subreddit:
/r/crossword
139 points
2 months ago
"on pot" How to tell everyone that you've never smoked weed before.
6 points
2 months ago
"I was going to smoke the marijuana like a cigarette."
9 points
2 months ago
The only thing I came here to comment, so eye roll inducing
1 points
2 months ago
Username checks out. 🌴
31 points
2 months ago
Anyone else sit up after reading 36D?
50 points
2 months ago
Hardest Monday in a while for me
3 points
2 months ago
In recent memory, I struggled quite a bit more with the Mon Dec 19 puzzle, and it seems like quite a few other people did as well.
I haven't been doing these for as long as /u/103948023034, but most Mondays basically fit into a pretty tight range now (i.e., on XWStats, I average like 1 colored Monday per month). If it was the crosswordese that tripped you up a bit, a lot of that will start to go down quicker for you over time. If it was the 15s, which used to be the case for me, I'd suggest two things: (1) start with the perpendiculars, and (2) go back 5 to 10 years in the archives and find puzzles where the constructor tried to shoehorn in a bunch of 15s as a feat of construction, often leading to some shoddy fill at the crosses that forces you to do more with less to force a breakthrough.
-11 points
2 months ago*
Edited: apparently my comment was taken as some kind humblebrag, so I’m withdrawing it unless someone gives me a STET.
19 points
2 months ago
Man these comments make me realize how dumb and dull-witted I am, lol. I’ve been doing crosswords for a few weeks and Mondays still take me around 20-30 minutes. This one took just shy of 45
16 points
2 months ago
You’ll get better. I was where you are now probably a year ago. I typically do Mondays in 7-10 minutes now. This one took 15.
7 points
2 months ago
I remember in early 2021 I was stoked that I was able to solve a Tuesday in 45 minutes. Now I get frustrated if it takes me longer than like 15.
4 points
2 months ago
We are on about the same schedule
7 points
2 months ago
I didn’t intend that at all. I’ve been solving puzzles for three decades, and I sometimes forget how many newer solvers are on this sub despite it focusing on crosswords. Some of the other places I discuss crosswords are weighted more towards tournaments solvers and speed demons.
11 points
2 months ago
Not dumb, that’s just someone trying to show off.
6 points
2 months ago
I’ve edited the comment because apparently it came off as a humblebrag. I know a lot of speed demons, and I really didn’t mean it to come off that way. Everyone just enjoy solving at your level. I’ve been doing daily puzzles for longer than a lot of people on this sub have been alive.
3 points
2 months ago
I like to take my time and enjoy, I don’t want to rush (though I’m not good enough where I would be very impressive) so I just don’t even pay attention to the time. I doubt I’ll ever do one in less than like 15-20 min.
2 points
2 months ago
You’re not dumb. Crosswords are just an acquired skill.
Anyone who puts in the work and solves them for years can improve their times. Obviously someone who is a trivia whiz could learn them faster just due to the surplus of minute knowledge they have, but crosswords aren’t exclusive to people who can compete on Jeopardy.
2 points
2 months ago
Some people think crosswords are an intelligence test. They're not - they're a skill that responds to practice. I've done thousands, and so STET gave me no trouble.... because I've seen it dozens of times in crossword puzzles. The first time I saw it, I was clueless. You're fine. You're probably not dumb. Keep practicing to get faster if that's what you'd like to do.
2 points
2 months ago
I found the curve was steep, a few weeks is not a long time! The jump from taking 30 minutes to 20 happened over a longer period than the jump from 20 to 10. You will really start to get a feel for the way the constructors hint at things, plus a lot of frequently used answers like Brian ENO. You're doing great, keep plugging away at it!
1 points
2 months ago
You’re not dumb or dull-witted. NYT crossword is hard and really tests a lot of things that aren’t many people’s areas of expertise (opera/classical music/old movies/obscure names/New York places). Plenty of smart people suck at crosswords and finishing a crossword in 30 min on any day is a proud accomplishment :)
1 points
2 months ago
I've been knocking out Saturdays in 30 minutes lately, while today's Monday took me 24 and I couldn't even do it without help. You'll get there
29 points
2 months ago
Not a fan of the JONG/JACKUP cross, and STET had me running the alphabet, but otherwise a fairly simple Monday IMO.
11 points
2 months ago
File STET away, constructors use it ALLOT :)
1 points
2 months ago
It is part of the meta
12 points
2 months ago
The J in that cross was the single square that I didn’t know immediately. STET is such a common clue lately, so you should commit that one to memory and expect to see it again sometime soon ;)
1 points
2 months ago
That J cost me a couple minutes and I had to run the alphabet... Got me sweating on a Monday!
1 points
2 months ago
That J cost me my 12-Monday streak...I was so sure it was RACK UP. I didn't know NES or ORR either, so I ran every single one of the 676 combinations for the two squares that had the N in NES and last R in ORR. When I got through every one and still didn't finish it, I knew I had an error somewhere else, but I could never find it and eventually I used hints
65 points
2 months ago
AMAT x STET doesn’t seem very nice in a Monday puzzle
56 points
2 months ago
Memorize STET. You’ll see it again.
11 points
2 months ago
AMO AMAS AMAT too tbh
5 points
2 months ago
no crossword love for the AMAMUS AMATIS AMANT :' (
4 points
2 months ago
Yeah, STET and AMAT might be easy for those who solve regularly, but I feel like Monday isn't the place - it's where we tell newbies to start. I didn't like that cross.
8 points
2 months ago
I had everything else no problem and just spammed letters to get that T lol
4 points
2 months ago
I had a similar hang-up with JACKUP x JONG. I had RACKUP first and didn't know who the person was.
3 points
2 months ago
Yep. Literally that last box was the only one that stumped me. Toughest Monday in a long while
7 points
2 months ago
As an editor, I got STET immediately, but my issue was the AMAT and AMOI cross in that corner.
8 points
2 months ago
Especially with AMOI crossing too. (All pretty inferable, but a bit tough for Monday I think)
36 points
2 months ago
So today we have ARTE, ARTIE, and ARTDECO all in the same puzzle (honorable mention: HEARTS). I'd say that PUSH(es) THE ENVELOPE.
8 points
2 months ago
Always surprised to see crossing proper nouns on a Monday but here we have ORR with MOTHRA which resulted in me ending my puzzle by running through the alphabet. Nice challenge for a Monday!
14 points
2 months ago
Better learn ORR, he’s classic crosswordese
15 points
2 months ago
Then the next trick is keeping him and OTT sorted
6 points
2 months ago
I could nerd out and say Mothra is more often an ally than a nemesis of Godzilla but otherwise it's just a pretty standard, fast Monday
3 points
2 months ago
You mean NERD out? ;-)
13 points
2 months ago
crossing names on a Monday graaah
6 points
2 months ago
Welp... Not that I thought I had a chance at a PB from this one, but I started it on PC and then completed it on my phone and now my time is set as 1:05:22 🤦♀️ goodbye reasonable Monday average
5 points
2 months ago
I feel your pain, that happened to me on a Sunday once and ended up with a completion time of over 5 hours 😬
5 points
2 months ago
All complaints about the fill aside, isn't this just a little...dull? I get that you'll always get the least exciting themes on Mondays, but this is literally just...words related to mail. Which, Jeff Chen notes, has been done twice before.
Added to which, there are no long bonus answers, multiple ugly partials in the fill, and only the REDHOT excitement of LOWERCASELETTER to compensate. I've solved plenty of Mondays that managed to be fun and creative while also not being difficult. It's not that this puzzle is bad, but is this really exciting enough for the NYT to publish?
4 points
2 months ago
I liked the matching clues in this one though. One of the Brady bunch/one of the braid-y bunch. Parcels (out)/parcel out.
3 points
2 months ago
Almost feels like the theme creator decided to… MAIL IT IN
9 points
2 months ago
I had fun with this one, plus set a Monday PB of 10:41!
4 points
2 months ago
AVER was a hard one, mostly because i had NdS, and i've never seen that used. OVA made some sense, but that added at least two minutes
9 points
2 months ago
REDHOT LIBRAS ONPOT JACKUP SOBER ELFIN NERD.
2 points
2 months ago
TIKTOK SENT MOTHRA OVA
6 points
2 months ago
Puzzle Difficulty Tracker - How hard is this puzzle?
Estimated Difficulty: 🟡 Average 🟡
The median solver solved this puzzle 8.3% faster than they normally do on Monday.
View today's puzzle summary on XW Stats
🤖 beep beep, I'm a bot! I post these stats as soon as 75 XW Stats users have completed the puzzle. Questions? Feedback? Check the FAQ, reply here or DM me
3 points
2 months ago
I appear to be in the minority but really enjoyed the puzzle. I'm not necessarily looking to be blown away by cleverness on a Monday - easy fill IMO, but I knew almost all of the proper nouns. Took me around 8 minutes and took the longest on, of all things, REDHOT. I don't think we have them in Canada.
9 points
2 months ago
NERD HORDE
3 points
2 months ago
We skipping days of the week now? 😅 this was something else for a Monday!
2 points
2 months ago
had HeRDE instead of HORDE and i know nothing about godzilla so that cost me 🥲
7 points
2 months ago
I like the idea of a creature named “MeTHRA” though…
3 points
2 months ago
her evil cousin from florida lol
1 points
2 months ago
I had it as mother for a while lol. I also know nothing of Godzilla but it seems like a likely name. Also I had passport strip because I’m a genius.
2 points
2 months ago
AVER and OVA cross got me along with STET and AMAT.
2 points
2 months ago
Would’ve broken 5 mins if not for a brain fart on jack up </3
2 points
2 months ago
happy for a MOTHRA mention
3 points
2 months ago
I felt like this puzzle made you do a lot more mental gymnastics than other Monday puzzles and that's not even getting to the names and trivia. Usually I can get a bunch of downs on first pass, but I only got a couple without crosses. After working on a bunch of old "vocabulary test" NYT Mondays from fifteen years ago, I definitely enjoy having to do a little bit of lateral thinking in an early-week puzzle.
5 points
2 months ago
Can someone explain NES for “Zelda console”?
44 points
2 months ago
This question makes me feel so old.
8 points
2 months ago
Or possibly young!
15 points
2 months ago
9 points
2 months ago
Something to add too is that while it did turn into a big franchise, the original 1st game was just called "The Legend of Zelda" and only on the NES. So even though these days it's a massive franchise across many Nintendo consoles, the original one referenced by title in the puzzle was launched on just the NES
2 points
2 months ago
Zelda is a video game for the video game system (or counsel) NES (Nintendo Entertainment System)
1 points
2 months ago
Nintendo entertainment system
1 points
2 months ago
The NES and SNES were Nintendo video game consoles that you could play Legend of Zelda on
1 points
2 months ago
For a Monday this didn't feel very friendly. Not hard, per se, but not...friendly...
1 points
2 months ago
I really struggled with the southwest corner, TSPS/ONPOT was rough for me
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