worker’s personal planner = actress

Moocher’s most valuable acquaintance = drummer

coffee from big sky country = former great footballer

The Salt, In Arizona = another (who died young, incidentally)

 

 

As usual for Saturday.   If you’re knew to trying the NY Times crosswords, Saturday is the cruelest day of all.  Relatively speaking this one is in the “approachable” range.  (I always do the puzzle before blogging it, but I don’t blog my experience and I don’t provide answers.  The idea is try to give a hint that doesn’t completely give away the answer. Here goes:

1-across  A Flat alternative:  Here’s an answer that’s quite literal, musically.  Musician or not, think about what you know about musical scales.  What comes before “A,” not Z, but…

7-across   Like alibis and stomachs:  (Nice one!):  2 words, literally a short phrase applied to both alibis and stomachs.

15-across Green wheels:  Not a brand name of a vehicle;  think more generically

16-across Oscar-nominated player of Sonny Wortzik:  Don’t let the last name fool you, you know both the actor and the role he’s famous for; 2 words

18-across Telephone connectors: 2 words;  often used by large corporations

25-across Rich sources of vitamin K:  Is it my imagination, or do all things that are good for you taste terribly bitter?

27-across Use ta Be My Girl:  Well, I though it was Elvis Costello, but he didn’t fit;  Think R&B, not rap.

51-across Wings:  Not the kind you use to fly with

54-across Woman who’s hard to reach:  That’s (the clue) is putting it mildly!

60-across Like some martinis:  Vermouthophobia!

Bookmark this blog if you want to come back for more hints and not direct answers!

Boy, this one darn near killed me.

Ok, hints, here we go:

2004 #1 Hit for Fantasia:  (I though Fantasia was a 1940 Walt Disney movie!).  Alternate clue:  Not a song for an agnostic

Metal Worker:  think tool, not person

colore ufficiale of the Italian football team:  Ok, so it’s a 3-letter color in Italian…

Virginia Tech team:  kind of funky name if you ask me

Senator majority leader before Reid:  Better than second with a touch of dyslexia

Something lame, in modern slang:  Or:  “Honey, I can’t find the tabasco to put on the ribs”

What’s generally spotted early on? — Note the question mark, it’s something you see but the spotted isn’t about seeing…and it’s not the animal in 16-across

Requiring no effort to take: Or where to find songs back in the day!

Sierra Nevada competitor: 2 word brewski

Best clue/answer (3-down):  “I can’t help it if you’re a jerk”  (remember, if the question uses a word, it won’t show up in the answer).  3 words.

“Hands off!”  — think baby brother or sister;  you might reply with 3-down

 

 

If you’re looking for hints for earlier puzzles (perhaps you read a syndicated version of the NY Times puzzle…They come in 5 weeks after the original publication). Here are links to those pages:

Thurs. 2012-12-06

Weds. 2012-12-05

Tues. 2012-12-04

Mon. 2012-12-03

Sun. 2012-12-02

Sat. 2012-12-01

Fri. 2012-11-30

Thurs. 2012-11-29

Weds. 2012-11-28

Tues. 2012-11-27

Mon., 2012-11-26

Sun. 2012-11-25

Sat. 2012-11-24

Fri. 2012-11-23

Thurs. 2012-11-22

THEME (Mon. 2012-11-19)

THEME & CLUES (Sun. 2012-11-18) Star-crossed Lovers

CLUES (Sat. 2012-11-17) (Themeless)

THEME & CLUES (Fri. 2012-11-16)

THEME & CLUES (Thurs. 2012-11-15) “There are six hidden in this puzzle”

THEME & CLUES (Weds., 2012-11-14)

THEME & CLUES (The REAL Tues., 2012-11-13) 2012 James Bond Film

THEME & CLUES (Tues., 2012-11-13) Category for 17-, etc. across  Uh oh!  The NY Times online is messed up!  This puzzle is apparently from August 3, 2010!!!

THEME and CLUES (Mon. 2012-11-12):  Sound effects

THEME and CLUES (Sun. 2012-11-11) Bottoms Up!

CLUES (Sat. 2012-11-10) 

CLUE (Fri. 2012-11-09) Where chromosomes gather between poles during mitosis (Hint, not answer)

THEME (Thurs. 2012-11-08) Hint:  Home field advantage…or what the last square in the answer to this clue…

CLUES & THEME  (Weds., 2012-11-07) Something to sing…

CLUES & THEME (Tues., 2012-11-06)

CLUE (Mon. 2012-11-05) Wynken, et al.

THEME (Sun. 2012-11-04) Frankly speaking

CLUE (Sat. 2012-11-03) Like old gaming consoles

CLUE (Fri., 2012-11-02)  1990s girl group member with a tongue piercing

THEME (Thurs. 2012-11-1) With 74- & 75- Across, “invisible” part of a distribution list

THEME (Tues. 2012-10-30): 64-across Ingredients

THEME (Tues. 2012-10-30): Circles

THEME & CLUE HINTS (Sun., 2012-10-28): What the…

CLUE HINTS: Joon Pahk’s Sat. 2012-10-27)

CLUE: (Fri., 2012-10-27):  When it’s approximately

CLUE: (Thurs. 2012-10-26): Big Whig

THEME (Thurs. 2012-10-25) basic instruction for [circled letters]

CLUE (Thus.  2012-10-25) The Gulf of Mexico has a big one

CLUE (Weds., 2012-10-24) Mrs. Krabappel, Bart Simpson’s teacher

THEME/CLUE (Tuesday, 2012-10-23): Org. suggested by the starts of 17-, etc.

THEME/CLUE (Monday, 2012-10-22): Sting Operative

THEME (Sun. 2012-10-21) Bypassing Security

 

 

 

I fell in love with crosswords because of Manny Nosowsky.  He’s the all-time “leading author” of NY Times Friday puzzles.  As you may know, the NY Times has an amazingly consistent daily structure over the course of each week.  The puzzles get progressively difficult up to Saturday.   Sunday is somewhat different animal:  much bigger, for one and always with a “theme,” a particular wordplay that permeates the puzzle.  Because it’s bigger, sometimes the theme answers are really long and cool, sometimes disappointing.   Most everybody, but geniuses or fools, starts by doing Mondays and maybe Tuesdays for a while, and filling in as much of Sunday as they have the time for.  Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays and Sundays always have a theme, something that ties them together; almost always it’s a word play in the long answers.

Ah, but Thursday, there’s a puzzler’s reward for making it through the week!  The best themes, even better than most of the one’s on Sundays!  And often [drumroll] a trick!  (I’ve heard this called a “rebus” though that wasn’t what I thought a rebus was.)  Usually, it’s that one square has more than a single letter in it.  I recall a puzzle that used the symbol/letters for the four

And then there’s Friday.  Friday is a whole other Rubicon to cross.  A good Friday puzzle has barely a clue seen in the NYT before.  Emmett Quigley’s “hard” puzzles on his site are essentially Friday puzzles with a little more current (rap group names, current TV, slang) clues and occasionally racy language.  Friday puzzles can be memorable.  Saturdays are harder than Friday, but how hard it is depends somewhat on how many clues are in areas that aren’t in your world.

I learned on paper.  In fact, the NYT puzzle on my lap got me to and fro on the Long Island Railroad more hours than I care to admit.  But that moment when you go through a whole puzzle once and there’s barely a single answer you can put confidently on the paper.   And working through and over it gradually begin to fill in a few squares.  Maybe it even goes evenly forward for a while, only to seem to hit another cup de sac.  And a thought occurs to you and you can see it’s right and you’re going to have figured out the whole puzzle.  That’s a wonderful moment.

I occasionally look at Rex Parker’s NYT Crossword Blog, but usually don’t.  I did my own blog for a while, but Google wasn’t updating it often enough for people to see it, so it was too much work for nothin’.  The pleasure of doing the puzzles is enhanced, I think by a couple simple things.  So that’s what this is, a little “in case you didn’t consider this.”

1.  Do the puzzle the way you like.  Don’t let those who sneer at googling for answers get your goat.  It’s a way to learn.  But only go to that once you’ve done as much as you can without it.  Same goes with seeing if you’re correct (the “Check” option in Across Lite) or the “just tell me what the answer is” of “Reveal.”  Do what it takes to make solving fun.  I suggest not getting too hung up on how long it takes you to solve a puzzle.  Aren’t you doing this to relax, not to prove how smart (or how dumb) you are?

2.  Do try to memorize a few things, or make lists of them:  Frequent characters in the Simpson, Seinfeld, the Jewish months of the year (ADAR’s particularly common), extinct animals, higher ed degrees and professional associations (PHD, MBA, ABA, AMA, ADA, etc.).  It’s hopeless, of course, and really suggests you have way, way too much time on your hands, if you try to memorize a lot of stuff in an area you know nothing about.  (Rap stars definitely fall into this category for me!  Also anything with current television except Project Runway and sports.)   If it’s finite and frequent, like the nicknames of major league teams, yeah, then it’s worth getting a few in your memory band.  If it’s not or there’s no way it’s gonna stick, go on to something else.  There are always areas in puzzles that are easy for some and all but impossible for others.

3.  Try fixing in your mind one new word that shows up in each puzzle that you have a feeling might show up again.  If it’s really obscure, no use memorizing, you’ll probably never see it again.  That applies to a lot of the long phrases.  The NY Times very rarely repeats a long phrase it’s used before.

4.  They say that doing Xwords might prevent Alzheimer’s disease.  Seems unlikely, but it can’t hurt to exercise those little gray cells and it sure beats being bored.

 

 

 

I enjoy doing crosswords, particularly NY Times Thursday, Friday & Saturday.  I also usually do Emmet Quigley’s challenging Monday puzzles.   Sometimes you get stuck on an answer.  You don’t want just find out (Googling is soooo easy…) but you’d love a hint to get you unstuck.   So, if you want to see some hints-not-answers, here you go.   To be honest, the point of this xword blog is to attract word-centric readers who might, just might, be interested in checking out the essays of my blook.

Update, 2014-11-20:  After about a month of doing this which was mostly fun, I’m not updating the crossword blog currently.  I still enjoy doing crosswords regularly, but it my real interest lies in the essays more than the blog.  So I’m “on hiatus” from blogging the NY Times puzzle for a while.  If you’re the kind of person who would enjoy a hint now and then, though, shoot me an email through the contact page and I’ll pass back to you an occasional hint.   — Jon Mack