The New York Times Crossword Puzzle thread

jimmurphy said:

Finished, and pretty quickly, but could not figure out how the clues for the themers related. Had to check with Rex.

 Today’s? Thursday? I haven’t opened the paper yet. Might not until dinner time.  

Nexus is my daily treat...

The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

 Today’s? Thursday? I haven’t opened the paper yet. Might not until dinner time.  

 Yes, today’s. Thursday. I always do them in the morning.

jimmurphy said:

Finished, and pretty quickly, but could not figure out how the clues for the themers related. Had to check with Rex.

My thoughts exactly. (Well, except for the “pretty quickly” part, on my end.) Heading to Rex right now.

Thursday is always a treat. I usually take my first look at it around lunchtime. I'll report back. 

I like Thursdays so much that I’m back to 2006 in the archives on the App. Only Thursday’s, working backwards.

Best part of the app.

So I figured it out but 63a didn't help at all.

This Thursday's took me forever even after I figured out the "key."

That was cute.

Above-average time for me too.

DaveSchmidt said:

This Thursday's took me forever even after I figured out the "key."

 You're right; even after getting the gimmick it took a while to figure out where they go. Some were quite clever. But it's done. Took a bit longer than usual but maybe not for a typic al Thursday puzzle. Thursday has become one of my favorite puzzle days. 

I finished the Wed puzzle, but I have zero clue about how the theme works. Nada.

And Rex Parker didn't help a bit.

drummerboy said:

I finished the Wed puzzle, but I have zero clue about how the theme works. Nada.

And Rex Parker didn't help a bit.

Spoiler for others below.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Each number in the clue corresponds to a digit in your hand, from the thumb (1st) to the fingers (2nd through 5th). So 1st and 5th, for example, is the thumb and pinkie, for the “hang loose” gesture.

Fun for a Wednesday

If wasn’t until I got The very last answer, 24a, that I realized what the gimmick was. Wow. Lots of time and work. Very clever. Esp for a Wednesday. 

Themers were good today. Took me a while to get it.

jimmurphy said:

Themers were good today. Took me a while to get it.

Yes, and even after I figured out the clever gimmick, I struggled [a bit]. 

I finished it in one and a half cups of coffee.   Thursdays are always fun. 

Struggled.  Finished it eventually.  Never got it.

eta:  Looked it up.  Never would have gotten it.

Yeah, I finished it but didn't quite understand the theme. Lots of strange clues too.

Today's puzzle is a real brain teaser. Even after getting the rather awkward gimmick, the fill isn't easy. But lots of fun. 

I finished it but did not get the theme at all.

Same here. Had to consult Rex once complete.

Had never heard of today’s 32 down.

(Mostly) spoiler-free Ogden Nash:

I’ve never met an _______

But Harvard has one in a bottle

Perhaps - and at the thought I shiver -

​The very villain from Fall River

Where Lizzie Borden took an _______

And gave her mother forty ________

Ignoring Dave's spoiler teases, I'm going to go back give it another go.  I couldn't get any traction to make any progress this morning.  But having had a nap this afternoon, I'm feeling revived enough to take on even a crazy Saturday puzzle!

On Jeapardy tonight they made a big deal that one of the contestants had done 1000 NYT puzzles in a row.

I was not impressed.

I am.

drummerboy said:

On Jeapardy tonight they made a big deal that one of the contestants had done 1000 NYT puzzles in a row.

I was not impressed.

What does "in a row" mean? I've been doing the NYT crossword every day (although I rarely do only one puzzle a day) since about 1974. 

46 years x 365  = 16,790. In A Row 

Pretty sure it means having it recorded as completed without him/her having checked answers on the app. The most amazing thing about that to me is that the app didn’t flake out for 1,000 days. I had a 271-day streak (with an assist from my kids here and there, so group effort) broken by the app telling me a puzzle was recorded as completed, but then it wasn’t. Or it’s decided I’m not a subscriber anymore (took literally two weeks to get that fixed), or etc. not sure why it doesn’t always record completed puzzles as completed, unless maybe we’re driving through somewhere with bad cell service (when we used to go places) right when the puzzle is completed.

I guess it means without missing a day? I dunno. I've been doing it for about the same amount of time, though I did have some lean years.

Does anyone do the daily Spelling Bee? I've been doing it the last week and have done pretty well, but today is pretty tough, I'm finding.