Erik Agard (born 1993) is a crossword solver, constructor, and editor. He is the winner of the 2016 Lollapuzzoola Express Division, the 2018 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (ACPT), a frequent contributor to the New York Times crossword puzzle, a crossword constructor for The New Yorker, the former USA Today crossword editor, and a former Jeopardy!contestant. He is currently a crossword editor at Apple News+.This was a very Agardian puzzle as Erik pulled a lot of rabbits out of his cluing hat. I acquired a very hard earned "got 'er done"!
Across:
1. Coagulate: CLOT.
5. Batter's boxful?: CAT TOYS - That's taking a lot of latitude with the noun batter!
12. Not giving anything away: MUM.
15. Rather blue: RACY - The old blue laws banned controversial items such as RACY ones.
16. Puzzle out: UNRAVEL - A skill all of us solvers need
18. Say too much?: OVERESTIMATE
20. Actor Beatty: NED.
21. "They had our number": WE LOST.
22. Mani-pedi option: GEL.
23. April option: E-FILE - I E-FILED my tax returns and got my refunds a month ago
25. Mile High horses?: BRONCOS.
27. Jerk components: SPICES. ๐
28. Up-front stake: ANTE.
29. In descending order: MOST TO LEAST.
33. Hi-__: RES - We who have been around computers a long time remember the early Lo-RES games
34. Targets of biannual battery replacements: SMOKE ALARMS - It's recommended they be changed when we change from and to daylight savings.
35. Flash the Dolphin or Splash the Whale: BEANIE BABY.
36. High-flying Iรฑupiat tradition: BLANKET TOSS - Originally, this practice was used to boost scouts high enough to spot whale migrations or other game over sea ice.
38. Significant figure: VIP.
41. Jab in a one-two combo?: BOOSTER SHOT ๐ - Ya got me at first Erik, but I had a DOH! moment when I saw this had nothing to do with boxing.
42. Bona __: FIDE - Latin for "in good faith"
43. Releases, in a way: UNTIES ๐
44. Reduced: SMALLER - I enjoyed the 1966 movie Fantastic Voyage where a four-person vessel was reduced to travel through the human body.
47. Basis of some protein powders: PEA ¯\_(ใ)_/¯ This is bona fide Saturday cluing for PEA
51. Scooby-__: DOO.
52. Structure that's built to scale: CLIMBING WALL - Gotta love this use of the word scale.
55. Head up: RUN - If you head up an organization, you can be said to RUN it
56. Box on a table: ELEMENT - The table of ELEMENTS
57. Mahjong piece: TILE.
58. Timeline divs.: YRS.
59. Starting point: SCRATCH ๐
60. Translucent chalcedony: ONYX - This is the stone I chose for my high school ring.
Down:
1. Source of leverage: CROWBAR.
2. Actress Cox: LAVERNE - Yeah, I thought of Courtney first
3. Animals with spots: OCELOTS.
4. Erykah Badu's signature song: TYRONE ¯\_(ใ)_/¯
5. Builds specially: CUSTOM MAKES.
6. Insect in the family Formicidae: ANT - Formica is the Latin word for ANT
7. Calc prerequisite: TRIG.
8. Get under control: TAME.
10. "However ... ": YET.
11. Places where days of rest are observed?: SLEEP LABS.
13. No help: USELESS.
14. "Don't be so __": MODEST - What we all say to C.C.!
19. Letters above a tilde: ESC.
24. Passionate: FIERY.
26. Later alternative: SOONER.
27. A few weeks out?: SO LAST MONTH ๐ Things can fall out of fashion in a hurry
30. Interludes on some hip-hop albums: SKITS - ¯\_(ใ)_/¯ SKITS are short, often humorous or narrative-driven interludes on hip-hop albums that enhance thematic atmosphere, deepen storytelling and provide brief, conversational respites between songs. You're welcome.
31. Enforceability metaphor: TEETH - Talk's cheap, there needs to be some TEETH in the enforcement
32. Social prohibitions: TABOOS.
34. "No." and others: SENTENCES - Wow!
35. Nevada's Great __ National Park: BASIN.
36. Cannes opener: BONJOUR ๐ I really liked this when it hit me!
37. Ash removers: LOTIONS ¯\_(ใ)_/¯ I had to look this one up after it filled. The ash is an ingredient in the LOTION used to remove blemishes not the substance being removed. ๐ณ
38. Heavy: VILLAIN - Claude Akins came to my mind
39. If all goes well: IDEALLY.
40. Throw: PERPLEX - Erik has a real talent trying to throw solvers
41. "Why ask why?" beer: BUD DRY - ¯\_(ใ)_/¯ Only in production from 1990 to 2010 when it was losing money. It was brewed using a special fermentation method designed to let the yeast consume more sugars for a "drier" profile, rather than just watering it down. You're welcome.
42. Reached by air: FLEW TO - The Earth is not flat and the shortest distance between two points might take you in what seems to be an odd route on a flat map.
45. "Lust, Caution" director Lee: ANG ¯\_(ใ)_/¯
47. Docking station: PIER ๐
48. 1815 novel set in Highbury: EMMA - A first-edition of this novel that shares my granddaughter's name would run me about $1,700.
49. Support: ABET.
53. Business letters: LLC and 54. Business letters: INC.
It all made sense,
ReplyDeleteeventually . Though it took me over an hour, I finally solved this knotty puzzle.
FIR, so I’m happy.
This puzzle really showcases Erik’s talent in CW construction, a very impressive 16X15 grid affording a lot of long fill, the stack of five elevens, and two more in the verticals, a couple of twelves, and by my count, sixteen sevens. I thought the cluing was also masterful, (other than the one for DJINN which warrants a nomination for worst of the month, but it would have been ESP no matter the clue). Other DNKs too numerous to mention. I whittled away at it, some friendly perps and a couple correct WAGs, allowed for a FIR w/out help in 26:54. Thank you Erik for the challenge, outstanding work on this one! Also thanks to HG, always look forward to your take on the puzzle, and I always learn things along the way.
ReplyDeleteYooper Phil ⬆️⬆️⬆️. Not sure why I’ve become another anonymous ๐คท♂️
DeleteNope, nope, nope. Saw Agard's byline and decided to skip this one.
ReplyDeleteI'm start of list of constructors to beware of. Agard goes on top.
DeleteForgot to congratulate Sir Michael Caine on his 93rd birthday. One of my favorite TROuPERS.
ReplyDeleteYesterday was FRIDAY 13th.
DeleteToday is PI DAY.
Tomorrow is the IDES OF MARCH.
Tuesday is ST. PATRICK'S DAY.
It's holiday season all over-again.
Insanely good cluing on this one. And the quintuple stack is surprisingly clean.
ReplyDeleteMost of the difficulty came from sticking with SO LONG instead of SOONER which seemed way too easy. I finished in the SW where I thought for sure that 36D had something to do with the film festival.
Jinx, don’t regret your decision. I wish that I had done the same.
ReplyDeleteTook 14:15 today to finish after starting from scratch.
ReplyDeleteI kind of knew the Actress of the Day (Laverne), despite not having seen her work. I knew the blanket toss technique but wasn't sure what it was called. I've not heard "skits" used in that context either.
I struggled in the lower-left, having no idea about "DJ Inn" (hey, that's how I parsed it), the Cannes opener, and thinking the period after "no" represented an abbreviation.
I'm loving the frequency of seeing our beloved National Parks in puzzle. AZ's Saguaro yesterday; NV's Great Basin today. Great Basin is an amazing "dark sky" spot for observing our galactic light show. The park has a big cave for exploring and a mountain with beautiful vistas and a good hike or two. It's called "basin" because the water that falls in that area does not flow out of it.
When I saw the name Agard, I didn't expect to FIR or even finish. And I was right; it was a DNF, but I did get everything above and including SMOKE ALARMS correct. I had no idea about LAVERNE Cox, who Erykah Badu is, or her song is, but TYRONE fit. ISO is a chemical prefix and it was an unknown perp fill today.
ReplyDeleteMy BIONIC BABY didn't get it for the unknown cetacean BEANIE BABY(s).
No way in hell I would have ever filled unknowns BLANKET TOSS, DJINN, LOTIONS for "Ash removers", or BUD DRY. I'm glad I never tasted it or ever heard of it. Yuck.
My SOY bean should have been a PEA.
My non-existent hip-hop (rap) albums had SKIPS, not SKITS.
At least I managed to fill the SE correctly.
I threw WAGS all over this puzzle, even what I thought was outlandish, but ended up being lucky except for the rOOSTER SHOT which meant I messed up the SW. DRY BUD?
ReplyDeleteI too loved the clue for BONJOUR, as well as SPICES, VILLAIN, SENTENCES. Impressive CW.
Thank you HG for the terrific review. You had your work cut out for you.
That should have been BUD DRY.
DeleteFIR. Really tough Saturday puzzle, but not unexpected given the day of the week.
ReplyDeleteI was making great progress solving this until I got to the SW corner. Nothing made sense mostly because I didn't know Bud Dry. I don't drink so my chances of knowing some beer is slim to none. Somehow I managed to finally finish the corner.
But overall a so-so puzzle.
I enjoyed Erik’s puzzle despite a fair number of complaints and despite the Natick in the SW corner that compromised my FIR. DJINN was an unknown, but the obscure Budweiser category was the actual frustration. I had HRS instead of YRS at the bottom for too long.
ReplyDeleteNot only did I not recognize the slogan or recognize the existence of BUD DRY, but also, why does every company try to cater to too many tastes? Worse, BUD DRY existed only from 1990 to 2010. And we were expected to be triggered by the unmemorable slogan?
Other than that corner, the puzzle gradually fell into place. OCELOT put me in a positive frame of mind. The Denver BRONCOS, the Jamaican jerk SPICES, SLEEP LABS and Great BASIN all provided traction, and the Highbury clue didn’t throw me off EMMA. I didn’t need many perps for BLANKET TOSS and SMOKE ALARMS, and for some reason LAVERNE Cox seemed right to me before I could prove it. (By the way, the “Friends” actress spells her first name Courteney.) The TEETH metaphor was pretty good. The Cannes/BON JOUR entry grew on me. I’ve tried to like the BOOSTER SHOTS misdirection, but I’m torn.
The CAT TOYS “batter,” the contorted mani-pedi clue for GEL, the specific BEANIE BABIES, the assumption I know Erikah Badu’s songs because I know who she is, the SO LAST MONTH entry, and the jargon of ISO, were all less charming.
But I did pretty well on an AGARD Saturday puzzle, so there is that.
I’m always sympathetic to constructors who are able to ratchet up the difficulty level with creative cluing without resorting to esoteric trivia or being intentionally deceptive, and that is obviously a skill set that Erik has mastered. This one was particularly brutal (borderline unsolvable for mere mortals like myself). I stuck with it, albeit with a cheat here and there, and was able to enjoy the “aha’s” as things gradually came into focus. Nicely done, and evil in a good way.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as I saw Agard I bailed out and switched to HGs review, which reinforced my decision. Another "look what a clever boy I am, and how many arcane and obscure clues I can stuff in that show how much smarter I am." Yuck. No enjoyment this morning!
ReplyDeleteSo sorry you bailed out. I am a regular but amateur solver and I found it had the right amount of cleverness and thinking outside the box. It was very satisfying.
DeleteAsgard's picture is under "difficult" in the dictionary, so I dove in knowing what lay ahead and almost had it too. Was done in by DJINN. Oh, well, I'll get you next time! *shaking my fist*
ReplyDeleteWe replaced our Formica countertops with granite to eliminate an ANT problem.
Great info, Gary. BLANKET TOSS just reinforces that many sports had origins in practical activities. As for impractical activities, Adventure was my first computer game in the mid-70s.
17:29 today. Great puzzle. Struggled in the SW but it eventually came together.
ReplyDeleteI am one of Erik Agard’s biggest critics, and I usually skip his puzzles because of his often ridiculous, ego-driven cluing.
ReplyDeleteI almost skipped today’s offering, but for reasons I can’t explain, I decided to give it a go, and am glad I did.
I thought today’s cluing was 85% wonderful and only 15% absurd, resulting in a FIR in 16:33.
Lots of challenging entries in which I had to try to get inside of Erik’s devious mind, and the aha (not “oho”) moments were very satisfying.
As a frequent visitor to Jamaica, jerk/spices was a gimme.
Thank you, Erik and Husker Gary.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great example of why I solve crosswords. Twists and turns, and the not-so-obvious answers that require lateral and outside of the box thinking to get. Then the clever clues that put up roadblocks. Today wasn't a cakewalk. At least not for me.
I usually solve 4 or 5 crosswords every day, and 7 on Sundays. Always hardest to easiest, starting with the syndicated NYT crossword first. Then the LAT and then the even easier ones. Today's NYT was Mark Diehl's. Not sure when it originally ran at the NYT, but it was challenging. FTW.
Today's LAT took was even more challenging. FTW. A few unknowns in the clues. No idea on Flash and Dance, or Inupiat. My issues today were compounded by a couple of answers that really slowed me down. To wit: 29A In descending order - TOP TO BOTTOM fit the cells, but not the perps. 43A Releases in a way - UNDOES fit and perped in with 4 of the 5 perp words that I had entered.
I was completely stuck in the midwest and southwest, but refused to give in. Instead, I took a long break. That was all that was needed.
I changed UNdoES to UNTIES. I changed TETON to BASIN. (D'oh!) And with those two, I was suddenly able to see BEANIE, BLANKET and BOOSTER. At that point, all I needed was the I in LOTIONS and the second N in SENTENCES. Those two letters filled in the DJ-N- mystery. Then it was done. FTW, and I was stoked.
I'll never be truly competitive with the super solvers, but that's never been my goal or why I solve. It's the challenge and success in unaided solving of a tougher puzzle that makes crosswords satisfying fun for me. Thanks for the challenge, Erik!
HG, I enjoyed the review. Thanks for the explanations, images and the links!
I actually enjoyed this, even though almost every guess was wrong. Probably because the actual answers were legit, and devious...
ReplyDeleteI am only annoyed that smoke alarms were not thermostats. But then, smoke alarms have always annoyed me more than thermostats...
Misty, great poem yesterday!
I don’t mind at all if I have wrong answers. I enjoy the challenges and the learning moments, from new vocabulary to ancient custom. Thanks HG and Erik! Great Saturday morning adventure!
DeleteI loved this puzzle because it demonstrated the richness of the English language, as well as for the clever wordplay that was legitimate. Lately I have often looked at the Saturday puzzle, saw it was full of name clues, and decided I had better things to do with my time (not so easy for an OCD person whose day doesn’t start until the crossword puzzle is done,) This puzzle was a delight. I smiled whenever I had an aha moment, as when I realized “throw “ was “perplex”. Thanks for a tough puzzle that was fun.
ReplyDeleteI liked this puzzle a lot - even though there was much I did not know cold. I finally bowed to having to learn a few things, by looking up Djinn, beer & Inupiat …. Then other things fell into place. I loved the cluing for “batter”, “jab”, “box”, “starting”, “weeks out”, & “No.” Thanks to Eric & Gary.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteTo be succinct, I finished w/o help in 1:04:00, but without any satisfaction or enjoyment, as is usual with Erik’s puzzles.
Erik is a clever, knowledgeable, talented constructor.
Erik’s puzzles are not my cup of tea.
Thanks, HG, for the very detailed and informative review and commentary. I think your explanatory quotient was on the high side today and very much appreciated.
Have a great day.
This is an extremely clever CW, only 10 names, 6 DNKs. I tried pen-on-paper first but EAs many clever clues had me baffled. Went online, turned on red-letter help, and eventually filled all the cells, but only after multiple alpha runs.
ReplyDeleteSo I don't fill justified in even awarding myself a FWH. Too many alpha runs. Hafta take a DNF, even though all the cells are filled.
So many really clever clues: 5, 15, 41, 56 Across; 34, 36, 37, 40 Down.
Then there were all the DNKs, not just 6 of the names, but 17, 46, 60 Across, and about as many in the Down clues. I give EA a lot of credit for all the clever clues. But he absolutely defeated me trying to solve it. As I said, pure stubbornness got me all the cells filled, but only with many alpha runs.
Thanx for the very clever CW, EA. Ya got me.
HG, I really enjoyed your write-up, thanx. Your explanation of b-ball was enlightening. I was thinking of a pick-up baseball game, and trying to figure out the clue based on that faulty (and illogical) assumption. Know nothing about artificial fingernails, so your "gel" explanation there was helpful, too. As was the info re "Ash".
Also, thanx for the astrology symbols chart. I'm a Scorpio. My ex is an Aquarius, born Feb 18, 1946. My current GF is an Aquarius born Feb 17, 1966. Go figure.
The blanket toss info is pretty interesting. Also BudDry: do not remember it at all.
Somewhere you mentioned smoke alarms, which made me think of the ones in my house, and think, "Holy crap! I can't even remember the last time I changed the batteries in them!" I got out the step-ladder, opened 'em up, and was reminded they are hard wired. No batteries needed!
Anyway, I really appreciated your write-up today. Thanx!
UncleFred,
DeleteI don't replace my alarm batteries in my combo Kidde smoke/CO detectors twice a year (biannual). I replace them about every 2 years (biennial). They are hardwired, with batteries as a backup in case of power outages.
TONGUE IN CHEEK - Since SoFla has so few power outages, you may not need to worry about both power outages and smoke/CO detection at the same time.
I'm kidding.
In reality, that's exactly why you should have both AC and battery, and have combo smoke/CO units. If you don't, then you should have, at minimum, separate CO detectors that will still alarm when there is no AC power. Unless you have a permanently installed whole house generator that kicks in when utility power is disrupted.
Every year there are unnecessary deaths as people die from CO poisoning during power outages. I know that you are too smart to do it, but people will start their portable generators during extended power outages and then they'll run the generators in their attached garage or even inside their homes. Or the exhaust from the generator drafts into the house from opened windows during a heat wave. That's all despite the warnings on the generators and in the owner manuals.
Why do they do it? For concern that someone is going to steal their portable generator. It happens every year.
- I was required by building code to hardwire my combo units when I built the addition to my house in 2008. They also had to be interconnected so that when one goes off, they all go off. For AC power, they are on a non-switched 110V circuit (in EMT conduit) that is not protected by a ground fault circuit interrupter. All of that is building code in my county.
- Second, I install 2 year alkaline long-life batteries. The units are designed to start chirping when the batteries get low. The LED indicator goes red. The unit chirps, and then announces "Low Battery." Repeatedly. Usually in the middle of the night. I write the replacement date inside the cover when I swap out the batteries.
- Third, the detectors themselves should be swapped out every 7 to 10 years anyway because the sensors in them lose their effectiveness with age. I replaced all the units in 2018 so I have approximately 2 years left on the current set.
When they start chirping the next time, I'll get entirely new units. I'm going to upgrade to the 10 year sealed lithium ion battery models. You can't replace the batteries in those. When they start chirping, and indicating low battery, you replace the entire unit. Then you also know your that your smoke and CO sensors are fresh.
unclefred @ 12:59 => I was going to mention the battery back-up to the hard-wired SMOKE ALARMS as well; TTP beat me to it and with a much more detailed explanation than I would've given ;^)
DeleteAlso, your current GF and I share the same birthday (day, not year). The Aquarius/Scorpio combination can be complicated. My ex was a Scorpio and both of my kids (well-grown adults, now) are Scorpios
As for today's puzzle (puzzling thoughts), there were moments of pleasure AND frustration. I tried to "out-Agard" Erik in some of the play-on-words clues:
I had CAKE MIX for "Batter's boxful" and WEIGH STATION for "Structure that's built to scale" - I like his and mine. Maybe there's a puzzle out there for me to create that uses these clues/entries ...
Happy Pi day
Clues for ELEMENT and CLIMBING WALL were fiendishly clever. Proud to FIR. Last to fill was MINICAM/ISO cross.
ReplyDeleteCan someone explain why my comment about FLOW was deleted a few days ago? I didn't mean to offend anyone and I don't get it. I just wanted to praise CC for putting FLOW in the puzzle.
I'm just way outclassed by anyone that can FIR. Took me an hour and a half, with help and two out-and-out "reveal this letter." My hat's off to anyone skilled enough to enjoy this one. Too many impossible fills for me. I can whiz through Monday to Thursday, Friday is usually not bad, but a lot of Saturdays are painful.
ReplyDeleteBit challenging Saturday puzzle, but that's what they're supposed to be. So, many thanks, Erik. And I always enjoy your commentary, so thanks for that too, Gary. And finally, Dave, your comment on my yesterday poem made my day! Thank you so much for that too.
ReplyDeleteWell, we started out with CLOT at the beginning, but it was going to be pretty impossible to UNRAVEL just what that clot contains. It's pretty clear it was not produced in that STEEL LAB. Part of the problem is that we don't want to OVERESTIMATE that clot, but we also hope that it's not just USELESS. And let's pray it wasn't created by a VILLAIN. Even so, maybe we should get a BOOSTER-SHOT so that we set off any SMOKE ALARMS in case it does belong to a group of TABOOS. Well, this puzzle sure made us a little nervous, didn't it? But let's have a happy weekend all the same!
Enjoy a delightful weekend with hopefully nice weather, everybody!
Thanks, Misty. I was about ask for an explanation of BOOSTER SHOT, but your story put it in context and produced an “AHA!”
ReplyDeleteI enjoy Erik's puzzles even though I don't always finish them with out help, the challenge is fun.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I took a different take on 37D Ash remover as LOTION. Many POC when they get dry skin say it is "Ashy" - they don't have as much natural oil and the dryness contrasts more with the pigment especially over areas of skin like elbows and knees. Frequent use of lotion helps this- especially ones that include high amounts of emollients like shea butter - another crossword favorite!
DH went to Great BASIN national park this summer - it's one of the least visited parks probably a combination of it's remoteness in eastern Nevada,but also it's proximity to other more popular parks like Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches, etc. He enjoyed the dark skies and was fascinated by the Bristlecone Pines- some of the oldest trees on the continent!
Thanks HG for the informative/fun blog and to Erik for the puzzle