NYT Crossword 11/18/17 (Sat.)

Cruciverbalist: Sam Trabucco
Editor: Will Smith

Solving time: 55:15

Puzzle uniqueness: N/A

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know:

ARMBAR - "Restraint technique in mixed martial arts"
GOTTACATCHEMALL - "Pokémon slogan"
DEWLAP - "Something found on a hound"
LLOYD - "Price of R&B"
BILES - "Gymnastics superstar at the 2016 Olympics"

Junk Answers:

PARTI - "Series opener"
PAO - "Kung ___ chicken"
ESC - "Key used to make an exit"

Clever clues: 

TUBA - "Big blow for a musician?"
AVOCADOPIT - "The hardest part when making guacamole?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 11/17/17 (Fri.)

Cruciverbalist: Zhouqin Burnikel
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: DNF

Puzzle uniqueness: 0

Words I hadn't known until now: 

DUVET - "Replacement for a top sheet and blanket"

Trivia I didn't know:

CITIBIKES - "Wheel for rent in the Big Apple"
SKOR - "Hershey bar brand"
IMAN - "Model with the Global Chic fashion line"
TRIBECA - "New York Law School's neighborhood"
TOKYODOME - "Home stadium of Japan's Yomiuri Giants"
TINO - "Former Yankee Martinez"
LOWELL - "Pulitzer-winning poet of 1947 and 1974" (Never heard of him)

Junk Answers:

SKOR - (See above)
PRU - "Aetna rival, informally"
LAT - "Many legal terms are in it: Abbr."
ISOK - "Emerges unscathed"

Clever clues:

SHOED - "Had a stable job?"
FELON - "Cooler person?"
CADS - "Bad catches?" (Too clever by half, IMO)

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 11/16/17 (Thu.)

Cruciverbalist: Alex Eylar
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 17:42

Puzzle uniqueness:

I'll let the Rex Parker site explain it: "Now "See" this! — clues with answers describe the clues themselves..." Example: AWILDGOOSECHASE clue is "See 66-Across" where there is no 66-Across in the puzzle)

Words I hadn't known until now: 

RECURSION - "See 25-Across" (which is where this answer resides,...whatever...)

Trivia I didn't know: 

ROWE - "Host Mike of 'Dirty Jobs' and 'Somebody's Gotta Do It'" (Never watched either show)
MARIO - "Celeb chef Batali"

Junk answers:

EMO - "Kind of look with bangs and eye shadow"
SSN - "Application figure"
PSST - "Alternative to an elbow, maybe"

Clever clues: 

SPACE - "What ' ' contains"
ICON - "Click it"
ABUT - "Be against"
THE - "Not just any old"
SET - "22+ pages of the Oxford English Dictionary"
BUGLE - "Wake-up call?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

TAUTOLOGY - "See 58-Across" (Where the clue is "See 17-Across," the spot the answer is)
RECURSION - (See above)

NYT Crossword 11/15/17 (Wed.)

Cruciverbalist: Steven E. Atwood
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 10:33

Puzzle uniqueness:

Answer BRITISHISMS is clue to five phrases which have common British words in them. Example: FLATRATE ("Flat" being an apartment one lives in).

Words I hadn't known until now: 

COSEC - "Sine reciprocal, briefly" (Not a math whiz)

Trivia I didn't know:

KAHLO - "Frida who was portrayed in film by Salma Hayek"

Junk Answers:

SSNS - "Taxpayers' IDs"
ACTII - "Follower of the first intermission"
NNW - "90° from ENE"
ILE - "Spot in la mer"
PSST - "Furtive 'Hey, you!'"
ISM - "Suffix with sex"

Clever clues:

COPS - "Beat people?" (Though this is somewhat inappropriate if taken the wrong way)

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

COSEC - (See above)
KAHLO - (See above)

NYTCrossword 11/14/17 (Tue.)

Cruciverbalist: Jerry Miccous and Jeff Chen
Edited by: Will Shortz

Solving time: 14:13

Puzzle uniqueness: 

Answers TRIPLE and DOUBLE (Basketball term) across center of the puzzle are clues to six answers that have three double-letter words and phrases.

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know:

LARS - "'____ and the Real Girl'(Ryan Gosling film)"

Junk Answers: 

GMS - "Baseball execs"
GWB - "Prez with the same initials as an N.Y.C landmark"

Clever clues: 0

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 11/13/17 (Mon.)

Cruciverbalist: Peter A. Collins
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 05:35

Puzzle uniqueness:

Tribute to "Cool Hand Luke" film with the three words of the title at the bottom of the puzzle, and the quote within the film, "What we've got here is failure to communicate" sprinkled throughout the puzzle.

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know: 0

Junk Answers:

ABCS - "Things kindergarteners learn"

Clever clues: 0


Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 11/12/17 (Sun.)

Cruciverbalist: Ed Sessa
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 29:42

Puzzle uniqueness: "S-Q's Me!"

Taking phrases beginning with a "w" sound and replacing them with "sq." Example: SQUANDERLUST with the clue "Prodigality?".

Words I hadn't known until now: 

DYNODE - "Vacuum tube component"
EDILE - "Early title for Julius Caesar"

Trivia I didn't know:

HASBRO - "Trouble maker"
TAMPA - "Cigar City, so-called on account of a former major industry"
AMHERST - "Birthplace of Emily Dickenson"
SCOTTO - "Soprano Renata"
ELBARTO - "Alter ego on 'The Simpsons'"
ALVIN - "Choreographer Ailey"
FEU - "Pot-au-___ (French stew)"
RIGEL - "Brightest star in Orion"
REDROSE - "Flower colored by Aphrodite's blood, in myth"
ADAIR - "Gilbert who wrote 'Love and Death on Long Island'"
NILEDELTA - "Rosetta Stone discovery"
REYS - "Co-authors Margret and H.A."
IDA - "Polish movie named Best Foreign Language Film of 2014"
LANI - "Civil rights activist Guinier"

Junk Answers:

RANDD - "Corp. budget item"
MRI - "Radiologist's tool, for short"
EER - "Suffix with market"
BTU - "A/C stat"
GIS - "Ones in a mess, informally"
INQ - "Question: Abbr."
FEU - (See above)
CTN - "Cardboard container: Abbr."
SEQ - "Et ___ (Footnote abbr.)"
REQ - "Not an elective: Abbr."
CRU - "Vineyard designation"

Clever clues: 0

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 11/11/17 (Sat.)

Cruciverbalists: George Barany and Michael Shteyman
Editor: Will Smith

Solving time: 18:38

Puzzle uniqueness: 

Tribute to VETERANSDAY answer, with eleven eleven-letter words in the puzzle (11/11, get it?)

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know:

UGANDA - "World's second most populous landlocked country, after Ethiopia"
SHTETL - "'Yentl' setting"
MARENOSTRUM - "The Mediterranean, to ancient Romans"
RIN - "1/1,000 of a yen"
AON - "Chicago's ___ Center"
QUEENBEY - "Pop icon, to members of her 'hive'"

Junk Answers:

QBS - "Bradford and Bradshaw, for two: Abbr."
RMN - "Presidential inits."
SSR - "Old union member: Abbr."
FAS - "Scale notes"
AWS - "Comments like 'Yer joshin'!'"
IPS - "Computer addresses, for short"
DPI - "Print quality meas."
SRA - "Foreign title: Abbr."

Clever clues: 

PESTCONTROL - "Debugging?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

SHTETL - (See above)

NYT Crossword 11/10/17 (Fri.)

Cruciverbalist: Patrick Berry
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 23:54

Puzzle uniqueness: 0

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know:

OLDMASTER - "Uffizi work"
TULSA - "City that straddles the Arkansas River"
LOON - "Bird called a 'diver' in  the U.K."
NILE - "'Egypt was the gift of the ___': Herodotus"
TITO - Leader of the Partisans in W.W. II"
DION - "'Lovers Who Wander' singer, 1962"
CROATIA - "U.N. member whose capital comes last alphabetically" (Zagreb, ICYI)
PATEL - "Star of 2016's 'Lion'"
NANTES - "Edict of ______ (Huguenot Wars ender)"
HELLBOY - "Superhero with hooves and a tail"
ALDEAN - "Jason with the #1 country hit 'Dirt Road Anthem'"
YEATS - "'Horseman, pass by!' poet"
MESSJACKET - "Bit of attire for a bellhop"
BLUE - "Like Alice's gown in 'Alice in Wonderland'"
ANTOINE - "Fats Domino's real name"
STEUBEN - "Onetime New York company famous for making art glass"

Junk Answers:

ALA - "Like"

Clever clues:

HALFMAST - "Standard position"
WETBAR - "Where people mix at parties?"
DECENT - "Covered, in a way"
GEEK - "Tech enthusiast, say"
HECKLE - "Bad call?"
WHATELSE - "'Am I forgetting anything?'"
RIOTACT - "It's often read metaphorically"
EPITAPH - "Marker writing"
STRAW - "Item dropped in the drink?"
DOCTORS - "Ward bosses?"
GOLFERS - "Club owners"
POTTERY - "Final outcome of a firing"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 11/09/17 (Thu.)

Cruciverbalist: Bruce Haight
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 24:38

Puzzle uniqueness:

Last word of phrase is backwards so the final word of the phrase is "back." Example: Clue is "Words of retraction," and the answer is ITAKETAHT. Ergo, "I take that (back)."

Words I hadn't known until now: 

SYRAH - "Variety of dark-skinned grape"

Trivia I didn't know: 

INGRAM - "James or Luther of R&B"
CICERO - "Orator who declared 'Laws are silent in times of war'"
DUMAS - "'The Black Tulip' author"
IONA - "Hebrides isle"
RIVOLI - "Battle of ______ (1979 Napoleon victory)"
KENNYG - "Musician with the 1987 instrumental hit 'Songbird'"
MORDECAI - "He adopted Esther in the Book of Esther"

Junk answers:

PSY - "Liberal arts dept. (Liberal arts?)
UBS - "Credit Suisse rival"
YSL - "Fashion inits."
NIA - "Long in Hollywood"
NOL - "Cambodia's Lon ___"
UTA - "Actress Hagen"
OER - "Poetic contraction"

Clever clues: 

AORTA - "Powerful bloodline?"
SOLARCAR - "Vehicle that gets cell service?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 11/08/17 (Wed.)

Cruciverbalists: Joel Fagliano and Sam Ezersky
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 12:29

Puzzle uniqueness:

Initials of proper name clues which, when combined with the common denominator, makes up a word. Example: Clue "Heart, U2, Slayer" are band names, so the answer is HUSBANDS

Words I hadn't known until now: 

DADROCK - "Genre for Dire Straits and Steely Dan, facetiously" (New one for me)
ARSNOVA - "Classical music style whose name means 'new art'"

Trivia I didn't know:

XENON - "Element next to iodine on the periodic table"
KABUL - "World capital where Pashto is spoken"
ARCADIA - "Domain of Pan, in Greek myth"
AMENRA - "Supreme Egyptian god"
GROSZ - "1/100 of a Polish zloty"

Junk Answers:

LCD - "TV screen inits."
ODON - "Have too much of, briefly"
IMO - "'I believe,' on the internet"
KOS - "Some U.F.C. victories"

Clever clues:

PAROLEE - "Joint release?"
SUMO - "Heavy competition?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

GRENDEL - "Foe of Beowulf"
AMENRA - (See above)
ARSNOVA - (See above)

NYT Crossword 11/07/17 (Tue.)

Cruciverbalist: Greg Poulos
Edited by: Will Shortz

Solving time: 09:52

Puzzle uniqueness: 

Answer WORDOFTHEYEAR clue to seven answers that were Annual American Dialect Society selections. Example: DUMPSTERFIRE.

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know:

KEW - "London's ___ Gardens"
AHMAD - "Jazz pianist Jamal"
ALI - "Sacha Baron Cohen's 'Da ___ G Show'"
NADIA - "Foreign exchange student in 'American Pie'"
DAL - "Lentil dish at an Indian restaurant"

Junk Answers: 

ISM - "Belief, informally"
UIE - "Something a driver may 'hang'"
INO - "Particle physics suffix"
ZSA - "When doubled, a Gabor sister"
RSTU - "Q-V connection"
ESL - "Subj. for U.S. citizens-to-be"

Clever clues: 0

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 11/06/17 (Mon.)

Cruciverbalist: Max Lauring and Benjamin Lauring
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 06:39

Puzzle uniqueness:

Answer PARTANIMAL clue to seven two-word phrases each beginning with an animal. Example: RATTAIL.

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know:

AMIDALA - "'Star Wars' queen"

Junk Answers:

TSE - "When doubled, an African fly"
ONKP - "Like a G.I. cleaning up after a meal, maybe"
INE - "Suffix with nectar or elephant"
LOS - "The 'L' of L.A.P.D."
STP - "Fuel additive brand"
FIL - "Chick-___-A"
GT - "Driller in R.O.T.C., maybe: Abbr."
EAN - "Suffix with Caesar"

Clever clues: 

NEURONS - "Those getting exciting when thinking?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 11/05/17 (Sun.)

Cruciverbalist: Natan Last
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 43:57

Puzzle uniqueness: "Lane Changes"

Answers are meaning one thing straight across, another that vectors diagonally in circled squares.

Words I hadn't known until now: 0


Trivia I didn't know:

EROS - "Freudian 'will to live'"
ELSA - "Italian novelist Morante"
LABATT - "Molson rival"
WAC - "W.W. II org. whose insignia featured Athena"
BRENDALEE - "Artist with the third most Top 40 hits in the 1960s, behind Elvis and the Beatles"
NERISSA - "Gratiano's love in 'The Merchant of Venice'"
TEMA - "Motif for Verdi or Monteverdi"
TUNA - "Skipjack, e.g."
MAGYARS -'Hungarians"
GIA - "Supermodel Carangi"
KARA - "Russia's ____ Sea (arm of the Arctic Ocean)"
EULER - "'Introduction to the Analysis of the Infinite' writer"
OREO - "Certain fro-yo add-in"

Junk Answers:

OHO - "'Well. well, well'!"
ESS - "Suffix with host"
ARN - "'Prince Valiant' son"
LTDS - "Erstwhile Fords"
PWNS - "Destroys. in gamer-speak"
WCS - "Heads overseas?"
ACR - "From l. to r."

Clever clues: 

ALLABOARD - "Railroad line?"
SOS - 'Line in the sand?"
MOWS - "Does course work?"
PAROLED - "Interrupted mid-sentence?"
EDDIED - "Went for a whirl"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

ABACI - "Summers back in the day?"
TABARDS - "Armless coats that may bear coats of arms"

NYT Crossword 11/04/17 (Sat.)

Cruciverbalist: Michael Shteyman
Editor: Will Smith

Solving time: 18:32

Puzzle uniqueness: 

Answer STRETCHTHETRUTH clue to the word "truth" letters spread throughout phrases. Example: BUTTERNUTSUASH.

Words I hadn't known until now: 

LOUCHE - "Disreputable"

Trivia I didn't know:

OPEL - "Automaker with the slogan 'Wir leben Autos'"
OLIN - "Engineering college in Needham, Mass."
UCLA - "Home to the Ronald Reagan Me. Ctr."
MAOTAI - "Strong Chinese liquor"
TENERIFE - "Largest of the Canaries"
WATT - "One joule per second"
AHMADTEA - "Alternative to Twinings"
MOHAWK - "Hiawatha, for one"

Junk Answers:

RCPT - "Rebate requirement, at times: Abbr."
SXSW - "Annual music and film festival founded in 1987, briefly"
AAHED - "Was amazed by, with 'at'"
CALC - "Advanced H.S. class"

Clever clues: 

SIEVE - "One who can't keep a secret"
LEFT - "It's just not right"
CARGO - "Hold things"
ANTLER - "Improvised place to hang a hat, say"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

RUTH - "Compassion for the misery of others"
LOUCHE - (See above)

NYT Crossword 11/03/17 (Fri.)

Cruciverbalists: Kameron Austin Collins and Brendan Emmett Quigley
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 24:50

Puzzle uniqueness: 0

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know:

ABIE - "____ the Agent (old comic strip)"
ANNES - "Auntie _____ (pretzel chain)
GOOGLEHANGOUTS - "Platform for chatting"
CATT - "Suffragist Carrie Chapman ____"
ETONCAP - "English headwear with a short visor"
ALTOONA - "Penn State campus site"
OBERLIN - "Ohio school"
MIATA - "Car whose name means 'reward'"
ENTEBBE - "Ugandan city o Lake Victoria"
MARLOWE - "'Hero and Lander poet"

Junk Answers:

DSO - "Cross-shaped mil. award"
SIE - "You, overseas"
ABIE - (See above)
AWGEE - "'You're making me blush!'"
BRR - "Utterance made wile shaking"
ROM - "DVD attachment?"
RIAA - "Gold-certifying org."

Clever clues:

ELSE - "Word after who, what, where, when, why or how"
METEORS - "Things seen in a shower"
TITAN - "God father?"
TESTATE - "Willful?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

ENNEADS - "The Muses and others"

NYT Crossword 11/02/17 (Thu.)

Cruciverbalist: Peter Sagal and Mike Selenker
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 19:42

Puzzle uniqueness:

Tribute to NEWYORKMARATHON (Center across answer) happening first Sunday in November.

Words I hadn't known until now: 

KNOB - "Pinch : salt :: ____ : butter" (Not this definition of the word)

Trivia I didn't know: 

RAES - "Actress Issa and others"
OLAF - "Count of children's literature"
EGYPT - "Where Zagazig is"

Junk answers:

ISLA - "Any of the Galapagos, e.g."
AONE - "Square for a white rook, in chess notation"
RAES - (See above)
ALF - "Interstellar sitcom star"
ISUP - "Was just on deck"
KPH - "European driver's concern: Abbr."

Clever clues: 

ORE - "Early metal?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 11/01/17 (Wed.)

Cruciverbalist: Herre Schouwerwou
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 10:45

Puzzle uniqueness: 

Two answers ANIMAL and CRACKERS clues to four animals within two across answers each that are separated by a black square. The black squares "crack' the animals in two.

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know:

SAVOY - "Cabbage with crinkly leaves"
PERSIMMON - "Japan's national fruit"

Junk Answers:

ESTD - "Abbr. on a sign at a town line"
BRR - "'I'm c-c-cold!'"
SYS - "GPS part: Abbr."
AMO - "First in a Latin 101 trio"
AJOKE - "'That's _____, son' (Foghorn Leghorn catchphrase)"
HMS - "Letters before Beagle or Bounty"
LSTS - "D-Day vessels: Abbr."

Clever clues:

PONE - "Southern side"
BOAT - "Connection between banks?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

SMAZE - "Pollutant that's a portmanteau" (Lived in L.A. for 27 years, and I never heard this used)

NYT Crossword 10/31/17 (Tue.)

Cruciverbalist: Alex Eaton-Salners
Edited by: Will Shortz

Solving time: 08:48

Puzzle uniqueness: 

Tribute to the 500th anniversary of the "Ninety-Five Theses" written by MARTIN LUTHER (Which are both in the puzzle at the top and bottom).

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know:

ALLSAINTSCHURCH - "Building where the 'Ninety-Five Theses' were posted"
INDULGENCES - "Practice condemned in the 'Ninety -Five Theses'"
WITTENBERG - "City where the 'Ninety-Five Theses' were written"
JLO - "Self-titled #1 pop album of 2001"
NHU - "Madame ___ of 1960s Vietnam"

Junk Answers: 

AER - "___ Lingus"
TKOS - "Boxing stats"
SCAD - "Whole bunch"
ESME - "J. D. Salinger title character"
AHISEE - "'It's all clear to me now'"
JLO - (See above)
BLT - "Three-layer sandwich, for short"
IDIG - "'That's cool with me!'"
NHU - "(See above)

Clever clues: 

TETE - "French bean?"
ATE - "Cleaned the dishes?"
CEREAL - "Post production?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 10/30/17 (Mon.)

Cruciverbalist: Jay Kaskel
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 06:11

Puzzle uniqueness:

Halloween theme (Witches being predominant). Example: "Computer help for a witch?" is clue for SPELLCHECK.

Words I hadn't known until now:

INCUS - "Ear bone"

Trivia I didn't know:

CRIT - "Lit ____ (coll. course)"
KEATS - "'Hyperion' poet John"

Junk Answers:

ECON - "Supply-and-demand subj."
BOBO - "Classic clown with a repetitive name"

Clever clues: 0

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

INCUS - (See above)

NYT Crossword 10/29/17 (Sun.)

Cruciverbalist: Ross Trudeau
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 25:51

Puzzle uniqueness: "Going Off Script"

Movie one-liners plus actor and the answer LINE combined who says them. Example: Answer HAKUNAMATA plus LANELINE.

Words I hadn't known until now:

BONOBO - "Endangered ape"

Trivia I didn't know:

HALS - "'The Merry Drinker' painter"
THECURE - "'Friday I'm in Love' band, 1992"
CHANGE - "What metathesiophobia is the fear of"
TYNER - "Jazz pianist McCoy _____"
GOTYE - "Singer with the 2012 #1 hit 'Somebody That I Used to Know'"
MOLINA - "Jose, Bengie and Yadier _____, catcher brothers with five World Series rings among them"
VALOREM - "Ad _______ tax"
UZIGAL - "Eponymous Israeli gun designer" (Knew the Uzi part, not the other)

Junk Answers:

VPS - "No. 2's"
ASTI - "Wine often served with dessert"
AGT - "Bond, for one: Abbr."
ESE - "Suffix with legal"
ACC - "Blue Devils' org."
LEHI - "Where Samson slew the Philistines"
ACS - "Window fixtures, for short"
ELHI - "K-12"
SLR - "Camera option, for short"
IVE - "'___ had it!'"
IMAC - "Apple desktop"
WWI - "The U.S. joined it in 1917: Abbr."
KER - "Splat preceder"
SRA - "Mrs., abroad"

Clever clues: 

GUMS - "Canine supporters"
CHARADE - "It's all an act"
GRIN - "Small beam"
RYES - "Loafs around a deli?"
PLAID - "Daring thing to wear with polka dots"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

VALOREM - (See above)
SENESCE - "Get old"

NYT Crossword 10/28/17 (Sat.)

Cruciverbalist: Roland Huget
Editor: Will Smith

Solving time: 18:20

Puzzle uniqueness: 0

Words I hadn't known until now: 

PAPETERIE - "Container for writing materials, such as fancy stationery"

Trivia I didn't know:

BOER - "Jack of the trump suit, in euchre"
EXCELSIOR - "New York's state motto"
UGO - "Actor Tognazzi of 'La Cage aux Folles'"
BARIC - "Containing element #56"

Junk Answers:

CWT - "100 pounds: Abbr."
UGO - (See above)
MERCS - "Some old Fords, briefly"

Clever clues: 

STENT - "It can get the blood flowing"
ESPYS - "Awards for Best Play and others" (Good misdirection clue)

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

ABROGATOR - "Official with the power to annul laws"

PAPETERIE - (See above)

NYT Crossword 10/27/17 (Fri.)

Cruciverbalist: David Steinberg
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 21:29

Puzzle uniqueness: 0

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know:

DIOR - "French Christian"
ALES - "Flanders Red and others"
TATE - "Allen ____, onetime U.S. poet laureate"
JEN - "___ Psaki, White House communications director under Obama"

Junk Answers:

SGT - "Three-striper: Abbr."
EDU - "Alternative to .net"
ISP - "Verizon Fios or CenturyLink, for short"
APP - "Facebook Messenger, e.g."
MLK - "___ Day (fed. holiday)"
EDT - "Summer hrs. in Somerville"
MII - "Early second-millennium year"
WBA - "Ring org."

Clever clues:

PALMREADER - Line judge?"
NUT - Loony tune"
FEE - "It might come with baggage"
TILL - Bill collector"
DIARYENTRY - "Log unit"
TROLLS - "Forum annoyances"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 10/26/17 (Thu.)

Cruciverbalist: Jacob Stulberg
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 23:15

Puzzle uniqueness:

Answer MTEREBUS (A volcano) is clue to six answers that have "mte" as a rebus (all in one square) because Mt. Erebus can be read as "'mte' rebus."

Words I hadn't known until now:

ASSAMTEA - "Indian beverage"
PONY - "Kind of keg"  (Never knew this definition of "pony")

Trivia I didn't know: 

GAMBIA - "Its capital is an Atlantic port"
TUTSI - "East African people"
OSAKA - "Home of Panasonic"

   Junk answers:

SNL - "Weekly 90-min. TV show"
CTA - "Windy City rail inits."
TSK - "'For shame!'"
NAS - "'Cherry Wine' rapper, 2012"
GMC - "Sierra and Canyon maker"
RAHS - "Stadium sounds"
NBCTV - "42-Across airer" (SNL)

Clever clues: 

WILLIAMTELL - "Apple employer, once?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

TUTSI - (See above)

NYT Crossword 10/25/17 (Wed.)

Cruciverbalist: Jules P. Markey
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 07:56

Puzzle uniqueness:

Answer BREAKUPTHEBANKS clue to four kinds of banks that are broken up in a phrase. Example: SOLDATALOSS (data bank).

Words I hadn't known until now: 

LATKE - "Something eaten during Hanukkah"
INESSE - "Existing, to a lawyer"

Trivia I didn't know:

LEEDS - "City of Yorkshire"
ASPEN - "_____ Institute (nonpartisan D.C. think tank)"
ASSAD - "Syria's Bashar al-_____"

Junk Answers:

TSA - "Air marshal's org."
LSD - "Drug referenced in 'The Joyous Cosmology'"
DRE - "Grammy -winning 'Dr.'"
ETTU - "Ides of March rebuke"
IAMB - "Two-syllable poetic foot"
KAN - "'The Wizard of Oz' state: Abbr."
SST - "Air travel option until '03"

Clever clues: 0

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 10/24/17 (Tue.)

Cruciverbalist: Damon Gulczynski
Edited by: Will Shortz

Solving time: 11:20

Puzzle uniqueness: 

Answer ANOTHERDIMENSION clue to four phrase answers with the last words leading to a dimension. ...POINT, ...LINE, ...PLANE and ...SPACE.

Words I hadn't known until now: 

UNADON - "Japanese eel-and-rice dish"

Trivia I didn't know:

HADJ - "One of the Five Pillars of Islam"
LECAR - "Old Renault"
RENOIR - "'The Bathers' painter"

Junk Answers: 

DEA - "Org. in 'Breaking Bad'"
AERO - "Streamlined, for short"
IDO - "Swear words?"
IRR - "Like the verbs ''lie' and 'lay': Abbr."
INDO - "Intro to Chinese?"
IPA - "Hoppy quaff, for short"
IOU - "Marker letters"
EXEC - "'Suit'"

Clever clues: 

NAGS - "Horses that could be hounds or badgers?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 10/23/17 (Mon.)

Cruciverbalist: Timothy Polin
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 07:54

Puzzle uniqueness:

Taking single-word ending in "age" and creating silly clues. Example: The clue is "Period when every car was a junker?" with the answer being WRECKAGE.

Words I hadn't known until now: 

ZIGGURAT - "Stepped tower of ancient Sumer"

Trivia I didn't know:

GUYANA - "English-speaking neighbor of Venezuela"
DUEL - "Climax of 'Hamilton'"

Junk Answers:

ECON - "Supply-and-demand subj."
BOBO - "Classic clown with a repetitive name"

Clever clues: 0

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

ZIGGURAT - (See above)
GESSO - "Painting surface"

NYT Crossword 10/22/17 (Sun.)

Cruciverbalist: Tracy Gray
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 22:40

Puzzle uniqueness: "Selfies"

Supposed "Facebook Status" descriptions of areas of the world, which are the answers. Example: Clue is "Facebook Status: '10-9-8-7 ... Ringing in the New Year with 1.000.000.000 of my newest, closest friends'" with the answer being TIMESSQUARE.

Words I hadn't known until now: 

TUYERES - "Nozzles into blast furnaces" (WTF!?!?)

Trivia I didn't know:

EARLS - "_____ Court (London district)"
TOMTIT - "Chickadee, e.g."
STOAT - "Brown ermine"
ELMO - "Adventurer in Grouchland"
MOE - "Bully in 'Calvin and Hobbs'"
ATTA - "Kofi Annan's middle name"
GUM - "Extra product"
OMAHA - "Home of Berkshire Hathaway"
EDISON - "Early record label"
POTSY - "Another name for Hopscotch"

Junk Answers:

SDS - "New Left org."
SECS - "Instants"
SNL - "Emmy-winning shoe of both 1976 and 2017, in brief"
OCD - "Routine problem, for short"
CIN - "The Bengals, on scoreboards"
OSU - "Big Ten powerhouse, for short"

Clever clues: 

NOSEJOB - "Bridge work?"
POWERNAP - "Office restoration"
BLEATED - "Sounded sheepish?"
ISLES - "Some bars in the Caribbean"
GORES - "Horns in on?"
EIDERS - "Ones holding down things?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

TUYERES - (See above)
IAMBI - "Some feet"
POTSY - (See above)

NYT Crossword 10/21/17 (Sat.)

Cruciverbalists: Samuel A. Donaldson and Brad Wilber
Editor: Will Smith

Solving time: 22:25

Puzzle uniqueness: 0

Words I hadn't known until now: 

STANHOPE - "Open, one-seated horse-drawn carriage"
MASSIF - "Cluster of mountains"

Trivia I didn't know:

DAMASCUS - "The Mideast's City of Jasmine"
HILARY - "______ B. Price, creator of the comic strip 'Rhymes with Orange'"
AMSELM - "Sainted archbishop of Canterbury"
BIJOU - "Exquisite gem"
ELENAS - " Tennis players Dementieva and Makaraova"
HOTPEPPEREMOJIS - "Sext symbols"
DSHARP - "Note in the B major scale"
CHOO - "Shoe designer Jimmy"
IONA - "Where Macbeth is buried"
OMSK - "Locale of Dostoyevsky's exile"

Junk Answers:

CEE - "Part of a Connecticut trio?"
TSPS - "Amts. of powder, maybe"
WEDO - "Shared vow"
REI - "King, in Portugal"
ECARD - "Lame (but eco-friendly) birthday gift"
IMLIKE - "'And my reaction was ...,' in teenspeak"

Clever clues: 0

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

STANHOPE - (See above)
MASSIF - " (See above)
SYSTOLES - "Contractions of the heart"

NYT Crossword 10/20/17 (Fri.)

Cruciverbalist: Peter Wentz
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 22:00

Puzzle uniqueness: 0

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know:

ARCSINE - "Inverse function in trigonometry" (Not a math guy)
BEAMS - "Lintels, e.g." (Have no idea what this means)
ONEIL - "Buck ____, first African-American coach in Major League Baseball"
LOU - "Rocker Gramm of Foreigner"
HODAKOTB - "'Today' co-host beginning in 2007" (Didn't know the last name)
WILDE - "'Salome' playwright"
LESSER - "______ ape (gibbon)"
AHAB - "'Grand, ungodly, godlike man,' in literature"
KOI - "Butterfly ___ (fish)"

Junk Answers:

ERS - "Hosp. parts"
BAH - "'Enough of this!'"
DOESO - "Playground retort" (I'm annoyed by the "playground" language answers)
IDED - "No longer anonymous, for short"

Clever clues:

MACS - "Things non-PC people buy?"
FAIRSEX - "Dated women?"
PRAYS - "Appeals to a higher authority?"
SCABS - "Sources of labor pains?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

ARCSINE -  (See above)

NYT Crossword 10/19/17 (Thu.)

Cruciverbalist: Ned White
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 15:41

Puzzle uniqueness:

Answer HEADOVERHEELS clue to three pairs of answers in which the top answer is a good leader and the answer underneath is a bad guy. Example: TOPBANANA over NOGOODNIK

Words I hadn't known until now:

DOREMI - "Moolah" (Huh?)

Trivia I didn't know: 

RUDI - "Designer Gemreich who invented the monokini"
VUE - "French scene"
TOD - "Fox in 'The Fox and the Hound'"
TSR - "Co. that launched Dungeons and Dragons" (I can never remember this)
SYD - "Hip-hop's ___ tha Kyd" (Though it's pretty obvious)
ENOS - "1961 project Mercury chimp"
CHAIM - "With 47-Across (TOPOL), 'Fiddler on the Roof' star" (Never knew Topol's first name)
RODIN - "Philadelphia's _____ Museum (art institution)"
HERO - "'Somebody who voluntarily walks into the unknown,' per Tom Hanks"
LUSAKA - "Zambia's capital"

   Junk answers:

RBIS - "They're usually not credited after errors, for short"
OTYPE - "Common blood group"
TSR - (See above)
APU - "Kwik-E-Mart clerk"
NOTOK - "Proscribed"
STA - "Place with a platform: Abbr."
DST - "It ends in Nov."
OLA - "Greeting in Brazil"
EUR - "Common Market market: Abbr."
ETAT - "Entite politique francaise"
INE - "Suffix with elephant"
OOH - "Shout at a circus"
TEL - "Hookup for a tenant: abbr."

Clever clues: 

ONE - "First in an infinite series"
PUPIL - "It grows in the dark"
ELOPE - "Split to join"
AUTOS - "They're tired"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

DOREMI - (See above)

NYT Crossword 10/18/17 (Wed.)

Cruciverbalists: John Lithgow and Brendan Emmett Quigley
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 13:27

Puzzle uniqueness:

Theater phrases with wacky clues. Example: Answer CURTAINCALL clued as "Decision to go with drapes instead of blinds?" Plus, other theater related answers interspersed throughout the puzzle.

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know:

KEYES - "Daniel who wrote 'Flowers for Algernon'"
KATISHA - "Nanki-Poo's pursuer in The Mikado'" (WTF?)
SECCO - "Painting on dry plaster"

Junk Answers:

AAR - "Swiss waterway"
SHO - "'Dexter' channel, in TV listings"
GMOS - "Engineered food, briefly"
IMOK - "Response to 'You hurt?'"
MOI - "Question of false modesty"
MOCS - "Comfy slip-ons"
INA - "Once ___ while"
NAT - "Lead-in to Geo"
TEC - "Private eye, in old slang"

Clever clues:

EGOS - "They may clash in a theater"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

KATISHA - (See above)
TEC - (See above)

NYT Crossword 10/17/17 (Tue.)

Cruciverbalist: Jeff Chen
Edited by: Will Shortz

Solving time: 10:16

Puzzle uniqueness: 

Answer CONMEN clue to four two-word phrases in which the first word in the phrases are synonyms for victims of cons. Example: PIGEONCOOP

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know:

IBANKER - "Pro at building financial worth, slangily"
APCALC - "High-level H.S. class with integrals" (Makes sense, just never have come across this)
UNDEROOS - "Brand of kids' wear with Superman and Batman options"

Junk Answers: 

ATON - "Lots"
ENG - "An official language of Canada: Abbr."
CCUP - "Size in a lingerie shop"
OER - "'The Star Spangled Banner' contraction"
SSNS - "IDs collected by H.R."
BCC - "Secretive email option"
AHH - "'That's the spot!'"
OAS - "Intl. group headquartered in D.C."
BNEG - "Rare blood type, for short"
SNO - "___-Cat (winter vehicle)"
DHS - "Some A.L. sluggers"

Clever clues: 

ROADIE - "Person setting the stage?"
VOODOO - "It has its charms"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 0/16/17 (Mon.)

Cruciverbalist: Jennifer Nutt
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 08:23

Puzzle uniqueness:

Answer KILLERWHALE clue to five answers that contain ORCA, a killer whale. Example: RADIATORCAP

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know: 0

Junk Answers:

ILE - "___-de-France"
POV - "Long-running PBS film series"
BALI - "'____ Ha'i' ('South Pacific' song)"

Clever clues: 0

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

BLAT - "Trombone honk, e.g."

NYT Crossword 10/15/17 (Sun.)

Cruciverbalists: John Guzzetta and Michael Hawkins
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 43:57

Puzzle uniqueness: "Wise Move"

Taking two-word phrases in which the first word ends in "Y" sound, then inserting the second word of the phrase between the first word and the "Y,' then adding an "S" with a humorous clue to describe the new phrase. Example: GRAVETRAINEES instead of "gravy train." Clue: "Interns at a cemetery?"

Words I hadn't known until now: 

TUYERES - "Nozzles into blast furnaces" (WTF!?!?)

Trivia I didn't know:

EARLS - "_____ Court (London district)"
TOMTIT - "Chickadee, e.g."
STOAT - "Brown ermine"
ELMO - "Adventurer in Grouchland"
MOE - "Bully in 'Calvin and Hobbs'"
ATTA - "Kofi Annan's middle name"
GUM - "Extra product"
OMAHA - "Home of Berkshire Hathaway"
EDISON - "Early record label"
POTSY - "Another name for Hopscotch"

Junk Answers:

SDS - "New Left org."
SECS - "Instants"
SNL - "Emmy-winning shoe of both 1976 and 2017, in brief"
OCD - "Routine problem, for short"
CIN - "The Bengals, on scoreboards"
OSU - "Big Ten powerhouse, for short"

Clever clues: 

NOSEJOB - "Bridge work?"
POWERNAP - "Office restoration"
BLEATED - "Sounded sheepish?"
ISLES - "Some bars in the Caribbean"
GORES - "Horns in on?"
EIDERS - "Ones holding down things?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

TUYERES - (See above)
IAMBI - "Some feet"
POTSY - (See above)

NYT Crossword 10/14/17 (Sat.)

Cruciverbalist: Sam Ezersky
Editor: Will Smith

Solving time: 33:04

Puzzle uniqueness: 0

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know:

UGLYBETTY - "Hit TV series based on a Colombian telenovela"
HOSEA - Source of the line 'They have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind'"
TRAPQUEEN - "2015 #2 hit for rapper Fetty Wap"
ASHE - "Eponym of a North Carolina city"
AMMAN - "World capital once known as Philadelphia"
EDITH - "Mrs. Woodrow Wilson"
ECONMAJOR - " Many a B-school applicant" (Have no idea what a "B-school" is)
CHOCOTACO - "Crunchy Klondike product"
EGRET - "Symbol of the National Audubon Society"
TYRABANKS - "Model who popularized the term 'smizing'"
NYNEX - "Half of a 1997 telecom merger"
SHARON - "P.M. between Barak and Olmert"
LOGARITHM - "What turns 1,000 into 3, in base 10"
USANDTHEM - "Longest song on Pink Floyd's 'The Dark Side of the Moon"
REID - "Brit ____, real name of the Green Hornet"

Junk Answers:

BBQ - "Pit-y party?"
SATS - "Topics for Kaplan"
NYNEX - (See above)
BWAY - "Tony' place, for short?"

Clever clues:

PROM - "Senior moment?"
LUTZ - "Spin out on the ice?"
ATTICDOOR - "One way to the top"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

MAGUS - "Sorcerer"
IAMB - "One of 70 in a Shakespeare sonnet"
REUNES - "Gets together after 10 or 20 years, say"

NYT Crossword 10/13/17 (Fri.)

Cruciverbalist: Zhouqin Burnikel
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 11:35 (Personal best for a Friday)

Puzzle uniqueness: 0

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know:

DAMASK - "Reversible fabric"
GERANIUM - "Flower with five petals"
LEN - "___ Lesser, player of Uncle Leo on 'Seinfeld'"
TORTONI - "Ice cream treat"
OYL - "Castor ___ of old comics" (Though pretty intuitive)
SON - "Grand Duke vis-à-vis a czar" (How 'bout that!)
EULER - "18th century pioneer in graph theory"
MOSUL - "Major city on the Tigris"
TENOR - "Wagner's Siegfried, for one" (Now I feel better!)

Junk Answers:

ADT - "Big name in home security systems"
COR - "Heart: Lat."
CRUS - "French vineyards"
GOP - "Letters leaning to the right?"
OYL - (See above)
RIS - "'___ for Rocket' (2004 best seller)"

Clever clues:

TIE - "Evening result?"
RUNS - "Heads up"
TIPS - "Things worth waiting for?"
BARTAB - "A screwdriver might be added to it"
TACH - "Dash part"
SIPS - "Opposite of downs"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

DAMASK (See above)

NYT Crossword 10/12/17 (Thu.)

Cruciverbalist: Alex Eaton-Salners
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 13:32

Puzzle uniqueness:

All across clues are homophones of the actual clues. Example: Clue is "Mined," the homophone of "mind." Answer is CARE.

Words I hadn't known until now:

BISTRE - "Grayish to yellowish brown"

Trivia I didn't know: 

RABE - "Broccoli ____"
EDITH - "English poet Sitwell"
KARAN - "Designer Donna"

Junk answers:

INOR - "'Are you ____ out?'"
NOMSG - "Declaration on a Chinese menu"
ERDOC - "One who may order an operation, informally"
ETTU - "Classical rebuke"
EXES - "Kramer and Kramer, in 'Kramer vs. Kramer'"
YER - "Suffix with saw"

Clever clues: 

LAMA - "Priest from on high?"
LIARS - "Ones spinning webs?"
ACTOR - "One for whom work is play?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

BISTRE - (See above)

NYT Crossword 10/11/17 (Wed.)

Cruciverbalist: David J. Kahn
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 07:04 (Personal best for a Wednesday)

Puzzle uniqueness:

GUNFIGHTAT and THEOKCORRAL clues for circled letters in central representing a corral with the answers being synonyms for "OK."

Words I hadn't known until now:

ARB - "Wall St. trader" (Don't know this)

Trivia I didn't know:

IGA - "Grocery chain inits."
ASHE - "Queens's ____ Stadium"
TINO - "Baseball's Martinez"
DEF - "Cool, in dated language"
LUI - "Him, to Henri"

Junk Answers:

IGA - (See above)
KOD - "Down for the count, for short"
ALA - "In the mode of"
EEK - "Cartoon cry"

Clever clues:

BAT - "Club for swingers"
SCENE - "It may be stolen on a movie set"
LOB - "Court setup?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

BAOBAB - "Thick-trunked tree"

NYT Crossword 10/10/17 (Tue.)

Cruciverbalist: Mark MacLachlan
Edited by: Will Shortz

Solving time: 08:18

Puzzle uniqueness: 

Using answer ATNO (Atomic number) as clue for the NOBLEGAS clue whose atomic weights are the same number as the crossword number the clues are placed. Example: 18-Across clue is "This, on the periodic table" the atomic number 18 is for the answer ARGON.

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know:

REVE - "Dream: Fr."

Junk Answers:

EMT - "911 responder, for short"
FWD - "Abbr. in an email header"
KHZ - "Radio freq. unit"
PPS - "Additional afterthought, for short"
MTN - "Denali, e.g.: Abbr."

Clever clues: 

HOES - "Gets into the weeds?"
DOE - "One might be around a buck or two"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 10/09/17 (Mon.)

Cruciverbalist: Joe Deeney
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 09:06

Puzzle uniqueness:

Answer CALENDARREFORM clue to three familiar phrases signifying "day," "week," and "month." Example: EIGHTDAYSAWEEK

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know:

WAT - "Angkor ___ (Cambodian site)"
NGRAM - "Google _____ Viewer (tool for charting word frequency over time)"

Junk Answers:

ATL - "Home for the Hawks and Braves: Abbr."
ISO - "Equal: Prefix"
ROO - "Pal of Pooh"
UMS - "Verbal stumbles"
III - "Three on a grandfather clock"
EDS - "Newspaper staffers, for short"
TMS - "Things with (c) symbols" Abbr."
BLDG - "Edifice: Abbr."
ETH - "Biblical verbal suffix"
OSU - "The Beavers of the Pac-12, for short"
NON - "The "N" of NCO"
ENG - "Main Lang. of the Commonwealth countries"

Clever clues: 

AHOYS - "Ship-to-ship communications?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 10/08/17 (Sun.)

Cruciverbalist: Erik Agard and Alex Brinas
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 21:54

Puzzle uniqueness: "Power Ballads"

Superheroes' favorite bands/singers in a joking manner. Example: Clue - "Aquaman's favorite singer?" Answer - BILLYOCEAN

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know:

ALLA - "Penne ___vodka"
NAY - "Not only that but also" (WTF?)
ELTON - "_____ Brand, two-time N.B.A. All-Star"
PONCE - "Puerto Rican city that shares its name with an explorer"
TETRAD - "Covalent bonds of a carbon atom, e.g."

Junk Answers: A lot. Here are a few:

TSA - "Agcy. for Kennedy and Reagan" (Though a clever clue)
GPS - "Provider of directions, for short"
OOH - 'Intriguing!'"
GRR - "Canine warning"
SEI - "Number between cinque and sette"
YESM - "Quaint agreement"
DOI - "Response to 'You have something on your face,' maybe"

Clever clues: 

ASIDE - "Tangent line?"
ALLEGEDLY - "[Legally covering our butts here]"
TWOMAN - "Like some saws and bobsleds"
COINTOSS - "Several quarter turns?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 10/07/17 (Sat.)

Cruciverbalist: Byron Walden
Editor: Will Smith

Solving time: 26:09

Puzzle uniqueness: 0

Words I hadn't known until now: 

OSTERIA - "Basic Italian bistro"
SWAYBAR - "Stabilizer in suspensions"

Trivia I didn't know:

IDALUPINO - "Director/co-star of 'The Bigamist,' 1953"
BANFF - "Second-oldest national park in North America"
PINOTS - "Champagne grapes" (Never knew this)
NAN - "___ Britton, mistress of Warren Harding who had a sensational 1927 tell-all book"
DRDRE - "Rapper with the 1992 3x platinum debut 'The Chronic'"
BEESEASON - "2005 film starring Richard Gere and Juliette Binoche"
ODEON - "Literally, 'singing place'" (Didn't know that!)
LOLA - "1970 hit with a spelled-out title"
ONTHEUP - "Improving, in Britspeak"
EPEEIST - "One who tries to avoid being touched" (Never knew this word existed, but makes sense)
RATT - "Heavy-metal band with the hit album 'Out of the Cellar' and 'Infestation'"
MAL - "___ du pays (homesickness: Fr.)"
ANNE - "Grandmother of Jesus" (Never thought about this!)

Junk Answers:

EXDA - "Rudy Giuliani or Chris Christie, for short"
ROO - "Down Under critter"

Clever clues:

OPINE - "Give takes"
PCLANGUAGE - "Unslurred speech?"
INSEAM - "Line of clothing"
LIAR - "Fabulous speaker?"
GOSSIPS - "Dish transmitters"
PINATA - "Candy ass?"
ECOLOGY - "Green field?"
LINCOLNERA - "The early '60s, in U.S. politics"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

OSTERIA - (See above)
EPEEIST - (See above)

NYT Crossword 10/06/17 (Fri.)

Cruciverbalist: Patrick Berry
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: DNF (Northeast corner did me in)

Puzzle uniqueness: 0

Words I hadn't known until now: 

ETSEQ - "And what follows, in legal memos"
ACOMA - "Historic pueblo near Albuquerque"

Trivia I didn't know:

TINAS - "'Tony n' _____ Wedding' (Off Broadway hit)"
BARBARAJORDAN - "Congresswoman who delivered the opening statement at Nixon's impeachment hearings"
SHAMS - "Decorative bedding"
ELOISE - "Enfant terrible of children's literature" (Have no idea about this)
DENNYS - "Bob Evans competitor" (Have no idea what "Bob Evans" is, I guess a diner)
BOCARATON - "Home to the Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club" (Really?)
JULES - "Samuel L. Jackson's 'Pulp Fiction' role"
ORR - "'Catch-22" pilot who repeatedly crashes" (Great book! Highly recommend)
LEOFENDER - "Guitar inventor in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" (Didn't know the first name)

Junk Answers:

ETSEQ - (See above)

Clever clues:

ADA - "Abbr. on a tube"
METEORSHOWER - "Spectacular rock events?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 10/5/17 (Thu.)

Cruciverbalist: Alan Arbesfeld
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 14:59

Puzzle uniqueness:

Bumping up adjectives in film titles. Example: SPECIALPEOPLE (From "Ordinary People," 1980)

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know: 

ADLAI - "'Madly for _____' (1952 campaign slogan)" (I knew the answer, just never knew the slogan)
IONA - "The Gaels of the N.C.A.A."
ERNO - "Puzzlemaker Rubik" (I never can remember this)
AGEE - "Jon who wrote and illustrated 'Palindromania!'"
NAS - "'Hip Hop Is Dead' rapper"
SEURAT - "Artist who went Dotty?"

Junk answers:

LTDS - "Bygone Fords"
TMAN - "Prohibition enforcer, informally"
TRALA - "Carefree syllables"
INR - "About"
POS - "> 0: Abbr."

Clever clues: 

BEAN - "Think piece?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 10/04/17 (Wed.)

Cruciverbalist: Evan Mahnken
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 14:23

Puzzle uniqueness:

Dictionary gags about where certain answers are in said dictionary. Example: Answer AFTERHOURS is clued "Where 'house party' is in the dictionary?"

Words I hadn't known until now: 

GORETEX - "Water-repellant material"
AMARNA - "Cuneiform discovery site"

Trivia I didn't know:

ORI - "Dwarf brother in 'The Hobbit'" (And I'm a LOTR fan!)
EGAN - "Edward ____, longtime archbishop of New York"
ESTHER - "Book before Job"
LEY - "Science writer Willy" (Who???)
TERN - "Bird found on all continents, including Antarctica" (Great trivia question!)
GENOME - "It wasn't mapped until 2003"

Junk Answers:

MON - "The day of M.L.K. Day: Abbr."
GAI - "Moo goo ___ pan"
MIL - "A small amount in science or a large amount in business"
EDY - "Big name in ice cream"
MES - "Parisian possessive"
OER - "Anthem contraction"
TDS - "Scores for Seahawks and Eagles, for short"
IRR - "Like some sale items: Abbr."
SDS - "Activist campus org."

Clever clues:

NITS - "Things faultfinders pick"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

GORETEX - (See above)
AMARNA - (See above)

NYT Crossword 10/03/17 (Tue.)

Cruciverbalist: Chuck Deodene

Solving time: 10:55

Puzzle uniqueness:

Two answers,  CENTER and ISLAND, are clues to four answers in which an island is in the exact center of the answer. Example: BALTIMOREAN.

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know:

AMMAN - "Capital of Jordan"
NORMA - "'Psycho' mother" (Never knew she was given a first name)
ETEXT - "Writing in digital form" (WTF?)

Junk Answers:

IAMSO - "Retort to a doubter"
YAH - "Affirmative in 'Fargo'"
SAYAH - "'Open wide!'"
ODED - "Had too much, briefly"

Clever clues: 

STRATA - "Rock bands?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 10/02/17 (Mon.)

Cruciverbalist: Trenton Charlson
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 05:43

Puzzle uniqueness:

Series of letters as clues to the answer. Example: Letters "A B C D E F G " as a clue to the answer MUSICNOTES

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know:

PSI - "It comes between chi and omega" (I've written before that I have no clue the order of the Greek alphabet)

Junk Answers:

OHHI - "'Fancy seeing you here!'"
OER - "Opposite of 'neath"
MBAS - "Some Wharton degs."
INS - "Drop-___ (surprise visitors)"

Clever clues: 0

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 10/01/17 (Sun.)

Cruciverbalist: Robert Fisher
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 41:36

Puzzle uniqueness: "That's One Way To Put It"

Wacky re-interpretations of common phrases. Example: "Falling down" answer is TESTINGGRAVITY

Words I hadn't known until now: 

SEHR - "Very: Ger."
LIMN - "Draw, as a scene"
PAWL - "Ratcheting wheel mechanism"

Trivia I didn't know:

IOWA - "Locale for the Quad cities" (Have no clue what this is)
ERIC - "Country star Church"
TSGARP - "John Irving protagonist portrayed by Robin Williams" (Didn't know the "TS" part)
GIDE - "Andre ____, 1947 Literature Nobelist"
PLO - "U.N. observer since '74" (TBH, not sure what "observer" means)
STAG - "Animal depicted in Edwin Landseer's 'The Monarch  of the Glen'" (Never heard of it)
TRY - "Five-point rugby play" (Huh?)
EARLE - "Country rocker Steve"
AMALIE - "Charlotte ______, Virgin Islands"

Junk Answers: A lot. Here are a few:

SEHR - (See above)
EFS - "G.P.A. killers"
SIE - ""Sprechen ___ Deutsch?"
XKE - "Classic Jag"
EOS - "Canon camera"
API - "Bee: Prefix"
OTTOI - Hole Roman emperor called 'the Great'"
PLUMR - "Liquid-_____"
THEO - "Where to accent 'Laotian'" (Horrible clue)

Clever clues: 

DRIP - "Cause of insomnia, maybe"
HOTS - "'Hots'"
ALIBI - "Out in court"
CARP - "Complaining fish?"
AMDIAL - "It goes up to about 1700"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

SEHR - (See above)
Gaia - "Earth goddess"
SIE - (See above)
BIOTAS - "Florae and faunae"
ADELIE - "Antarctic penguin"
AMALIE - (See above)

NYT Crossword 09/30/17 (Sat.)

Cruciverbalist: Mary Lou Guizzo and Jeff Chen
Editor: Will Smith

Solving time: DNF

Puzzle uniqueness: 0

Words I hadn't known until now: 

PHLOX - "Flower whose name is Greek for 'flame'"
LAKSHMI - "Hindu goddess of prosperity" (Wow!)
RIJKSMUSEUM - "Home of Rembrandt's 'The Night Watch'"
IDEALGAS - "Substance obeying Boyle's law" (Have no idea what this means)

Trivia I didn't know:

BEERBRAT - "Sausage at an Oktoberfest"
KMART - "Chain once self-styled as 'the Saving Place'"
MOAB - "Seat of Utah's Grand County"
AMY - "'Ask ___' (syndicated advice column)"
STAKES - "Track prize" (Never knew "stakes" were the prize)
PRIAM - "Final Trojan king"
ALTS - "Secondary personas. om role-playing game lingo" (Though I see the logic)
LEROUX - "Gaston ______, Frenchman who wrote 'The Phantom of the Opera'"
CENTUPLE - "Increase a hundredfold" (Never knew this word existed, but why not?)
KATEMOSS - "She's been on the cover of British Vogue more than anyone else"

Junk Answers:

GMAJOR - "Setting of 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusic'" (Stupid trap where if you don't know the across answer you have to randomly pick E, G, B, D, F)
SYR - "Like many asylum seekers in the 2010s: Abbr."
EDGEIN - "Parallel-park, e.g."
ALTS - (See above)

Clever clues:

EARS - "Reception figures?"
DJS - "Reception figures"
AIRSICK - "Under the weather while above the clouds?"
DEA - "Crack team's initials?"
VAN - "Moving object?"
GOBLONDE - "Become lightheaded?"
PEDALS - "Bicycle couple?"
SCAB - "Strike fear?"
PEALS - "Takes a toll?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

MAMABIRD - "Fledgling feeder" (Come on, really?)
PHLOX - (See above)
LAKSHMI -  (See above)
VARIETAL - "Chardonnay or merlot"
VJDAY - "Time of surrender in '45"

NYT Crossword 09/29/17 (Fri.)

Cruciverbalist: Damon Gulczynski
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: DNF (Was in an impatient mood)

Puzzle uniqueness: 0

Words I hadn't known until now: 

GENDERBINARY - "Male-or-female" (New one to me)
ASAHI - "Sushi bar beverage, perhaps" (Not a sushi guy)

Trivia I didn't know:

PIPPA - "English socialite Middleton"
PABLONERUDA - "Gabriel Garcia Marquez called him 'the greatest poet of the 20th century, in any language'"
JOLLYRANCHER - "Brand of fruit-flavored hard candy"
PIBB  - "____ Xtra (Coca-Cola product"
HOAG - "Judith of TV's 'Nashville'" (Never watched the show)
GARYHART - "Onetime presidential candidate with a divinity degree from Yale"
TRACY - "'30 Rock' character with the same first name as its actor" (Never watched the show)

Junk Answers:

MOT - "Zinger" (Really?)
IVS - They have tubes attached"
MIC - "Item that names a person holding it when its middle letter is removed" (Really?"
PSY - "University department, in course descriptions"
PIBB - (See above)
POLIS - "Ancient Greek city-state"
NATL - Like some monuments: Abbr."
DMC - Rap's Run-___"
APU - "'The Simpsons' character who claims he can recite pi to 40,000 places"

Clever clues:

POACH - "Appropriate game"
LAGS - "Streaming hiccups"
SODAJERK - "Float fixer"
ABOMBS - "Mushroom producers"
TELEKINESIS - "Brain power like you can't believe?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 09/28/17 (Thu.)

Cruciverbalist: Joe Krozel
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 10:51

Puzzle uniqueness:

Black squares are in the shape of a piñata hanging, CANDY in the center representing the letters "C" and "Y" do not appear in the puzzle.

Words I hadn't known until now: 

ASIAGO - "Hard, pungent cheese"

Trivia I didn't know: 

ANSELM - "New Hampshire's Saint ______ College"
ITEN - "Cross-country route, informally"
TIMS - "Popular beige work boots, colloquially"

Junk answers:

INS - "Cave-___ (mining hazards)"
ODS - "Consumes too much, informally"
ETRE - "French 101 verb"
TSE - "Lao-___"
OEDS - "Library references, briefly"
EMT - "Defib user"
QUO - "Where: Lat."
ITEN - (See above)

Clever clues: 

LIFT - "Connector of English stories"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

TONKAS - "Some toy trucks"
ANSELM - (See above)
ENTENTE - "Agreement"
LELAND - "University founder ______ Stanford"
ENGELS - "Marx collaborator"

NYT Crossword 09/27/17 (Wed.)

Cruciverbalist: Jacob Stulberg
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 15:01

Puzzle uniqueness:

Answer THREERINGCIRCUS clue to three sets of circled squares each in a semi-quasi "ring" signifying circus acts. Example: WIREWALKER

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know:

CYPRESSHILL - "Hip-hop group with the triple-platinum album 'Black Sunday'"
PNIN - "Nabokov novel"
ASSAI - "Very, in music"
ANDRE - "Traitorous Major _____ of the Revolutionary War"
NAGIN - "Ray _____, mayor of New Orleans during Katrina"
ERTE - "'Symphony in Black' artist"
SELAH - "Interjection occurring frequently in Psalms"
EOCENE - "Epoch characterized by the rise of mammals"
FIG - "Garden of Eden tree" (One of those "How 'bout that!" answers)

Junk Answers:

IED - "Roadside bomb, briefly"
ANC - "Nelson Mandela's org."
KER - "Lead-in to plop or plunk"
DEGS - "M.B.A. and Ph.D., for two"
FSTAR - "Polaris, e.g., in astronomy" (One of those if you don't know the cross you're toast)
SWE - "Abba's, home: abbr."

Clever clues:

WATT - "Power figure?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

PNIN - (See above)

NYT Crossword 09/25/17 (Mon.)

Cruciverbalist: Bruce Haight
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 07:02

Puzzle uniqueness:

Two-word rhyming phrases that have the last three letters the same, crossing in the center letter. Example: HANDY across and DANDY and down, both sharing the "N."

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know:

THORA - "Birch, 'American Beauty' actress"

Junk Answers:

AAH - "'How relaxing!'"
AMIE - "French female friend"
AMA - "Org. for docs"
MRI - "CT scan alternative"

Clever clues: 

DAB - "Bit of Brylcreem, say" (Take on a very old Brylcreem ad of "A little dab'll do ya")

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

DIURNAL - "Active during the daytime"

NYT Crossword 09/24/17 (Sun.)

Cruciverbalist: Alan Arbesfeld
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 40:34

Puzzle uniqueness: "State Lines"

Using the abbreviations of states to provide wacky answers. Example: ONEMOTIME with the clue "2:00 in New York vis-à-vis St. Louis?"

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know:

OPENERA - "Tennis world since 1968"
ICET - "Player f TV's Det. Tutuola" (Never seen the show)
BRIS - "Rite for a newborn Jewish boy" (Whatever that is)
TDBANK - "Financial institution whose parent company is Canadian" (Huh?)
ESME - "Name in a Salinger title"
BOER - "It means 'farmer' in Afrikaans" (How 'bout that?)
EDH - "Icelandic letter"
EOS - "Sister of Helios"
TOPHOLE - "First-rate, in British slang"
LYNNE - "Jeff _____, leader of the Electric Light Orchestra"

Junk Answers:

RONI - "Rice-a-___
ENOL - "Hydroxyl compound"
MSG - "Imparter of umami taste, in brief"
EDH - (See above)
ISM - "Ideology"
UNI - "Start to form?"
ETE - "Tour d France time"
EMI - "Former parent co. of Gramophone and Parlophone records"
EPI - "Commercial lead-in to Pen"
XKES - "Vintage Jaguars"

Clever clues: 

NEWDO - "Change of locks?"
SPARE - "Fifth wheel?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 09/23/17 (Sat.)

Cruciverbalist: Robyn Weintraub
Editor: Will Smith

Solving time: 17:52

Puzzle uniqueness: 0

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know:

IRENE - "_____ Neuwirth (designer jewelry brand)"
POLO - "Summer Olympics event discontinued after 1936"

Junk Answers:

GOV - "Common URL ending"
RECD- "Office stamp abbr."
DAS - "Some 'Murder One' figs."
TSK - "Sound of condescension"

Clever clues:

PENPAL - "Friend of note"
POINT - "One can be driven home"
GETBUSY - "Work order?"
BMOVIE - "Cheesy fare"
HOUSEPLANT - "A mister may sit next to one"
TIRE - "One getting bald over time"
ROE - "Potential perch"
PAGE - "Hill runner"
MPAA - "Group that takes on pirates"
PAWPRINTS - "Dog-walking trail"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 09/22/17 (Fri.)

Cruciverbalist: David Steinberg
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 34:11

Puzzle uniqueness: 

Triple stack fourteen-letter answers.

Words I hadn't known until now: 

INHERES - "Exists naturally" (So THAT'S where "inherent" comes from!)
ATELIER - "Workshop" (I've heard of the word, just not really what it meant)

Trivia I didn't know:

ELI - "Man's name meaning 'my God'"
REI - "It might have a tent sale" (I assume this is a store of some type)
ROMANTICPERIOD - "Wordsworth, Coleridge and Byron wrote in it"
ESA - "Conductor ___-Pekka Salonen" (OK...this is REALLY reaching!)
SIGURD - "Brynhild's beloved, in Norse legend" (I'm sure we're all well versed in Norse mythology)
PHI - "Beta's preceder"
THETA - "Symbol for a plane angle, in geometry"

Junk Answers:

REI - (See above)
CTRL - "PC key"
DEL - "PC key"

Clever clues:

STAND - "It's taken in court"
DIODE - "Current director"
MAZE - "Setting for a rat race?"
CAREERCRIMINAL - "One who can't turn right?"
MIR - "It went around for 15 years"
DOCTOR - "One who's gotten the third degree?"
TIMEINC - "Life preserver?"
SHOP - "Chamber of commerce?"
MERCI - "Nice thanks"
ONE - "Small square"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

INHERES - (See above)
HOMERIC - "Grand"
SIGURD - (See above)
THETA - (See above)
ATELIER - (See above)

NYT Crossword 09/21/17 (Thu.)

Cruciverbalist: Matt Ginsberg
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: DNF (Another way too tricky puzzle, which I hate))

Puzzle uniqueness:

UEY clue to another four answers in which the complete answer turns back on itself in the next across row. I won't try to show an example.

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know: 

ALAIN - "Formula One racer Prost"
HOTTEST - "Topping the Scoville scale" (Had no idea what the Scoville scale was)
BASALT - "Makeup of many moon rock" (One of those "How about that!" moments)
OKEEFE - "Michael of 'The Great Santini'"
LAHORE - "Punjab's capital"

Junk answers:

EEGS - "Head lines, briefly?"
INST - "Research org."
IDEO - "Prefix with -logical"
MPS - "British V.I.P.s"

Clever clues: 

SOFTG - "George I or V?"
WENT - "Came's partner"
SYNAPSE - "Something involved in a firing"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

TEMPI - "Beats"
VEEPSTAKES - "Quadrennial U.S. occurrence" (WTF?"
MISCALL - "Poker blunder" (Yeah, right.)
BASSI - "Operatic villains, often"
ENIAC - "Vacuum tube innovation of 1946"

NYT Crossword 09/20/17 (Wed.)

Cruciverbalist: Hal Moore
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 09:06

Puzzle uniqueness:

Answers that have two letters in alphabetical order from A to Z. Examples: SCAB, BCE, CDS, DEVIL, etc.

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know:

WIM - Wenders who directed 'Buena Vista Social Club'"
BMWXSERIES - "Line of upscale German autos {23}" ("23" represents the twenty-third set of two-letters in alphabetical order, "WX")

Junk Answers: Way too many. I don't want to bother.

Clever clues: 0

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 09/19/17 (Tue.)

Cruciverbalist: Don Gagliardo and Zhouqin Burnikel
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 09:33

Puzzle uniqueness:

Answer SILENTPARTNER is clue to three two-word phrases in which each word in the phrase has the same silent letter. Example: CAMPAIGNSIGNS

Words I hadn't known until now: 

GORSE - "Vegetation along a British golf course"

Trivia I didn't know: 

SATIE - "'Gymnopedies' composer Erik"
NERO - "Claudius's successor" (Though the four letters made it sort of obvious)
DRLAURA - "Advice-giver on SiriusXM"
MORGAN - "New York's ______ Library"
IRONAGE - "Period in Europe starting around 1100 B.C."
PORSCHE - "Boxster maker"

Junk Answers: 

FROS - "Bushy dos"
SKEE - "____-Ball"
MAA - "Goat's bleat"
AKA - "Lead-in to an alias"
VWS - "Bugs on the road?"
PSA - "Smokey Bear was in an early one, for short"
HOS - "Sounds from the Jolly Green Giant"
EDS - "Mag. staffers"
SNO - "___ Balls (snack food)"

Clever clues:

HILO - "U.S. city whose name looks oxymoronic" (High/Low, get it?)
HDTV - "It'll give you a clear picture"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

GALENA - "Main ore of lead"

NYT Crossword 09/18/17 (Mon.)

Cruciverbalist: Tom McCoy
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 06:01

Puzzle uniqueness:

Color + body part + "ed" ending. Example: YELLOWBELLIED

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know: 0

Junk Answers:

AMT - "Qty."
AKA - "Letters before a pseudonym"
ONS - "Walk-___ (unrecruited athletes)"
IDED - "Picked out of a lineup, informally"

Clever clues: 0

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 09/17/17 (Sun.)

Cruciverbalist: Mark Maclachlan
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: DNF

Puzzle uniqueness: "Super Looper"

Answers in which the phrases are "looped" to be complete. Forget it.

Words I hadn't known until now: 

PRIONS - "Proteins responsible for mad cow disease"
NANOTUBE - "Tiny conductor of heat or electricity" (WTF?)

Trivia I didn't know:

SUTRA - "Collection of Hindu aphorisms" (Didn't know it means this)
UTAUSTIN - "Rex Tillerson's alma mater, for short" (This is a real reach)
ESA - "Tikkanen who won five Stanley Cups"
TONIER - "More chichi" (Have no idea of the word "chichi")
SENECA - "Roman philosopher who wrote 'All cruelty springs from weakness'"
ALTPOP - "Music genre for Weezer or the Shins"
CLOVES - "Mulled wine ingredient"
ARIE - "Singer India.____" (I can never remember this)
SULU - "The Philippines' ____ Sea" (Would have preferred a Star Trek clue)
EDERLE - "Gertrude who swam the English Channel in 1926" (Another one I can never remember)
ATE - "Homophone for the atomic number of oxygen"
IAN - "Author Rankin" (Who??)
ESTATES - "Trusts and ______ (law school class)"
ENKE - "Speed skater Karin who won eight Olympic medals)

Junk Answers:

SIE - "German pronoun"
ESA - "(See above)
STER - "Team finale?"
RNA - "Stranded cellular stuff"
ETH - "Addis Ababa's country: Abbr."
OTS - "Extra periods at TD Garden"
AGT - "007, for one: Abbr."
OOM - "___-pah-pah"
MTA - "Letters on N.Y.C. trains"
ORTH - "Straight: Prefix"
EEN - "Dark time, in poesy"
SEQ - "1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 ..., e,g,: Abbr." (ICYI, add the two end numbers to get the next number)
ARA - "Altar constellation"
OSO - "Baja bear"
ILE - "St. Pierre, par exemple"
ARTOO - "'Star Wars' droid"

Clever clues: 

PIANO - "Keys for Keys?"
LAP - "Child's seat, perhaps"
SPADES - "Quarter deck?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

PRIONS - (See above)

NYT Crossword 09/16/17 (Sat.)

Cruciverbalists: Natan Last, Finn Vigeland and the J.A.S.A. Crossword Class
Editor: Will Smith

Solving time: DNF

Puzzle uniqueness: 0

Words I hadn't known until now: 

EMERGENC - "Fizzy vitamin supplement"(WTF?)
CHAYOTE - "Gourd also known as a vegetable pear"
MEEMAW - "Grandmother, in dialect" (WTF?)
GOL - "Cry at Real Madrid game"

Trivia I didn't know:

ELAL - "It holds the world record for most passengers on a commercial airliner (1,088)"
EMERGENC - (See above)
JESSICA - "Shylock's daughter in 'The Merchant of Venice'"
THEGAP - "Something to watch" (WTF?)
TARA - "Hill of ___, site of Ireland's Lia Fail)
RYAN - "'The O.C.' protagonist" (Really?)
ONES - "Kind of place for the summer?" (I don't get this at all)
CHAYOTE - (See above)
MEEMAW - (See above)
HELGA - "Andrew Wyeth's 'The _____ Pictures'"
GOL - (See above)
STAG - "Animal form of Harry Potter's Patronus"
PETERI - "Who's depicted in Russia's 'Bronze Horseman' statue"
SATAN - "He 'wept with all six eyes,' per Dante"
SIDCAESAR - "1950s personality who appeared in 'Grease'"

Junk Answers:

CIS - "Prefix with gender"
OKS - "Checks off on"
EER - "'The noblest hateful love that ___ I heard of": 'Troilus and Cressida'"
LDS - "Relig. affiliation of more than six million Americans"

Clever clues:

EASYSTREET - "Low-stress address?"
STARCH - "Pressing need"
COLT - "Young stud?"
MER - "Sea as in Cannes?"
SHEEP - "Blind followers"
CASTPARTY - "Celebration after a run?"
PRO - "One for the money?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words:

CHAYOTE - (See above)
MEEMAW - (See above)
RHEOSTAT - "Current regulator"

NYT Crossword 09/15/17 (Fri.)

Cruciverbalist: Damon Gulczynski
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 28:58

Puzzle uniqueness: 0

Words I hadn't known until now: 

ADJURE - "Beseech"

Trivia I didn't know:

IMPEI - "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame designer"
DENCH - "'Philomena' co-star, 2013"
UNA - "'Por ___ Cabeza' (tango song)"
YAZOO - "Tributary of the Mississippi"
ARN - "Royal son of the comics"
NEUMANN - "Computer science pioneer John von_______"
LEV - "Tolstoy's first name, in Russia"
SWEDE - "Celsius, for one"
MAUNAKEA - "World's tallest mountain, base to peak"
PTBARNUM - "Who said 'Without promotion, something terrible happens ... nothing!'"
WYATT - "Peter Fonda's role in 'Easy Rider'"
SEARS - "Retail giant since 1886"

Junk Answers:

SHH - "Sound from a silencer"
AHAS - "Cries of enlightenment"
LEV - (See above)
DRT - "Richard Gere title role"
CRO - "___-Magnon"
STE - "Business card abbr."
IDEM - "Latin word in a footnote"
WAWA - "Basic beverage, in baby talk"
NUS - "Some college Greeks"

Clever clues:

ENDING - "It may be spoiled"
HARRY - "Dirty cop?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

ADJURE - (See above)

NYT Crossword 09/14/17 (Thu.)

Cruciverbalist: John Guzzetta
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: DNF (Too many words/trivia I knew nothing about in one place)

Puzzle uniqueness:

"Tooth" broken up by black squares in three answers with the answer DIASTEMA (which I've never heard of) being the clue. Yuk!

Words I hadn't known until now: 

DIASTEMA - "Formal term for the gap suggested by 17/16-, 35/37- and 54/57-Across"
SEEDPEARLS - "Tiny treasures from the sea"
NESSUS - "Centaur who was killed by Hercules"
NUTRIA - "Burrowiing South American rodent"

Trivia I didn't know: 

RYDELL - "'Grease' high school"
URDU - "Language of the Lahore Post"
NESSUS - (See above)
DES - "Paris's Pont ___ Arts"
ELON - "University near Greensboro"
NUTRIA - (See above)

Junk answers:

ILES - "Dots in la mer"

ASNO - "Come ____ surprise"
ACH - "German cry"
DES - "(See above)
TATA - "'Toodles!'"
EEO - "Job listing abbr."
DWI - "Cause for suspension, in brief"
SRO - "Above capacity, for short"
NFC - "Giants' group"

Clever clues: 

GET -  "What comes before a clue?"
INTROS - "They're often made at icebreakers"
NEST - "Twitter site"
ACT - "It's the law"
TAP - "Weak punch?"
MISADDS - "Does sumthing wrong?"
REVEILLE - "Rising notes?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

DIASTEMA - (See above)
RYDELL - (See above)
DUMONT - "Early TV network competing with NBC, ABC and CBS" (I actually knew this!)
MISADDS - (See above)
NUTRIA - (See above)

NYT Crossword 09/13/17 (Wed.)

Cruciverbalist: Daniel Mauer
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 09:31

Puzzle uniqueness:

Answer THELITTLETHINGS is a clue to three answers whose first words translate to "The little." Example: LEPETITDEJEUNER means "breakfast," Literal translation is "The little lunch."

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know:

EZRA - "Book after II Chronicles"

ORANGINA - "Fuzzy citrus beverage" (Is this a regional thing?)
PHI - "Golden ratio symbol"
LILAC - "State flower of New Hampshire"

Junk Answers:

IBET - "Cynical rejoinder"
RIAA - "Org. certifying albums as gold or platinum"
YADDA - "When said three times, blah blah blah"
EDU - "End of a freshman's new email address"
HELLA - "Very, in slang"
CRU - "French vineyard"
III - "XXX divided by X"

Clever clues:

ELM - "One throwing shade?"
BUT - "Good-news-to-bad-news transition"
EAR - "Listen here!"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

ECLAT - "Brilliance"
BRIO - "Vivacity"
CRU - (See above)

NYT Crossword 09/12/17 (Tue.)

Cruciverbalist: Bruce Haight
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 12:15

Puzzle uniqueness:

Words in which the first two letters are also roman numerals, so wacky definitions ensue... Example: VIEWINGS with the clue "Six members of a 'Dallas' family?"

Words I hadn't known until now: 

OMRI - "Father of Ahab in the Bible"

Trivia I didn't know: 

HIPS - "'____ Don't Lie' (2006 Shakira hit)"
ELLIS - "Designer Perry"

Junk Answers: 

ENT - "Doc who might perform laryngologic surgery"
DRS -  "H.M.O. V.I.P.s"
NRC - "Org. concerned with meltdowns"
ITD - "'___ be my pleasure"

Clever clues:

DUELS - "Pacer's engagements?"
SHAPE - "You might run to get in it"
ASSET - "It's no liability"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

OMRI - (See above)
MONOSKI - "Relative of a snowboard"

NYT Crossword 09/11/17 (Mon.)

Cruciverbalist: Erik Agard and Paolo Pasco
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 07:37

Puzzle uniqueness:

Two answers, LALA/LAND, are hints to phrases which have circled squares filled in with "LA," two per answer. Example: TORTILLAFLAT

Words I hadn't known until now: 

AFROED - "Sporting a natural" (Didn't know this word existed)

Trivia I didn't know: 

DAWES - "Dominique _____, 1996 Olympic gymnastics gold medalist"
RAE - "Issa who stars on HBO's 'Insecure'"
SALAAM - "Deep bow" (Never knew this was what was meant by the word)

Junk Answers:

PSI - "Pitch-forked letter"
LPS - "Vinyl albums, for short"
RAE - (See above)

Clever clues: 

IGLOO - "Ice pad?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

AFROED - (See above)

NYT Crossword 09/10/17 (Sun.)

Cruciverbalist: Brendan Emmett Quigley
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 38:56

Puzzle uniqueness: "Size Matters"

Adding the sound "Sy" to a familiar phrase. Example: STATICCYCLING

Words I hadn't known until now: 

ONEONTA - "City with one of the SUNY schools"
YLEM - "Primordial universe matter"
AVOIR - "French 101 verb"
LADOGA - "Europe's largest lake"
GAI - "War su ___ (boneless chicken dish)"
SAMOSA - "Indian appetizer"
CELIAC - "Relating to the abdominal cavity"

Trivia I didn't know:

JULIA - "Comic Sweeney"
SKYTEL - "Wireless data and messaging company"
WESSEX - "Prince Edward's earldom"
ESTES - "Photorealist painter Richard"
IRENE - "Chemistry Nobelist Joliot-Curie"
JAYZ - "Rapper with the music streaming service Tidal"
IDYLIST - "Pastoral poet" (And I thought it would have two "L's")

Junk Answers:

YOO - "'___-hoo!'"
MMES - "Little women: Abbr."
GAI - (See above)
IMA - "''___ a little confused'"
UIE - "It may be pulled after a wrong turn"
ACH - "German lament"
OKD - "Green-lit"
III - "Due east on an old clock dial"
ORS - "Surgical locales"
STA - "Greyhound stop: Abbr."
INST - "Think tank, e.g.: Abbr."
NON - "Smoking or ___"
AME - "Black church inits."
ALAI - "Jai ____"
MAI - "French month"

Clever clues: 

BAREXAMS - "Pre-practice tests?"

WINO - "Lush's favorite radio station?"

METHLABS - "Workplaces with a need for speed?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 

YLEM - (See above)
CELIAC - (See above)
UNCASE - "Take out, as wine bottles"
IDYLIST - (See above)
NAYSAYS - "Denies"

NYT Crossword 09/09/17 (Sat.)

Cruciverbalists: John Guzzetta and Michael Hawkins
Editor: Will Smith

Solving time: 26:54

Puzzle uniqueness: 0

Words I hadn't known until now: 

MENSAN - "Person with a mental bloc?" (I'm aware of Mensa, just didn't know this take)
CHERE - "Start of a billet-doux" (Still have no idea what this is)
ANI - "'___ ohev otach' (Hebrew for 'I love you')"

Trivia I didn't know:

ROLFE - "Son-in-law of Chief Powhatan" (Still don't know who he is)

Junk Answers:

EEE - "Oxford designation"
INT - "Football stat: Abbr."
PDS - "They have sgts."
TNT - "P.G.A. Championship airer"
OHO - "'Well, I'll be!'"

Clever clues:

GASPEDAL - "One getting depressed on the road"
ADOLESCENTS - "Minority group"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words:

TROTH - "Loyalty, old style"
MENSAN - (See above)
ANI - (See above)

NYT Crossword 09/08/17 (Fri.)

Cruciverbalist: Sam Trabucco
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 17:52

Puzzle uniqueness: A lot of scrabbly letters. Example: BUZZFEEDQUIZZES

Words I hadn't known until now: 

TAPASBAR - "Place to order sardinas and sangria" (Didn't know this was a thing)
CAKEPOP - "Dessert on a stick" (Didn't know this was a thing)

Trivia I didn't know:

ARTIE - "Whell chair-bound 'Glee' character" (Never watched the show)
ROSA - "'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' detective Diaz" (Never watched the show)
STARCRAFT - "Hit sci-fi video game set around the 26th century" (Never played the game)

Junk Answers:

SQIN - "Abbr. in many an area measure"
NIC - "Actor Cage, informally"
NOA - "___ thousand times..."
ALIA - "Inter ____"
FIDOS - "Cousins of Spots" (Plural, really?)

Clever clues:

FIREAXES - "Tools for escaping the heat?"
EWE - "Rams fan?"
ZAP - "Be a buzzkill?"

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 09/07/17 (Thu.)

Cruciverbalist: Alex Eaton-Salners
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 13:29 (Really bad puzzle)

Puzzle uniqueness:

All answers are in alphabetical order starting from 1-Across to 67-Across.

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know: 

CLAUDI A- "Lady Bird Johnson's real given name"
LUCASARTS - "Maker of Star Wars and Indiana Jones video games"
COBIN - "Lead singer of Nirvana"

Junk answers: Way too many, I don't want to play...

Clever clues: 0

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0

NYT Crossword 09/06/17 (Wed.)

Cruciverbalist: Daniel Raymon
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 16:17 (Center gave me fits)

Puzzle uniqueness:

Taking known phrases and turning them into a wacky "y" sound within the phrase. Example: FJORDEXPLORER

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know: 

SARA - "Grammy and Tony nominee Bareilles"

TIMOR - "_____ Sea (body north of Australia)"

ROBYN - "One-named Swedish singer with the 1997 hit 'Show Me Love'"

Junk Answers:

IMHOT - "'It's boiling in here!"
III - "Senior's grandson"
SMS - "Texting format, in brief"
ENO - "Rock's Brian"
MONT - "France's Pic de Rochebrune, e.g."
LORES- "Like early computer graphics"
EZIO - "Pinza of 'South Pacific'"
URB - "Metro area"

Clever clues:

EDIT - "Pare a phrase" ("Paraphrase...get it?)

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words: 0