I've never heard of TOTINOS, but finally got TRAMP, and I was there. That these two constructors like harder puzzles is fine with me. Don't ever make me do that again.This was excruciating for me. @SBers0 (Go for it!). You want to meet someone interesting that doesn't need a screwdriver or some ferns? Maybe its a generational thing, but this was an absolute breeze for me. Cant decide whether to respond congrats or go away troll! I did.It's still working.Friend @JD. Some random thoughts. I assume y'all saw the WS hero-worship piece in the Guardian. Took forever to grok INDY clue. Solid through and through livened with flecks of scintillation in clue and answer.I started with a Wha? when I slapped in the NW with hardly a blink, but then Sir Not-so-fast stepped in with his supply of barriers. There's no actual "penalty" involved, but they call them that because the setup is the same: a lone offensive player gets to shoot the ball (or puck) with only the goalie to defend. Getting RECAP dropped the others into place. Really admired the CLEOPATRA + AEROSMITH combo fillins. Too hard, too soft? Awww (Thanks for the eschmo-ji @Bo), Naitcked -Vehicle = movieIndy = character NOT the same imo. To insist only one of those is correct seems more tedious than accurate. She tells girls to go to the laundromat to meet boys for much the same reasons. Don't know if any comments responded to the 31A clue query. Never would have thought of AEROSMITH (and Disney) and didn't know ARENDT, so the NW was a Naticky area.But finished the rest after getting help with those 2. I'd never heard MOONY, but it makes sense in an over-the-moon kind of way. And this, despite falling hook, line, and spare tire for the "Ford vehicle" misdirect.As a car MAVEN, I felt quite humbled not being able to come up with a Ford model. Also, why no (')? Today theres a poem by LINDA HOGAN, born July 16, 1947.RECUERDOLet me take it through my heart again,that unchanging moment,you wading through the river,me wading toward you, laughing,the illumination of that moment,the shine of our skinand clouds coming toward us.They are the sky beings who live abovewith tears ready to falllike the origins of rain; no one knowswhat they have seen in their previous fluid form.For now, I merely go through that one day again,remembering, traveling toward the riverpast the place where snakes shed their skinagainst stoneand move onnew, shining like a constant,ceaseless stream of wateras it crawls across earth, changes and passesblood memory, saltwater memory,toward our laughter and joythat moves once again through this heart. After looking up the PPP, the puzzle was for me easier than a typical Friday puzzle. @Gill had me all atingle, thinking of a warm worm tongue that could tie knots around better stop there. And a quick scan of Rex shows me his wife did too. I don't get why BUILT is fine for muscly, but FIT requires "muscly, say", but nevermind. . Best of luck to you. Managed to work through it with no cheats. The second game was an utter demolition: 15-1. A lot. I only use them for long-term applications since, as A @4:07 PM points out, they are one time use only items. The prima donnas will just crush your soul but the PLAIN JANES will nurture you and be your friend and that is more valuable than rubies. ), and like Rex, I didn't know that PDA stood for personal digital assistant. YULE LOG is cool. Birdie. It seems on the hard end for a Friday, but not really Saturday tough here. And I won't even mention wavelength. Hey All !I took the clue (Bites in a sense) as REACTS to mean something a dog might do. Its a good puzzle - just not an overly enjoyable solve for me. Also, being of German descent, the name ARENDT is perfectly believable to me; FACTIS I used to know someone named ARNDT (close enough). Wish me luck? Fun to find that in a crossword grid.My first entry into the puzzle was ARENDT, (the only famous author Hannah I know of) but I still had to work hard to fill in the rest of the NW. And I might add, their beauteous photos make me depressingly aware that Im in serious need of a PRIMP. After getting nearly nothing in the north and fretting, the south filled up quickly for me. @JohnX You approach me in a hardware store offering help and I'll kick your sexist ass back to the nineteenth century, where you wish you still lived, women and slaves knew their place. To each his/her own. He said they're going to reinstate the mask requirement because of the D variant in spite of the fact that the campus vaccine rate is close to 100%. Can someone explain why "oneall" is the answer to the clue "low draw"? Your suggestion is as far from a soccer match as is the PK solution. I get all MOONY over a Friday I can actually handle. We play to win, but respecting opponents is a core tenet of the sport. Put another way: I found this fresh, fun and quite easy.Some of that is down to wheelhouse stuff -- I'm familiar with both Hannah ARENDT and TOTINOS, so I didn't even notice the crosses that are rightly called out as Natick-like.But more than that, I loved things like MOMFRIEND sitting atop PLAINJANE, with both crossed by HANDYMAN. Rex has added a natick alert for TOTINOS/ATROPOS. My really quick count is 24 of 70, for 34%, so not the worst weve seen but above the 33% line where we see this sort of disparity (although usually just in the comments, not usually so clearly trapping Rex, too). . Cheers! Tape, light meter, contrast glass would all be better answers for this clue. And when the answer to the vexing and brilliant clue [LOW DRAW] hit me, I wowed, bowed, then finished the grid, feeling very good about the world, and how often do we feel very good about the world these days?Mr. It seems like more than just a personal peeve.I thought baseball Cardinals first also (Hi, Barbara), but T of threat reminded me of the Arizona football team (formerly of St. Louis). Hands up for SEe/ARENDe, but with no happy pencil, T was the first letter I thought of and recognized both the name and SET made more sense. Wait. From yesterday: Thanks to @Frantic Sloth for the belated (not your fault!) I was unfamiliar with both. Like BrianP, I found this very easy for a Friday, and very close to my fastest Friday time. Rex doesnt hold back on his criticism in spite of Maymudes and Wilson being relatively new female constructors. The original iPhone came out in the summer of 2007, so it was around there that the death knell of the PDA began to toll. I never realized vehicle was so precise. Hah! And then it hit me - not the car, but the answer. ZOOMBOMB -- more like this, please!And just yesterday, my wife yet again expressed her annoyance at my loud chewing, so PETPEEVE hit home.I wish the cluing had been crunchier (Exhibit A: the too-much-info clue for DIANNE) but nothing else rankled. Can someone explain the Arendt/set confusion to me. It helped that some key points like ARENDT and ZOOMBOMB played as gimmes. I couldn't see REACTS, but read the clue for HOLIEST and started muttering to myself about how the puzzle was dumbing itself down too much. Watch for her to eventually snap at all her less responsible friends.OMEGA was in the mini yesterday, so that was at the ready. Fair clueing, I thought. its also worth noting that in 1944 they combined with the Steelers to form a single team. Hand up for reedY. Was the capitol ZIP TIES guy just an innocent gaffer looking for work? That was tough. Why? Couldn't see CLEOPATRA, as I've heard of Ptolemys, but don't know who/what they are. I really liked the ZIPTIES clue. ', Pop Sensation Vintage Paperbacks and Other Cultural Detritus. The constructor notes mentioned the seed for this puzzle was 33D ZOOM BOMB, a most excellent and timely crossword entry. Some are surprisingly touching sweet and philosophical if you get by the crude and rude. Had to resort to Check Puzzle to ferret out my wrongness. PIANOLA is also a new term for me. I was so excited when I ate at the original restaurant and found the tomato sauce exactly matched my memory of childhood pizza. I had betaTEST, too, like probably 94.3% of solvers, and couldnt think of MALLRATS for a long time. This was my second fastest Friday ever, so it couldnt be that hard. Z, Well done. And if a song is a vehicle for a singer I have no problem with thinking a role (especially over a series of films) as a vehicle for an actor. For the first time ever I breezed through a puzzle Rex rates Challenging!! MOM FRIEND and ANTEATER crossing Feinstein are definitely PLAIN JANE. Not sure why this seemed so hard. But the clue went over my head even though I got the right answer. Help from previous puzzles: PDA as clued, NAE, ARNE. Oof. This played more like a hard Wednesday for me. More of this please! . This grid is clean and bright enough, but because of the cluing, it was less of a joy and more of a strugglefest than I would've liked on a Friday. NW corner passage was the hard part, at our house:* Had SEE instead of SET. YepCalifornia counties are now requiring (or mandating) masks again. @TTrimble for SB___Peace ~ Empathy ~ Tolerance ~ Health ~ Kindness to all . Always liked Monica SELES. I know it sounds anti-American, but I hate pizza. Thats 100% correct. Gave me a run for Fridayand my last working Friday. Meghan r., let me guess you're single, with zero prospects. Breakfast tests just bring me down. A "vehicle" for a movie star is a film, not a role:In the motion picture industry, a star vehicle (or simply vehicle) is a film written or produced for a specific star, regardless of whether the motive is to further their career or simply to profit from their current popularity. Liked the NW corner especially CLEOPATRA - but went downhill after that. @Frantic Sloth - Were the 16th seed out of 16. Was able, slowly, to seep out into he grid from there, not helped by ATROPOS; crosses needed FOR her. Hand up for betaTEST. . Get some perspective . @Plain Jane and Schmo, Will love blossom in the time of a pandemic? Great clue for Aural. Oh so lovely. Never heard of MOM FRIEND but I think everybody ought to have ONE. Woohoo! 7 on 7 is simply a contra I an email, utterly alien to anything in the rules. I found the puzzle quite easy for a Friday and completed in half my average time. No, it was just right for a Friday - and I solved in fits and starts (and stares). She is in the aisles trying to find stuff to fix her own home and you should be a gentleman and assist her, and who knows maybe boy meets girl and girl meets boy. . A rare Friday when I find the puzzle easier than OFL, infrequent but delightful when it happens.Lots of solid toeholds/near gimmes for me--in the NW, SET + ARENDT, middle, BULLETS, NE, ICEDANCE, SE, PLAINJANE, SW ZIPTIES + ZOOMBOMB. MOM FRIEND. It wasn't until I got FRAMEUPS off the R and the U that the dam broke and everything became clear. Prior to that I was really floundering. That answer was a little obnoxious.Forgot to mention that this was my candidate for WTFuzzle of the Year so far. @JohnX You approach me in a hardware store offering help and I'll kick your sexist ass back to the nineteenth century, where you belong. The infamous Steagles). Would someone mind listing the 400 definitions for SET? I stare at UMA again and she isn't happy. But Mr. Lover-of-beauty, who also lives there, appreciated the clean grid and the images it spurred from many areas, such when ICE DANCE shifted my mind to figure skating and I pictured a gorgeous Death Spiral.Oh so lovely. FIRS fit, but they weren't "for short". I am gaffer and I also founnd the clue "gaffer's supply" to be a stretch. Not the St. Louis Cardinals, obviously. Thanks Rex, you made my evening. and rex is bitching that a Friday played tougher than a Saturday?? Expect PITFALLS on Friday and Saturday and step up. Heres a bite: In an ever-changing, incomprehensible world the masses had reached the point where they would, at the same time, believe everything and nothing, think that everything was possible and that nothing was true one could make people believe the most fantastic statements one day, and trust that if the next day they were given irrefutable proof of their falsehood, they would take refuge in cynicism; instead of deserting the leaders who had lied to them, they would protest that they had known all along that the statement was a lie and would admire the leaders for their superior tactical cleverness Sound familiar?I remember disapproving of ZIP TIES when they first came out. I didnt REACT well to worm tongue. Eww! They were PIANIST/PIANOLA and MOMFIGURE/MOMFRIEND. Crap. The PLAY part of PLAYTEST filled itself in.Some faves:Splitting of hairs? PARTOer and oer OFTRoll player PIANOLASpirited message board? OUIJAYULE LOG made me think its Christmas in July.Cardinal pts.? This is Wilsons third for the NYT (her first one was in April) and theres another one coming in about two weeks. SADLY, no more North Star answers appeared. I know her she's a MOM FRIEND of mine. Twice. I figured out how to twist it into a little sandwich box. @John X: Regarding boy meets girl at the hardware store, thats good advice which works both ways. The Indy movies perhaps. @Whatsername and friend @John X. Didn't help that I started last night while already falling asleep, then woke to a scattershot grid of "what was I thinking?? Hard to let go of reedY, MOOdY. Just goes to show I don't know my Egyptian history; TIL that CLEOPATRA VII was the last ruler in the Ptolemaic dynasty. I know what ZIP TIES are, I got a bunch off them in several sizes. MALLRATS -- LOL. Thank goodness for CLEOPATRA, who got me going. Recalled Angela Ahrendts from Apple, which made the 'dt' plausible. @Plain Jane:Well, I never. Z: My alternative to PKs: After 90 minutes, both teams play 7 (goal tender and six field players) a side in sudden death OT. I suppose. I can imagine not knowing Arendt, but if you have "se_" there are roughly three candidates for the third letter and it does not seem difficult to guess the correct answer from the clue (multiply definitions of sew, see, and set in your head for a moment).I'm more generally confused about reacting to naticks with that sparkling american rage. So silly in fact that Larry David -- he who was known on the Seinfeld set for not laughing but just saying, "yeah, that's funny, keep it in the script" -- couldn't stop from cracking up in rehearsal. Someday.31A Bites. I had the -EAS and came up with teases. Ford vehicle - wanted pony but already had ARENDT. That bit of high school Classics knowledge made this puz go a lot faster for me than it otherwise would have. Hard to believe Rex called this challenging. Anyways, the most annoying thing in this puzzle was PLAY TEST over BETA TEST. Stick with frisbee. Quite a bit of sparkle, liked it. Hard to argue that the clue is not trivial trivia, but it seems like the kind of trivial trivia Crossword enthusiasts might know. It makes more sense now. Hence "Ptolemaic" is often contrasted with "Copernican". Part of that respect is playing your best, even against the 16 seed. The term certainly was used into the 2000s, but more-or-less died out for by 2010 or so. Isn't loud chewing universally despised? Thanks for opening my eyes. When a blog troll posts something provocative and someone REACTS, they take the bait or "Bite" as a fish might on a lure.I think it's pretty whiny to complain about a "Natick" on Friday. SET is rather famous for having the longest entry in the O.E.D. Knew ARENDT, but agree that it's also a terrible cross with SET. If I wanted to troll for men, Id go looking at a Lowes or Home Depot etc. I liked this one. But "fit" can mean several things and one does not need to be muscly to be fit. Once UMA pointed out that it was FRAMEUPS, not the horrendous FRAMingS I'd put in, I breezed right through the NE as far as PULLS and REACTS. Keep Your Brain Healthy And Younger By Solving 1 Crossword Puzzle Daily. Why even continue? Then I came here to verify the O (I eschew the app, prefering to print the puzz and solve with pen. And I agree that TOTINOS crossing ATROPOS was a Natick. Is "PLAYTEST" a real phrase, or was it made up for the sake of the puzzle? Do they still say that? In the SW I had two write overs. Guessed right on TOTINOS. "And then finally finished up in the SW corner which was the easiest part of the puzzle for me. Like Rex, cartoon question marks over ZIP TIES, but otherwise it seemed sort of simple. And also like @Gills tongue description! TINNY reminded me of an acting class I once took where the person read Rick's line from Casablanca as "TINY piano" and off I went to "Frantic's imagery land" for a good 10 minutes, trying desperately not to laugh. At Rexword.com? So I was surprised to see the "Gaffer" clue. . Pardon m&e now, while I do my ICEDANCE bUrrr. [Many thanx to @RP, for the INDY explainer.] Totally agree with Z: Using PKs to decide a match is like deciding the NBA championship by having two players play a game of horse after one overtime. @Joe SchmoNice try but you are defined by your averageness in social status and perhaps by being a bit obnoxious or foolish. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator. I remember it back from elementary school days as being in the Guinness Book of World Records as the word with the most definitions. Normally with that much material written in a section will just fall into place. Rex didnt do well on the puzzle so blames the clueing. Thx, Sophia & Kyra for this fun Fri. puz! Actually, this puz had lots sparkly stuff.Thanx for gangin up on us, Sophia & Kyra. (Shes the one who cuts the thread of your life at the end of it, thus bringing about your death, so you should probably give her as much respect as you can muster.) I loved the cast of characters, the MALL RATS, SAGES, MAVEN, HANDYMAN, PLAIN JANE and MOM FRIEND along with the A-listers CLEOPATRA, ARENDT, DIANNE, and ATROPOS. Waaay off! That legitimately made me mad. @NancyI think you might not be in the cult. Never did understand INDY even after I was done - wondered if it was somehow referring to the Indy 500 and ford had become a supplier that I missed. The only thing better than a HANDYMAN is a facile man. That and UMA and STROLLS got me moving and next thing you know Im on a PIANOLA (roll) A very nice puzzle. False friend REEDY from a recent puzzle led me astray.Trying not to use my AC 24/7, so sweating BUckETS here in NYC. Have no fear, I stayed well hydrated, had lots of fun, got a spirit prize, AND @montyboy stopped by with his grandson for a game. Seems to me that Cardinals pts. Your contributions help keep this site strong, independent, and ad-free! I enjoyed it and beat my average Friday time by over 8 minutes doing it. @10:08 - Ive been known to just start over, assuming nothing is right, and go at a section as if I have no letters yet, specifically starting with the crosses I didnt have. The Cards began in Chicago in the 19th Century but had moved to Racine when the NFL was formed. Certainly the NE was the hardest section for me. I'd love to have the real OED but just what's in my Webster's I won't learn if I live to be 100. Unlimited substitution (every time the balls goes out of play, previously removed players can re-enter) in order to deal with exhaustion. I think that repeats a previously stated thought. I had betaTEST before PLAYTEST (never heard of that before). I work across, then down, then fill. Regarding Rex's point about struggling in a corner only to later discover a gimme clue, I had that exact experience (and that exact reaction) in the SE today with DIANNE Feinstein. I particularly enjoyed OMEGA ("Last of the Greeks") and MAVENalways nice to see some Yiddish in the puzzle. Bites = reacts, as in, Ill bite@unknown:In the context of polar ice caps melting, 100+ degree temps in the PNW, covid variants spreading . I dont understand 31A: Bites, in a sense with answer REACTS. :)___yd 0 Peace ~ Empathy ~ Tolerance ~ Health ~ Kindness to all . I feel a little better now. I can twirl it into a knot.So I go back upstairs and stare some more. I just couldn't let go of reedY/MOOdY, despite the fact that the clue for "moody" seemed a bit off. I look at 33A Gaffer's supply and all I could think of was DEPENDS. If you think a twenty year old NYT puzzle has stood the test of time, it means you know old stuff. Too easy finished under my average Wednesday time. I have many MOM FRIENDS. Kevin Smith movies are crude rude drugfests and hilarious. I also started in the SE and worked out from there until I got to YALTA which could have been bad crossed with HARTE. Speaking of which I was INDY was a reference to this beast of an engine by Ford: https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/ccrp-1304-horsepower-ford-indy-v8/ . It should have been clued that way. It's a less-than-ideal way to determine a winner, but proponents argue it's more practical than other solutions. OK. and it all came together.Well, it all worked out, and with the kind of tough struggle I like on a Friday. A singer sings a song as an actor plays a roll. Albatross 1:30. First cheat.What the hell are ZIP TIES? ( Yes, the Packers were playing then too, but they werent part of the inaugural season of the league. ) Totally agree. I started by throwing down FRAME UPS for 1A, which I quickly confirmed with ARENDT, and pretty much cruised from there, pausing only a few times to scratch my head (originally had DOMINOS for TOTINOS, which is a pizza brand I'm not familiar with; spelled SELES with an I, preventing me from seeing PAPER). The rest of the puzzle was typical Friday and felt like a Wednesday after that struggle in the NW. I started go wonder if gaffers were rich old guys who walked around with fIfTIES. Harder than an average Saturday for me.MOM FRIEND and PLAY TEST were new, but perfectly reasonable. What would be the more current way to clue PDAS? How to Solve Universal Crosswords easily? . ( The Steelers had combined with the Eagles in 1943. My BITE on it: Sounds like a character in GoT or LotR or Dune. Agree with Rex on the PAPER clue. Let's just say that UMA and I stared at each other for some time. At least a PK resolution to a tie offers some drama to an otherwise pretty ho hum sport. Oh, and though I filled in CLEOPATRA easily enough, I think of Caesarion as the last of the Ptolemys. We always called them Player Pianos. TOTINOS inevitably brings to mind a recurring SNL skit involving a housewife (Vanessa Bayer) feeding her "hungry guys" during football games. At least I'd assume you are. Her 1951 book The Origins of Totalitarianism has experienced renewed interest in the last few years. Like Z said, it is trivia, but I would think it's trivia that is reasonable for logophiles like cruciverbalists to know.I thought the PDA clue was cute. Sophia Maymudes and Kyra Wilson - Thanks you for the fun. MOMFRIEND is also new to me.Much of this puzzle was out of my wheelhouse. Challenging (much more Saturday than Friday), a small handheld device equipped with a microprocessor that is used especially for storing and organizing personal information (such as addresses and schedules) (merriam-webster.com). Fantastic clue for INDY. The SW was my last, but also the easiest. And I never blame the puzzle for a challenging solve. The same thing occurred to me but I got INDY from the crosses and thought that INDY might have been a special edition car from Ford. @JD 935am Had a similar reaction to PLAINJANE. Got all the corners, SW, SE, NE, NW, then sputtered. @amyyanni (6:58 AM) ___pg -1Peace ~ Empathy ~ Tolerance ~ Health ~ Kindness to all . Typical a-hole reaction on his part. Maybe it's that "worm tongue" fetish of yours? Constructors, please stop crossing relatively obscure proper names at vowels. Like Rex I got my first solid start in the SE: DIANNE and OUIJA were gimmes, and PLAIN JANE was easy, and with TRAMP that corner fell readily. In Denver. I see that as an asset. In July. Interesting to see the spread of difficulties for people. Good luck @amyyanni!