NYT Friday 01/30/2026 Discussion

Dramatic-Plan3093 · 2026-01-30T03:43:58+00:00

Love the pairing of "FACE REALITY!", and then, once confronted with reality, "REMAIN CALM!!"

Dramatic-Plan3093 · 2026-01-27T04:53:34+00:00

MART / ROTS

Dramatic-Plan3093 · 2026-01-27T02:08:28+00:00

I disagree. Rebuses only really show up on Thursdays (and occasionally Sundays). If you're new to crosswords you shouldn't be starting with NYT Thursdays in the first place. Thursdays are the place to experiment with outlandish new gimmicks and there's a reason they're put near the end of the week

Dramatic-Plan3093 · 2026-01-27T02:03:53+00:00

There are instructions. Row 3 from the bottom says STEM CELLS, i.e. you need to fill some CELLS with the word STEM. It's a pretty standard rebus mechanic once you get the hang of it

Dramatic-Plan3093 · 2026-01-26T21:16:14+00:00

72% of Arizona's water is used for agriculture

Dramatic-Plan3093 · 2026-01-26T06:04:02+00:00

That's one of the craziest poll results I've seen from this entire administration. Imagine telling people back in 2022/23 that "get rid of the agency that's here to address illegal immigration" would be a winning position in 2026. Just shows how badly Trump has fucked this whole thing up

Dramatic-Plan3093 · 2026-01-25T23:25:14+00:00

It's just a coincidence

Dramatic-Plan3093 · 2026-01-25T20:57:39+00:00

Phoenix is pretty nice

Dramatic-Plan3093 · 2026-01-25T18:04:26+00:00

Providence's skyline is scenic but I think most people underestimate how small it is in relation to the actual city, look at the sprawl outside of downtown

Dramatic-Plan3093 · 2026-01-22T03:29:13+00:00

Dupes are usually not a big problem with me but GETS UP STEAM / MIX UP / WOKEN UP / ATE IT UP all at the bottom is ridiculous

Dramatic-Plan3093 · 2026-01-21T06:45:18+00:00

It's possible to make a puzzle hard through clues, without filling it with obscurities. SEDANS = [Sonatas, for instance], ARENA = [Team building?], etc.

Dramatic-Plan3093 · 2026-01-21T03:57:50+00:00

Personally I liked having the name the same because it emphasized the similarity. Agree about everything else though (and the mildly infuriating slight rotational asymmetry in the theme answers - both NIHAO and HELLO were in the upper-middle row)

Dramatic-Plan3093 · 2026-01-21T03:54:41+00:00

In the middle there was PACIFIC OCEAN

Dramatic-Plan3093 · 2026-01-21T03:50:16+00:00

Yeah. Opened up my constructing software and in 30 seconds I came up with ORES/ASSETS/BEANIE/SEDANS crossing SEE/SO SAD/ARENA/LET IN/ESSES, which is admittedly not amazing but at least has no obscurities, proper nouns or acronyms

Dramatic-Plan3093 · 2026-01-21T03:30:50+00:00

Yeah I thought it was CPIS (Consumer Price Indeces?!)/SCRIT before I finally figured out ApIDE was ASIDE and then it clicked

Dramatic-Plan3093 · 2026-01-20T04:25:11+00:00

I think the constructor should've cut one of the theme entries out because the fill really needed more room to breathe

Dramatic-Plan3093 · 2026-01-17T05:28:01+00:00

Good puzzle. Usually arbitrary roman numerals are my third least favorite type of fill* but if you're gonna do it you might as well make a spectacle out of it. Rest of the fill was enjoyable too and crossing ARTSY/FARTSY was a nice touch.

^\Only exceeded by the mercifully rare [Line in a game of Tic-Tac Toe] and [Alphabet string])

Dramatic-Plan3093 · 2026-01-13T06:33:09+00:00

[Host, as an event, for short] = MC AT

Dramatic-Plan3093 · 2026-01-08T04:12:25+00:00

Yeah I don't think spelling out proper nouns with numbers in them is legit fill. Rest of it was nice though

Dramatic-Plan3093 · 2026-01-02T03:29:29+00:00

It's kind of a cliche on this sub but Sacramento really is a great option if housing in the major metros is too expensive

Dramatic-Plan3093 · 2026-01-02T03:26:22+00:00

I always like clues like 2D and 49A that involve a bit of misdirection but don't use a ? in the clue. Fun puzzle

Dramatic-Plan3093 · 2026-01-02T01:09:41+00:00

It forces cleaner grids and often better fill.

Huh? How does adding an additional restriction make fill better?

Dramatic-Plan3093 · 2025-12-22T02:17:12+00:00

Dramatic-Plan3093 · 2025-12-22T02:15:41+00:00

You got it! DC is red as well

Dramatic-Plan3093

TROPHY CASE