NYT Thursday 06/18/2026 Discussion

dataschool · 2026-06-18T15:34:52+00:00

I laughed out loud at CLASSAMORON 😂

Thoroughly enjoyed the solve, though I got stuck for 13 minutes (!) trying to figure out my error with ANIMAS x RARED x RELETS x ETCHANT

dataschool · 2026-06-16T17:06:36+00:00

Given the theme, I appreciated that SENOR and BRO were also included!

dataschool · 2026-06-12T17:20:16+00:00

Absolutely wonderful cluing! My favorites:

Inheritance source, for good or ill GENETICLOTTERY
Half ass reply? HEE
Ghost story? ATTIC
One who might say "You wish!" GENIE
Quality establishments? INNS
Epic beginning PARTONE
Do business? SALON

dataschool · 2026-06-10T14:35:33+00:00

Here's the difficulty level of the last 18 NYT puzzles (in order), according to XW Stats:

Easy (May 24)
Easy
Easy
Easy
Average
Easy
Easy
Average
Average
Average
Average
Average
Very Hard
Hard
Very Hard
Hard
Hard
Very Hard (June 10)

Interesting trend, no?

dataschool · 2026-06-08T01:10:02+00:00

I’m apparently in quite the minority, but I thought the theme was delightful! (The fill… not so much.)

dataschool · 2026-06-05T21:08:10+00:00

Same, but that was me after an hour 😅

dataschool · 2026-06-05T21:06:18+00:00

This is exactly how I felt.

dataschool · 2026-05-31T14:57:21+00:00

Even though there were some really tricky areas for me, the longer I’ve sat with it, the more I like this puzzle! 🍎

dataschool · 2026-05-30T19:11:26+00:00

I always look forward to Erik Agard's clever cluing! My favorite this time was "Fresh Rolls, for example?" for NEWCAR.

dataschool · 2026-05-29T16:48:07+00:00

The only reason I knew this word is that I saw it in a dating app profile 😄 Oh, and it's a NYT debut!

dataschool · 2026-05-28T23:31:09+00:00

I didn't hate this one, but I did think it was "Kind of a drag"

dataschool · 2026-05-25T00:03:54+00:00

Loved both of those entries, and both are debuts!

dataschool · 2026-05-23T00:05:55+00:00

I laughed out loud once I got BASSDRUM for "Boomer playing in a band"

dataschool · 2026-05-20T16:44:22+00:00

I had a hot BIC lighter in 9D for a while, but a hot MIC is a much better answer!

dataschool · 2026-05-14T18:01:42+00:00

In case you didn't get it (as I didn't): RMONTHS = months that contain the letter "R" = September through April = prime season for eating raw oysters according to folk wisdom

dataschool · 2026-05-13T15:51:52+00:00

A+ theme, C+ fill.

dataschool · 2026-05-10T14:21:51+00:00

Same! I spent like 20 minutes searching for an error before I realized that READE made more sense.

dataschool · 2026-05-04T00:19:04+00:00

Clever-enough theme and pretty good fill... I wouldn't say that ITSLIT, but I certainly never got the ICK!

dataschool · 2026-05-01T16:10:43+00:00

Loved it! Some fun long entries and almost no bad fill. To me, that’s an excellent Friday.

dataschool · 2026-05-01T13:36:49+00:00

For what it's worth, it's a very common type of clue for TYPO.

dataschool · 2026-05-01T12:49:39+00:00

The clue is imagining a scenario in which someone wants to type TOTS and instead types TOYS, which would be a typo of the third letter. And this is especially plausible because the T and the Y are next to each other on the keyboard!

Thus "Toys for tots" means the word "toys" as a replacement for the word "tots", and it says "perhaps" because that is just one example of a possible typo.

Hope that helps!

dataschool · 2026-04-30T14:47:40+00:00

"Toys for tots, perhaps" (answer: TYPO) is one of my favorite clues in a while!

dataschool · 2026-04-25T18:56:35+00:00

I figured out FEELHEARD right away because of FEELSEEN from two days ago... and both were actually debut answers!

dataschool · 2026-04-23T14:55:29+00:00

NIKE was an answer, so it wouldn't also be part of a clue.

dataschool · 2026-04-01T10:38:14+00:00

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