#nytxw

[garyjugert]

Thursday, September 5, 2024

Uniclues by Gary Jugert:

1 AI powered clay.

2 Changes out the Farrah Fawcett poster.

3 Result of getting together for lunch and complaining about those damn kids these days.

4 What the Beverly Hillbillies used to run to the grocery.

5 Indonesian derrieres.

***

1 SMART PLAYDOH (~)

2 AMPS UP ART A TAD (~)

3 AD HOC ENMITY

4 STRAW HAT LIMO

5 BORNEO KEISTERS

[sexhaver]

i know i shame the NYTXW a lot these days but like. come the fuck on dude. apparently the logic here is that the letter P is the "back" of the word "snap", and then you have to make the totally normal logical leap of parsing "PEE" as anything other than. well. pee.

[jewfrogs]

“supernatural actor _____ collins” in the nytxw today….

[cjinxrun]

So nytxwblr isn't exactly a thing is it? I discovered this yesterday when texting my bestie excerpts from wordplay a few weeks ago and she said

At which I found #nytxw was populated by basically one person, with spoilery posts that are deeply confusing to me. Shoutout to that guy. No idea what your deal is.

I've poked fun at the idea of posting my crossword musings before-- I've been solving for over 7 years now, but it's not like I'm a constructor or anything. We will SEE if this becomes anything consistent or not. For now, we'll be playing with post structure and style, and it'll be on my main blog. If I keep going, I'll make a sideblog just for this.

So. Today's puzzle. I need a puzzle to really justify when it's got squares with no crossing. Through a certain lens, the theme (revealed at 63A) is the crossing for those circled squares, but then we run into the major issue: like a BUNCH of these are proper nouns, and WEIRD proper nouns. Also, weird to have a themed Saturday, huh? Didn't expect the showy colors at the end either. Real shocking at 2am...

Spoilers under the cut:

Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I solved at 2am when I couldn't get to sleep, but I could NOT fill in the circled squares. When I gave up and turned to Google for the search terms in 52D's clue (Violinist Zimbalist), I had CO___TT_ and I wasn't going to be able to make it to CONFETTI from there, even with the reveal. It was tough, as a Saturday should be, but it didn't feel satisfying because I felt like I needed prior knowledge of EFREM Zimbalist, Edwin MEESE, and Abba EBAN to get to the finish line. It's possible that I could have gotten some rest, come back to it, and gotten TONED from "Fit" and DJ MIC from "Part of a turntablist's headgear, for short." (Side note-- a post-hoc Google confirms for me that no, DJs usually want to use a freestanding microphone, NOT a headset... and DJ MIC is not a real category of mic. Not uncommon in crosswords, but I can be justified that DJM__ didn't get me there.)

I get songs in my head due to clues or entries sometimes. SO check out my daily playlist! Usually it'll be pretty short, maybe only a song or two... connections may not be clear, but it's where MY head goes!

Fun new things I learned:

20A: ULSTER coats? Bring them back in fashion pls, we need more capes.

33A: TABLA. I've seen em, I didn't know what they were called. V cool, love learning about instruments.

42A: Tolkien contributed to the OED? Of course he did.

[exclamaquest]

eboy in the nytxw

[krelnik]

When I saw this clue in today’s #nytimes #crossword my mind went to a different I.M.F. #BarneysInTheVent #MissionImpossible #nytxw https://instagr.am/p/CLmmpikAvgy/

[alexvcook]

I constructed my first crossword last night. Not the tightest grid, but I’m pretty happy with it. Solve it at https://ift.tt/2BR69b0 #crosswordpuzzle #crossword #nytxw https://ift.tt/2Jy4J9E

[oldguardaudio]

New York Times crossword puzzle editor apologizes for letting a racial slur slip past

New York Times crossword puzzle editor apologizes for letting a racial slur slip past

Here’s some big news we missed on New Year’s Day: the New York Times’ crossword puzzle editor tweeted one of those “I’m sorry if you were offended” apologies for the “distraction” caused by a puzzle answer.

A response from Will Shortz about the entry 2D in today's crossword puzzle. #NYTXW pic.twitter.com/WEF1MCw0AP

— NYTimes Wordplay (@NYTimesWordplay) January 1, 2019

“Distracted by side…

[garyjugert]

Uniclues:

1 Ordered McDonald's from Uber-Eats.

2 The New York Times crossword department creedo.

3 Why the company is under performing.

4 Truck stop is huge.

5 Mocking comment over the news my little brother got a job.

6 Pig's cup of Alka-Seltzer.

***

1 RANG SAD DINING

2 ENSURE ASS RILE

3 TOP BANANA'S ACID

4 MACK AREA AMPLE

5 "AW, GOON EARNS"

6 STY GASSER MUG

[garyjugert]

Saturday, November 3, 2024

Uniclue Poems and Super Short Stories from the NYTXW by Gary Jugert

1. ALASKA PENINSULA ETHOS: I can see Russia from my house.

⁃ The winds were howling, the snow was drifting, the sun hadn’t risen in weeks, and from where she sat staring into the murky world from a frozen window pane, she knew they’d still be trying to find her. And they probably would. “I’m gonna make sure they regret it,” she mumbled to nobody. “They’ll regret it real good.”

2. GODDAUGHTER AMMO: Smart alec comments.

⁃ The godfather stood at the christening and thought, “I will make her in my own image. Smart. Funny. And sassy. Fifteen years later, he would come to regret his success as he watched her bully a 15-year-old boy into tears while in line for a slice of pizza.

3. INA RESENTS THE CANOE: Celebrity chef Garten doesn't want to make Duck a l'Orange in a boat.

⁃ The producers said it would be a fine cooking show in the country. When it turned out to be a competition to produce French culinary classics while sailing in a canoe with a camp stove, every star chef wanted to look at their contracts. One starlet started a fire.

4. ODESSA MOOD CONGRUENCE: When you wear a cowboy hat in New York City.

⁃ Clarence left his room on the 36th floor of the Times Square hotel wearing the cowboy hat … without irony. Eighteen hours later he returned to the room without the hat. And without pants.

5. CIVIC MINDED ODOR: Aroma d'City Council.

⁃ Socialite and benefactor Mamie Austin, better known as Mrs. Chamber of Commerce to everyone in town sat at her television the week after Thanksgiving. The local news told the story of homelessness, drug wars, murders, and poverty in her city, and then cut to perfume commercials by celebrities doused in waterfalls. And the lightbulb illuminated. She raced to her apothecary. “I need you to mix a new fragrance, a scent unique to our city. We’ll have every woman and man in the city smelling of it by Christmas. Aroma d’City Council will create the civic minded odor and civic minded profits to save our city.” The apothecary smiled her hideous smile with her missing and yellowed teeth. “Yes Mrs. Austin. Right away.”

[garyjugert]

Saturday, November 2, 2024

Uniclue Poems and Super Short Stories from the NYTXW

1. COLDCALL OPENER: "How ya doin' today, buddy? Listen…"

⁃ And immediately after those words oozed from the telephone into my ears the rage began and it’s why I’m sitting in a cell right now.

2. COAXED TO A TEE: "Today's the day you're gonna break 90; I feel it in my bones."

⁃ That’s where we started. Then there was the beer. And the cart girl’s friend. And now I don’t know where my pants or my wallet are.

3. TRUE JETES STOP: When the ballet goes bankrupt.

⁃ Ernestine McGuillocutty was a pillar of the artistic community and a fixture at every important performance of the company. She’d been managing the books for decades and none of us ever thought to wonder how she afforded the number of trips she took. I suppose we assumed her husband made good money.

4. ERASER ASSAILED: Nixon criticized.

⁃ Those tapes. That 18 minutes. Somebody had to make them go away.

5. DERATS SET LIST: Cover band chooses not to play Nirvana.

⁃ You’re supposed to like this music if you’re “cool.” Problem is it’s bad music foisted upon our ears by a commercial marketing machine and we’ve decided to put a stop to it. Instead, please prepare your head for the following….

6. ACCESS FALTERED: When you took Gandalf's advice on a route into Mordor.

⁃ Down at the pub, they pulled out of map of Middle Earth and said, “Well, here are all the possible ways to reach Mordor.” And of course the wizard said, “I’m gonna take them on the worst possible route. Where would that be?”

7. ROLL UP EVERMORE: End your Swiftie-ismic ways.

⁃ Her mouse poised over the delete button for an excruciating number of seconds. Was it time? She’d lived her life by a code, a love affair really, and now it was time to move on. With one click. Or not.

[garyjugert]

Friday, November 1, 2024

Uniclues by Gary Jugert

1 When your opponent wipes away tears with his green belt.

2 Well, somebody hasta make 'em walk the plank.

3 Why you're poor and MGM is rich, sadly.

***

1 DOJO EGO BOOSTER

2 A JOB IS A JOB ASEA (~)

3 ONLINE POKER, GRR

[garyjugert]

Thursday, October 31, 2024

Uniclues by Gary Jugert

1 Write "Citizen Kane."

2 Why the shirtless dude on the float in a gold spandex leotard has a bit of a tummy.

3 Ye Olde place to buy "Breakfast at Tiffany's."

4 Inevitable expense when murder and torture is on the menu.

5 Is it Poison? No. 5? Or J'adore?

6 When Puerto Ricans tell the truth according to the Mad Grampa's Campaign Rallies.

7 Written approval for London Fogs.

***

1 FOMENT SLED BIT

2 PRIDE MONTH CRESCENT ROLL

3 CAPOTE SHOPPE

4 LAB RAT RE-ORDER

5 MINCE HER AROMA

6 TRASH CANDOR

7 TEA TROLLEY PERMIT

[garyjugert]

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Uniclues by Gary Jugert

1 Smooth monkey man.

2 Repeat after me, playoff successes for the Denver Broncos over the last nine torturous years and now that carpet bagger quarterback is killin' in Pittsburgh.

3 Windows 11.

4 Former stretcher.

***

1 HAIR WAX APE

2 GOOSE EGG MANTRA (~)

3 ANTAGONIST'S IOS

4 YOGA ONE ONCE

[garyjugert]

Tuesday, October 29, 2024

Uniclues by Gary Jugert

1 Ask an ogre to babysit.

2 The Rex Parker blog.

3 Harmonious salad enthusiasts.

4 Breaking Bad, inc.

5 ... and yet she missed the high notes.

6 Komodo swami.

7 It's murdered and probably won't kill anybody, so you're good to ship it out.

***

1 ENTRUST SHREK

2 META ADO

3 WALDORF PEP BAND

4 ICE FIRM

5 MEZZO PIPED UP

6 RED LIZARD SEER

7 USDA PROMPT

[garyjugert]

Monday, October 28, 2024

Uniclues by Gary Jugert

1 Inkers' crown.

2 What they were bumping in Chernobyl.

3 A big Roy Rogers without a cherry.

***

1 OCTOPUSES' TIARA

2 ATOMIC DJ SET (~)

3 UNLIT LARGE COKE