In France a person seeing the same gesture will think it means zero. In Brazil and Germany however the gesture is rude. The thumbs-up gesture meaning “great” or “good job” in the US is rude in Nigeria but in Germany and Japan it means the number one. The “crazy” gesture moving...
In Iran and Greece, it can be the equivalent of "flipping someone off," Rashotte said. In India, the meaning changes depending on whether the gesture is accompanied by certain words or other hand movements, she added. Editor's Note: Several readers questioned whether thumbs-up really meant ...
My puzzle was submitted in 2020 and accepted in 2021, so I felt shaken up and disheartened to see such a similar puzzle published, knowing mine was to follow. Now, I can appreciate each puzzle's unique flavor and understand the editors' choice to run both. I hope enough time has passed...
Thanks for indulging the annoying engineer in me. Ahem. As always, PB excels at his cluing. I like how he selects entries not just for their innate color, but for how conducive they are to taking a clever clue. [Lightens up, say] makes GO ON A DIET absolutely sing. Same with [...
If you want to say hi and nerd out, you can find me on all the usual platforms where my handle is just my name because I've used up all of my creativity in other outlets. ROSS: Amanda writes all the best clues in this and every puzzle we make together. Bow down. Also, if you...
However, the theme entries ought to be solid in their own right, not made up. There are so many "X in Y" phrases out there, and so many solid themers meaning Y, that making up whatever you want is the easy way out. As a solver, it's not enjoyable to work so hard, just to ...
The downside is that when theme entries cross each other (as every single one in this puzzle does), it makes the grid hard to fill. So there's more gluey fill (ALAE, ELEA) than I'd like, but hopefully, some of the long answers make up for it. –puzzle by Will Nediger POW Mon...
Thanks for indulging the annoying engineer in me. Ahem. As always, PB excels at his cluing. I like how he selects entries not just for their innate color, but for how conducive they are to taking a clever clue. [Lightens up, say] makes GO ON A DIET absolutely sing. Same with [...
The impetus for its construction was the infelicity of having to enter the word AÑO in crosswords as ANO (for those not in the know the word ANO has a less-than-savory meaning in Spanish). I thought — let's make a crossword where the word AÑO is written properly! I started ...
[Malicious "gift"] made me think twice, those quote marks so laden with meaning. I also enjoyed that Z in CALZONE (yum!) and ZIPPER. Some might not be familiar with XYZ = eXamine Your Zipper, but I've needed that reminder many times in my life. Not these days, thankfully — once...