Monday: Fast… But Weird? - 26 August 2024 New York Times Crossword

[Music] hello it is Monday August 26 2024 I'm Chris Remo and welcome back to the New York Times crossword daily solv it's a Monday crossword today which means I'm going to be solving the uh first themed puzzle of the week a gentle early week themed solve and I'm going to be doing it as quickly as I reasonably can while still oh no someone actually recommended I try something this time and so people in the comments echoed this request so we'll see I'm going to I was going to say I I solved this while still sort of reading the clues I'm going to try and just solve it as quickly as I can without reading the clues this is actually something I've not really done in a long time because of this video series um so we'll see how it goes uh if you don't enjoy it and you'd prefer that I um you know read these read them out as I go let me know if you prefer once a week seeing this genuine speed solve or closer to a genuine speed solve then let me know that as well uh in any case this experimental 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description field and now let's solve the puzzle let's solve it quickly like I mentioned I'm going to be solving this um without even really reading the clues aloud I'm just going to see how quickly I can get through it and I'm worried it's going to be sort of eerie and un unentertaining so let me know if you find that to be the case and I um I don't want to keep doing something that's that people are going to find strange so um I don't know we'll see how this goes anyway this was constructed by Zachary David Levy who's constructed uh I think nearly 10 puzzles for the New York Times it was edited once again by Joel falano let's start solving and see how this experiment goes oh boy it's really hard not to um not to read this on video Let's see SL check I don't like doing this I have to say it's very strange uh I probably won't do this again um I it's it's really I feel it's it's making me do a worse job because I'm um because I'm feeling so awkward about it oh W okay I think I'm I think I'm doing worse also um interestingly oh I see the theme it's um three words and repeated yeah I don't think this is going to be any faster than usual oh I'm not sure what this is here oh a is lme backwards uh for okay interesting I I'm not going to do that again I don't think it felt very very strange um I had to for for the first sort of half I had to restrain myself from sort of reading the clues aloud because it's impossible not to be conscious of the fact that I'm on video uh so that was very strange uh and then for the rest of it I sort of got a bit more accustomed to it but it definitely felt awkward throughout and and it probably I don't know it probably was for you as well anyway um uh it's interesting there were times where I was able to go faster not by not having to read the clues but Mo most of the time I think I was just sort of I don't know I it was I don't think it helped most of the time strangely enough anyway I didn't you know I solved it around four minutes I've certainly I think I've had faster solves than that at times when reading the clues so I don't think on average it helped um but also you know different puzzles are of different difficulty so who knows uh so what what how do I do this do I just read through all of the clues I suppose I suppose I do square dance venue well let's look at the theme first actually so we have three repeated words a triple word score yes okay so uh each of our theme Clues and this was helpful even in cases of um of answers I didn't actually know once I realized what was going on so the abait of 1979 is gimme gimme gimme that one I did know so that that was helpful uh the insan kit of 2000 uh I didn't get initially but I did actually remember it existing once I once I put it in oh and they're all songs right okay mly crew hit of 1987 this one I actually didn't know but I realized pretty quickly that it was girls and so it was going to be girls girls girls thanks to the theme and then this one I don't even think I read beach boy hit of 1964 fun fun fun I think I might have filled this one purely by looking at the um repeated letters without reading the clue uh but there we go I do know that song uh and then that is explained by the revealer triple word score a coveted Scrabble space or the sheet music for 1621 34 or 51 across that's good I didn't fully read this clue at the time um triple word score so score being the um the sort of written sheet music of a uh of a song or other piece of music and I not having read that is why I entered this incorrectly at one point as triple word space or something like that um because I wasn't thinking about sheet music so there we go that was the Monday puzzle that was the theme let's quickly run through the clues none of which I I read at the time a square dance venue like sort of you know country dance would be a barn San Juan is capital of Puerto Rico the I of TGIF is its for Thank God It's Friday to spring a leak is to encounter plumbing problems this one tripped me up because it's it looks strange it almost looks like it's one word but but it isn't obviously and then this one I couldn't remember I remember it's Umba some with a something at the beginning but I couldn't remember what the popular dance fitness program is Zumba backwards denial would be n the Abit we discussed like some smartphone purchases they might be inapp a three-way intersection can form a t-shape um if you're situated on something or a top it to adore informally would be to love spelled in that informal way Olympic gold medalist riseman is Ali which I misspelled initially with an i things stuck on snowman r you could put mittens on some sticks on a snowman's arms uh well as a snowman's arms rocks that may contain precious metals are ores to arouse as interest would be to Peak the interest start of Caesar's boast was I came as in I came I saw I conquered which I tried to was confused by this and tried to enter the the Latin version vennie there nope loudly praise would be to tout someone Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has been in the news a bit recently in US politics uh opposite of North by Northeast this is a gimme you can just put it right in there gimme gimme gimme uh South Southwest Lisbon greeting in uh Portuguese is Ola boat propellers are ores um Beach Boys hit yeah we saw that religious ceremony would be a ritual Italy's aisle of Capri Beethoven's owed to Joy the conclusion of his Ninth Symphony and state that's home to one end of the Appalachian Trail would be Maine where All My Exes Live in song this is the song All My Exes Live in Texas and if you're in favor of something you're for it uh to present in a favorable light would be to spin something in your favor the city surrounding Vatican City is Rome in the Downs something checked at an airport counter is a bag Oscar winner Mersa Ali so we have Ali and Ali both in the in the grid sleep stage for short would be RM for rapid eye movement sleep a coastal African desert is Namib um from which we also have Namibia skittish is jumpy ER I mean would be um to assist with a crime would be to abet somebody and pesters is Nags jail cell occupant is an inmate maxipad alternative is a tampon if one uses a broom one sweeps its capital is Nairobi Kenya uh Nairobi Kenya of course quickly fly past would be to zip by someone this one gave me some trouble I remember at the time Scottish Highlander would be a Gil as in Gaelic zero stars from me I hate it that's how I feel about this exercise apology to the person who requested it there's nothing wrong with the suggestion it's entirely psychologically my issue uh outlet for an internet commentator might be a Blog uh Yuri gagaran was the first man in space if something happened at any point it happened ever the man's name that's a fruit spelled backwards is AAL which is lime spelled backwards brain power measures for short iq's right okay I don't think I saw this at the time because I was thinking of something more like a measurement of brain waves an EKG or something like that so didn't get that pull would be to tug on something if one makes a mistake one slips up lead into law or launch would be pre pre-law or pre-launch bio or Cam biology or chemistry or Sciences abbreviated needle needle-nosed fish is a gar I'm of two minds on this you might say I'm I'm of uh of split opinion is how I was before I started this video spot for a satellite dish would be the roof of a home athleisure lead into lemon is Lulu the brand Lululemon Lee of Marvel Comics is Stanley um in a sense something could be sort of the case it's the case in a sense beehive or Bob either one of those is a hairdo uh someone more hipsterish might be a sort of artier person in trap would be to snare Bay Area enforcement organization is the C Francisco Police Department the sfbd that's the San Francisco Bay area of course German sausage is vers the huskys of the NCAA are Yukon University of Connecticut which I was uh pleased to be able to just kind of guess and it was correct not as mean would be nicer some church donations are alms alms for the poor you might you might hear stereotypically spray to Spring is to LEAP to jump motion sensing Nintendo console is the Wii uh kitchen brand with a palindromic name is Oxo to headbut someone is to Ram them and finally ass suffix with Sudan or Japan is ease as in Sudanese or Japanese and there we go we finally made it through the whole grid so that was that was the Monday puzzle solved in a in a way that um was interesting to try I don't regret the experiment uh but I'll probably return to the standard speed solve where I do read as I go next week so uh either way let me know how you feel and um I'll be back tomorrow with an ordinarily solved Tuesday puzzle so join me for that but until then please do have an excellent remainder of your Monday take care [Music]