The Divine Comedy is a book where the readers could very well be part of a fan club. Something a bit like Ulysses, War and Peace, Les Miserables, Remembrance of Things Past, etc. due to the fact that the books are so epical. Getting into Dante's Magnum Opus is a massive undertaking, one a reader should stick with. So obviously they can solve 1D right away with no prob. TDC seems so such an institution in its own right.
I think the fanbase for Dante’s Inferno would be a separate subgroup and much, much larger than that for the entire poem. I can quote passages from The Inferno (in English, not Italian) and own multiple translations of it, but have never read the latter two-thirds of The Divine Comedy.
I still think GO POOF is a bit odd as a crossword answer. Traditional New Year offerings by " first footers" in Scotland are black bun , hard drink and yes , a wee bit of coal.
Will Shortz and I are both septuagenarians. Joel Fagliano is 32, and a lot of his pop culture references (I assume, like Will, that he pens about half the clues as editor) are things I’ve never heard of. I’m rethinking my rule of not considering a puzzle solved if I have to Google. I’m tired of failing to solve a Friday or Saturday crossword because I’m unfamiliar with a Gen Z acronym; the only acronyms I remember from the 1950s were SCUBA and SNAFU.
@@scurty2 If you look at videos on You Tube which document, albeit informally, how Will edited the crosswords, you will note that he replaced at least half the clues for each puzzle from those provided by the constructors, in other words, that he was a relatively heavy-handed editor. It’s possible Joel is less heavy-handed, but it amounts to the same thing. If you have inside information that the pop culture stuff is now always provided by the constructor, I bow to your superior knowledge, but that didn’t use to be the case. I still think the current puzzles require a familiarity with social media and genres like rap music that’s going to strand people like me in crossword cul-de-sacs.
@@RayGrantTZMS I think you've just discovered how it feels to be a Gen-Z, Non-American solver. I am often stumped by America-centric trivia (sports teams, colleges etc.), and pop culture references from decades before I was born. It's impossible for NYT to make clues and words which work for every solver, and frankly I'm glad they are starting to mix in more modern lingo and references; all that does is bring new audiences to crosswording (such as me).
What really worries me is that eventually AI will start inserting modern lingo into classic literature: Midway in our life’s journey IMHO I strayed from the straight path LOL And awoke to find myself OMG Alone in a dark wood LMAO Call me old-fashioned, but that doesn’t seem like an improvement on the original.
65A mentions motorcycles because you test drive cars
Soared through this one. What the heck are VEEP-stakes?
It’s an informal word for the running for who gets chosen to be Vice President. I had to look it up myself.
My brother's mother in law is Irish born and her name is Deirdre !
39D was unlikely to have been "ORDERLIES", as the clue included an abbreviation ("hosp.") and so the answer would almost certainly do the same.
The Divine Comedy is a book where the readers could very well be part of a fan club. Something a bit like Ulysses, War and Peace, Les Miserables, Remembrance of Things Past, etc. due to the fact that the books are so epical. Getting into Dante's Magnum Opus is a massive undertaking, one a reader should stick with. So obviously they can solve 1D right away with no prob. TDC seems so such an institution in its own right.
I think the fanbase for Dante’s Inferno would be a separate subgroup and much, much larger than that for the entire poem. I can quote passages from The Inferno (in English, not Italian) and own multiple translations of it, but have never read the latter two-thirds of The Divine Comedy.
I still think GO POOF is a bit odd as a crossword answer. Traditional New Year offerings by " first footers" in Scotland are black bun , hard drink and yes , a wee bit of coal.
Not a bad one today overall.
Very well done. Some were pretty obtuse.
Will Shortz and I are both septuagenarians. Joel Fagliano is 32, and a lot of his pop culture references (I assume, like Will, that he pens about half the clues as editor) are things I’ve never heard of. I’m rethinking my rule of not considering a puzzle solved if I have to Google. I’m tired of failing to solve a Friday or Saturday crossword because I’m unfamiliar with a Gen Z acronym; the only acronyms I remember from the 1950s were SCUBA and SNAFU.
Will and Joel don't construct the puzzles (Joel does a lot of the minis though), all of the newer lingo is from the constructors.
@@scurty2 If you look at videos on You Tube which document, albeit informally, how Will edited the crosswords, you will note that he replaced at least half the clues for each puzzle from those provided by the constructors, in other words, that he was a relatively heavy-handed editor. It’s possible Joel is less heavy-handed, but it amounts to the same thing. If you have inside information that the pop culture stuff is now always provided by the constructor, I bow to your superior knowledge, but that didn’t use to be the case. I still think the current puzzles require a familiarity with social media and genres like rap music that’s going to strand people like me in crossword cul-de-sacs.
@@RayGrantTZMS I think you've just discovered how it feels to be a Gen-Z, Non-American solver. I am often stumped by America-centric trivia (sports teams, colleges etc.), and pop culture references from decades before I was born. It's impossible for NYT to make clues and words which work for every solver, and frankly I'm glad they are starting to mix in more modern lingo and references; all that does is bring new audiences to crosswording (such as me).
here's some modern lingo for ya: Dont hate the playa, hate the game. How Apropos lol
What really worries me is that eventually AI will start inserting modern lingo into classic literature:
Midway in our life’s journey IMHO
I strayed from the straight path LOL
And awoke to find myself OMG
Alone in a dark wood LMAO
Call me old-fashioned, but that doesn’t seem like an improvement on the original.
I take umbrage with YOINKS. No one has ever said that, at least not in 70 years.
I can't tell you about how the word was used 70 years ago, but I assure you that many of the youth use it today.