this is the thread where we complain about the new york times crossword puzzle

well no, it does have an independent life of its own. jordan and dan s have literally just explained it!??

jordan and dan's explanations both cited a further context that would make explicit an element missing in the clue. Also "big up" is most certainly not the same as "up big" as a standalone phrase and it gets used in a completely different way.

"further context that would make explicit an element missing in the clue" - this is how crosswords work - they all have elements missing in the clues - otherwise it wouldn't be a puzzle, it would be a mechanical box-filling exercise

"big up" was an excuse to make a joke, playing on the words, not an example of a phrase with the same meaning

and now we're all caught up!

‘THE[NOUN]’ is bad but perhaps, occasionally, necessary; you sure as hell can’t use it twice in the same puzzle

‘doesn’t wax’ ≠ WANES ffs

That’s a good clue

most things that wane do wax or have waxed. most things that simply 'don't wax' could are in a perpetual steady state that also never wanes. in terms of logic, it's a horribly formed clue. in terms of most crossword clues' sheer blasphemy-worthy cussedness, it is only a bit worse than average.

If anything you should complain about them platforming a Billboard clickbait list

really?

Pretty cringe, no lying

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/inside-the-new-york-times-big-bet-on-games

You know, I've had a NYT subscription through work for years, but it didn't used to include the crossword. For a year or two, I ponied up for an add-on crossword subscription, but eventually let it lapse. So I haven't really been in the habit of doing it at all. (The only crossword I've regularly done in recent years is the one on the back page of The New Yorker.)

Then, a few weeks ago, I decided to download the NYT Games app because the mobile site kept pushing it to me when I played Wordle every morning. Which is when I discovered that now I *do* have free access to the crossword! And not just on the app. So I've been enjoying getting back into it.

I'm still puzzled by the mini-game where you have to match pairs of shapes. There doesn't seem to be a catch. You just match pairs of shapes. There isn't even a time limit.

You match elements of pairs, right? When you select two shapes with at least one matching element, it removes those elements, but you only get one point however many were removed. So in order to get a perfect score, you need to plan ahead so you are only ever matching pairs with one element in common.

I think the bad things about this app and its games can be summed up by the fact that the subtitle for wordle is “untangle terms”

otm

there are so many extraneous and useless words and i hate them

Good morning. New puzzles are waiting for you.
(at other times of day it displays even worse things about ‘winding down’)
Crack the clues in today’s puzzle.
Fill the grid with answers. Ready?
Untangle terms
Group words
Connect characters
Match motifs
Decode digits
Go fuck yourself

you are being interpellated as an extremely basic aspirational dimwit

wtf

that is bewildering

Sucks

I still don’t think that makes it “modern.” The puzzle column seems to imply its “colloquial” but those words don’t mean the same thing to me

It’s not worse than that twee “story” but it is very lame

Okay today has some major mindfuckery.

I filled everything in fine and was like, "huh?" Then "oh HELL no." Then "whoa."

Yeah v elegant

it's like a sfw version of the freud nyer one

what a great puzzle. probably shouldn't have started in the middle

ffs lads

Synonym found after deleting half the letters of EXHILARATE

Pulitzer-winning author whose name is found in nonconsecutive letters of “page turner”

i mean i’m sorry that james AGEE is inevitable fill several times a month but try harder

for all of the grid embellishments, that puzzle was kind of dull in general.

57A was brutal clue and answer.

not really a complaint, but it’s weird to go six years without ARHAT then get it on back-to-back days

I learned it from the NYT Spelling Bee!