- Tough nut to crack crossword puzzle clue how to#
- Tough nut to crack crossword puzzle clue full#
- Tough nut to crack crossword puzzle clue free#
He had his five minutes, played overseas, and is now trying to make another NBA run with the Warriors' G-League affiliate.Ī peppering of great clues, with a standout - clever repurposing of a common phrase. I didn't know the word - neither did XWI's resident Canuck, Jim Horne - but with unambiguous crossings, each one given a softball clue, I had a much friendlier first contact experience.Įntertaining to get a throwback LINsanity clue. It's a shame, because "Can't Explain It" is catchy! I'm big into Greek myths, my kids having listened to D'Aulaires book on audio roughly eight thousand times in the car, but NIKE's lineage escaped me, and NIME sounded familiar. I would have had a much more positive first impression of CHIKA if the NIKE clue had been eased up, allowing me to achieve a victorious solve.
as in chime? Because she's a singer? Get it? I finished with an error, putting in CHIMA as the rapper with NIME as the daughter of Styx. add-preposition phrases are tough to make stand out. That's a great way to generate an a-ha moment, turning a "how the should I know what a pannist is?" feeling into a delightful head-slap. I enjoyed both FIBONACCI and STEEL DRUM, especially with that curious "instrument played by a pannist" clue.
Tough nut to crack crossword puzzle clue full#
With only four more long entries in the entire puzzle, you have to take full advantage of them, and Brooke and Ada did a reasonable job with that.
Luckily you can atone by checking out her blog and all-bangers-no-skips subscription service. All this is to say: if the last Ada Nicolle puzzle you solved was her NYT debut then you have been *missing* *out*. Thank you!!īROOKE: Ada consistently blows my mind with grid geometries and cluing angles, so when I asked her to collaborate it was 100% because I wanted to do something epic geometrically together (and also 100% because Ada is an awesome human - we made this puzzle over zoom on opposite sides of the Atlantic and it was extremely fun).
Tough nut to crack crossword puzzle clue free#
I'm so honoured for her to be my first NYT collab! The fifteen interlock was her idea, and being able to be a part of her construction process was super fun.Īlso: If you liked this puzzle, I also run a themeless subscription service called luckystreak xwords+! I have an exclusive deal for NYT solvers (plus a free themeless!) so check it out! It means the world to me being able to consistently do something I love, and any support is much appreciated. She is one of my favourite themeless constructors in the game right now, she's co-hosting Lollapuzzoola 14, and she's a huge inspiration to me and to many other puzzlers.
Potent and mined are two words that sound very different when they become omnipotent and determined.ADA: I am so excited to be sharing a New York Times byline with THE Brooke Husic. Do those extra letters change the pronunciation? Often, the answer is yes.
Tough nut to crack crossword puzzle clue how to#
When you know how to say a word, but then you see it with a prefix or suffix tacked on, it can be confusing to know how to pronounce this version of said word. Although, typically this digraph makes an f sound, haphazardly can leave you feeling like the English language was designed, well. The silent p will get you every time.īut, they’ve got nothing on ph combos that break the rules and actually sound like p. Lynne Reid Banks’ Indian in the Cupboard has its stumbling block right in the title. Sometimes, the trouble begins before you even crack the first page of a childhood classic. Grandiose, for example, becomes much more grandiose when a bookworm takes a walk on the Francophile side. Grandioseīut, sometimes, we find ourselves taking English words and giving them a French twist. From the my sisters and I pronounced it with hard g’s for years!!Īdmittedly, Rene Descartes was French, which makes his name a bit more complicated for American readers.
How did you handle Reggie, Penelope, or Descartes when you first encountered them? Authors’ monikers can also leave us scratching our heads. Names are a tough nut to crack, and not just those of the characters. Take a look below at some of the words butchered by fans who admit they learned them while reading. Did you imagine Harry Potter’s best gal pal had been dubbed Hermey-One right up until book four, when JK Rowling explained the proper pronunciation to you and Viktor Krum at once? Did you assume Anne Shirley wanted Diana Barry to be her bow-some friend? Sometimes, we use phonic clues and do ourselves proud, but then there are the other times. Yet, dedicated bibliophiles know there’s really only one problem that comes with being a voracious reader.īooks teach us new words, but we’re left to our own devices when it comes to pronunciation. Anyone who has spent nights during their childhood huddled under a comforter with a flashlight (or more recently a flashlight app) lighting up the splayed pages of a book knows that being a bookworm helps you build the sort of vocabulary that earns you eyerolls on the playground and accolades from the teachers.