The gimmick was lame. The idioms are one thing, but the varied means of solving each was a bridge too far
@BJ 47 recommendations (currently) for a comment that bashes such an inspired theme? Oh the humanity! (Since this is my third comment in a short period, I may need to add some emu-rejection prevention insurance. So that is why these words are here.) P.S. Perhaps there are a few veterans among the recommenders, but for the rest, I hope someday you will appreciate a puzzle like this.
Bravo, a million times Bravo! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 I'm on such a high from solving and figuring out this puzzle. What a masterpiece. I loved every minute of it, even despite the mess I made in the NE corner by putting "donkey" in for [Party animal?] before straightening it out. Thank you, Mr. Goodman, extensive to Sam Ezersky and Christina Iverson, for this brilliantly challenging Thursday. Respect.
@sotto voce Couldn’t agree more! One of my favorites in months! Each themer was a mini-puzzle in itself, yielding only after lots of tries in the surrounding areas and a flexibility of mind that is my favorite flow-state of solving. Truly a masterpiece.
@sotto voce I had donkey there for a very long time! I also loved it but had to use some helps eventually, but fortunately not for the theme answers, so I feel good about that... even if I couldn't figure out AESTX on my own w/o reading the column. I think I might have if kept at it longer but I am already running behind. :-) Anyhow, very fun and impressive!
I love Thursdays, not just for the fun and playful puzzles, but for the ten minutes spent perusing complaints in this comment section after finishing.
@Amanda It is rather fun, isn't it? I must say I enjoy it, too. The drama, the pathos, the exaggerations! The declarations if love and hate, straight out of a class C romance movie! And can you imagine the posts that didn't make it past moderation? Ye gods. One can feed off all of this like an emotional vampire (or internet troll).
That was pretty hard but VERY fun!!
@logical I’d go for VERY hard and PRETTY fun. The rebus threw me, and I got no help from the niche “cultural“ references in the NE corner - some guy named SOTO and some hit called I’M YOURS, coupled with ATBAT (baseball?) and the very tough (but fair, I guess) ALIBI for “out”.
This was completely beyond me, and not in an enjoyable way. I found the theme inscrutable - and the excessive amount of trivia was not fun to deal with for me - I usually need so many lookups only on some Sundays, and only because the grid is larger. I know this was a hard puzzle to construct, and somebody surely loved it and considers it the best puzzle of the year, but personally it reminded me of why I used to dislike Thursdays before I learned how to deal with them - not all of them though, apparently.
@Andrzej Those of who see your regular comments here are simply in awe about what you can do in your second language.
This was my first puzzle where some gimmick squares were rebus and some not. That really threw me, but now that I'm on the lookout it should actually be fun next time.
Love your attitude, @Maverator!
A puzzle feast – a five-trick-pony theme instead of the usual one. Gymnastic wordplay. Riddles from top to bottom. Not to mention, a capital-P Puzzle. Where first you had to figure out what was going on. Then you had to figure out that the gimmicks were all different, making each theme answer a puzzle in its own right. Oh, there were footholds to help, but not a generous amount, to keep things interesting. All this brought capital-P Pleasure to my brain. Fortified by beauty: NOUGAT, GEISHAS, AL DENTE, AS IT WERE. Not to mention a rarest-of-rare-in-crosswords six-letter semordnilap (LAMINA). And in the middle of it all, at 28D, the true theme of this puzzle from Josh Goodman: MY TREAT. Josh, I’m guessing you know that only one constructor, Andrew Ries, has hit the cycle (had a NYT puzzle every day of the week) in their first seven puzzles. You, now, with a Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, can become the second. Go for it! And thank you for your fabulous puzzlepalooza today. This was, indeed, a treat!
@Lewis I had a feeling that the drama department might have a cow today, but I knew you would get it right. This was a fabulous puzzle. Key word: puzzle. As always, I am in awe of the constructor (like wow Josh Goodman!). I’m also in awe of those who solve in ESL, particularly on days like today, and grateful for those who share their thoughts on puzzles and life with us in these comments. (Here’s looking at you, Andrzej, et al.) Last but not least, thank you Deb Amien for continuing to write about difficult puzzles with humor, heart, and helpful hints. (I guess now you can’t technically say it’s a thankless job.)
@Lewis I missed the aptness of MY TREAT. Thanks for pointing that out: this was a joy.
Pick a theme and stick with it. If it's letters in circles representing things, then E G G in the circles would most reasonably be eggs in a basket and match the rest of the puzzle. If it's rebuses, then do rebuses. But rebuses in circles? And only in one spot? C'mon man. What are we even doing here?
@CT Having So. Much. Fun! Five puzzles in one!! …
@CT Not really. That would be only one egg.
@CT It's Thursday. If you don't like trickery and funny business then I suggest you just don't bother with Thursdays and stick to the rest of the week. I'm sure there are regular solvers who do only Monday and Tuesday - just as I am sure there are people here who don't bother with anything before Friday. As Will Shortz always said - it's your puzzle, do it any way you want. All are welcome.
Didn't love this one... Interesting that each theme answer was a different construction, but the cart was too easy and some of the others were too hard. I didn't understand aestx until I saw the column (I too thought it must be a play on taxes, oh well. ThisClose.) For some reason I was thinking "business Before pleasure" and I never heard of the adjective rimy. Anyhow I solved the thing but didn't really enjoy it. :( Nice to see that others did.
@B I also did not love this one, neither did I enjoy it. I did not hate it either. I just disliked it. On that note, have you noticed how people tend to "love" and "hate" many things, rather than simply like and dislike them? These comments are usually full of declarations of love or hate, and I find it very strange. If a daily crossword puzzles is what one has such strong feelings for, what of really important things? Do you love a puzzle more than freedom, your spouse or the smell of the first spring day? And if not, maybe you don't really love the puzzle - you simply like it?
Too many gimmicks in this puzzle for its own good. I liked all of the tricks individually but the lack of cohesion really brought the quality of this puzzle down for me. Tthe first one many people will solve involves a rebus, yet none of the other themed questions do? Very tricky, and not in a way that is satisfying.
@Jack - the rebus themer is certainly the first one most solvers would _meet_, for for me and many commenters here, it was the last to be actually solved.
@Jack I’ve enjoyed other puzzles that had a similar grab bag of tricks. This one, not so much. Maybe I jut wasn’t in the mood for it. Maybe the nonsensical jumble of mixing business and pleasure put me off. Maybe it was ending the rebuses in a puzzle that didn’t have any others. (And I usually enjoy rebuses.) I agree with your last sentence. When I finished, it was more a sense of relief than one of satisfaction.
Very clever. NE hung me up for a while, largely because I slapped in “patina” for “lamina” and got stuck. Rimier?
@kkseattle While "rime" makes frequent x-word appearances, I didn't know "rimier" was a word.
@C Tarvin Rime I know. Rimier I don’t. Has anyone ever actually used the word? When I go to a meeting in Anchorage this December and say, “Gee, it’s far rimier here than in Seattle,” I can’t imagine a lot of appreciative nods. (Of course, I rarely use either rime or hoar, except in crosswords.)
Very tricky - I repeatedly thought I wasn't going to be able to complete it, but then a foothold would appear... I understand why folks would feel like this was unsolvable, but I was ultimately able to finish it without any hints or googling.
Way to go, @Gregg!
@Gregg As did I, but 5-down is pretty tough (it’s Thursday!) for a rebus that demands three different words entered. When I finally got it I was more glad to get it over with than proud of myself.
that was a very odd puzzle. it was unsolvable without the wordplay explanations.
@Asher disagree. solved it without any help. quite clever puzzle, imho.
@Asher That’s how I felt when trying to finish the NW corner. But then the rebuses clicked and I was done.
Hate is a strong word. I hated this puzzle. Passionately.
@Jeffrey Dale Starr - It was just so smug and twee. I don't like "omg, look how clever I am" creations. Meh, I got through it, for the sake of my streak, but, #lowercaseyay I've come to dread Thursday.
That was one of the more enjoyable puzzles I’ve experienced. The AHAS just kept coming. I did have donkey in for “party animal” for way too long, but that fixed itself as soon as the downs didn’t work at all. Hello Kitty became popular when I was a young tweenager, so I was familiar with SANRIO unlike other commenters. My last theme answer to go in was 17A. I only had EGG and no rebus until I looked at the Jason Mraz song. The final AHA moment was recognizing it was a rebus. Such a satisfying finish. Thank you, Josh, for persisting through the year to get this published. Well done. 👍🏼
Oof, that was tough. The only themer that came easily to me was CRY over spilled MILK. I eventually figured the rest out after filling in all the rest of the puzzle except for a few circled squares. I only got 9A through crosses, and still don’t understand. Oh well, I’m sure Wordplay will educate me, as it so often does. I love Thursday trickery, but if the comments reveal a lot of frustration, I will understand. I suspect the ALL YOUR EGGS triple rebus will be particularly bothersome for some. I knew the saying that was meant to go there, but despite knowing goad was likely EGGSON, I was very slow to see that I needed ALL and YOUR rather than two more EGGS. Quite a feat of construction
@Marshall Walthew I had to use Check Puzzle repeatedly to get the triple rebus. I understood the phrase but stumbled on the execution. E/G/G ? EGG/EGG/EGG ? Oops, the third one needs an s. EGGS/EGGS/EGGS ? Let me really think about what 4D and 5D could be... Oh, okay.
How to solve this puzzle: Either read this Wordplay column & copy the hints verbatim, or Look at the answer key.
@Kevin Davis Or keep at it and watch corners open up! Themers reveal themselves with the crosses! I had a blast and wanted to do a look-up, but my stupid streak is prohibiting me, and I’m so glad I stuck with it! That gold star is addictive!
Wowza! Imagine creating this clever concoction of cruciverbalism! Wow. It took me a while to even *begin* to crucivibe with Josh, but once I *sorta* did, I felt like I got five puzzles in one. My youngest called last night night and is also in his fourth year, with residency applications going out soon. How Josh did this whilst completing rotations and honestly, how he did it at all with its compexity is truly impressive. So, thank you Mr. soon-to-be Dr. Goodman. And get some sleep. And eat vegetables and wear compression socks, please? And hydrate. And call home sometimes, so they know you’re doing okay. They think about you more than you know.
The slowly dawning recognition of each theme answer and its format made this an especially rewarding solve today. Well done!
Fun puzzle. The intersection of 36 down and 58 across (Rosten who wrote “The Joys of Yiddish/Japanese company that created Hello Kitty) feels a bit too trivia-ish, as that could really be any letter in the alphabet. No complaints other than that, clever stuff
@Charles I agree with you. I have never heard of that Japanese company or the author, but at least I was pretty certain that my error was at their intersection so I just ran the alphabet until I got the happy music. Otherwise a thoroughly enjoyable puzzle. Definitely hard enough to make it interesting.
@Charles I had heard of the book, but I thought the author's first name was LEv, and SANRIv seemed reasonable as a company name. That was my last square to fall, during flyspecking.
As someone who started doing these puzzles on paper in the mid-80s and has teenage kids now myself—I feel like I’m at peak solving range. Not too far in the future I’ll start slipping on modern references (already a bit of an issue at Puzzmo) I’m sure… but Leo Rosten and Sanrio were both honestly in my personal trivia hoard…
I would write how much I dislike this puzzle, but it wouldn't be printed. I'm seriously considering a better way to spend the couple of bucks I send in.
@R.J. Smith Ah man! Would love to hear why. Personally, I was a big fan of this puzzle… but I’m an even bigger fan of the comments that pit the lovers against the haters. Always a spirited and lively exchange. Are you having trouble getting negative reviews through the emus?
Just popping in to say how much I loved the comments on Wednesday's puzzle. 164 when I opened it, and I could count on one hand the number of criticisms that weren't accompanied by praise for the enjoyment in solving, construction, creativity, memories, fun associations, learning opportunities, etc. I've been doing NYT Crosswords across several media for thirtyodd years (Electronic Handheld Game, anyone?) but didn't discover this community until about a year ago. You have taught me new ways to appreciate (and critique) all that these puzzles have to offer, and for that I'm truly grateful. (But still not ready for pre-Shortz Sunday Omnibuses.) Looking forward to tomorrow's lunchtime routine of puzzle, Wordplay, and comments!
@Cindy As the coauthor of yesterday’s puzzle, I agree! The compliments filled me with the warm fuzzies, and I’m looking forward to the improvements the constructive criticisms will yield in my future creations.
An abridged history of lactose is condensed milk. (I'll just skim it anyway.)
@Mike <a href="https://youtu.be/9CdVTCDdEwI?si=lqLpkVxlPZTxFj7P" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/9CdVTCDdEwI?si=lqLpkVxlPZTxFj7P</a>
Maybe it's just meant for better puzzlers than me, but I needed the most help on this of any crossword I've done in years. Probably would have been better to put "unofficial motto" since that's not the official one. That confused me. A couple of the clues I understood fully what was meant, but couldn't figure out how it was being interpreted to fit it in to the puzzle. Definitely they were very clever clues, but almost too clever. More hints in some way would be good if you're aiming for a little broader section of fun
Tricky puzzle. I had "patina" for LAMINA which tripped me up for a long while. I was too delighted with the possibility of the anagrams patina and PINATA starting from the same square.
@Dan I had patina before LAMINA, too, and instead of PINATA for [Party animal?], I had donkey (elephant was too long). I thought that was pretty clever, but it turned out to be pretty wrong. Like MikeW, I didn't think the bar in 64A was necessary, but I suppose it does add one more gimmick in a slot that apparently requires one (although there's no symmetry with the NE/SW theme entries). I knew something was up when I saw 5D and the full "I'M YOURS" didn't fit the regular way. (I knew just one Jason Mraz song, and doubted there were any others that were big hits.) I just lay back for a while until the center themer gave it away. I thought the state motto was going to be "Don't tread on me", which might have been a revolutionary motto but not that of any particular state. The letters AESTX do look bizarre. Speaking of states, I've been fond of calling that singer Mister Arizona. Do you see why?
When I filled in BE ALL that was the end all of this puzzle for me. Particularly liked [Attempting to beat the curve?] --> AT BAT. I was going with CHEAT and couldn't make it work. Up in that area I thought Josh was going for "Don't count your chickens before they hatch" Business before pleasure was a total treat, it looks so crazy on the page. P Blues ais nuerses indeed. Wonder what that means in Erse? You can tell Josh Goodman likes to break the rules and push the envelope in a jolly way -- nothing spiteful about this puzzle. Nice to see pit masters for the second time this week, as well as Ansel Adams. Speaking of him and the Tetons, his 1942 "The Tetons and the Snake River" looks like it's CGI or possibly AI but it's not, it's simply that Adams is the be all and end all of landscape photographers. (See end of this post for a link to the pic). Is totem without pole like orang without tan? I googled Pacific Northwest totems after doing the puzzle and found only links to sites about totem poles. But now that Inuk has replaced Inuit maybe totem poles will follow suit and from now on be called totems. We live and learn, or in my case learn and forget. Good to see adverbs getting some play here, I wrote glibly. And glad to see Mr. Met and Juan Soto in the same puzzle. See, we *can* all get along, at least in the dense and equitable metros of these grids! <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tetons_and_the_Snake_River#/media/File:Adams_The_Tetons_and_the_Snake_River.jpg" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tetons_and_the_Snake_River#/media/File:Adams_The_Tetons_and_the_Snake_River.jpg</a>
@john ezra I don’t think it’s business before pleasure, but rather don’t mix business with pleasure.
@john ezra Orang without tan means person. Orangutan means person of the forest.
Terrific puzzle, Josh. I loved the variety of tricks, each requiring me to look at things a little differently. Fun fun, fun!
@debamlen my son works at a nuclear reactor and they have a Foot-O-Scope in their display of obscure radiation items
Above my pay grade. I bailed -- and came here to find out what the bleep was going on. This falls into the category of "be careful what you wish for". The reason I so often complain about randomly placed tiny little circles is that they usually demand nothing at all from the solver. You ignore them, fill the puzzle in just as though they weren't there, and later find out what intricacies are in the grid that had nothing to do with your solve. This was just the opposite: TOO MUCH for the solver to have to figure out in order to solve -- no two of the theme answers anything like one another. Some were rebuses, some were olios, some were word pictures -- need I go on? Maybe if the clues hadn't been so ridiculously vague. But they really weren't any help to me at all. I like puzzles that make me feel smart, but this one made me feel dumb. I won't say that it isn't clever, though.
@Nancy Nancy I'm sorry you didn't like the puzzle today. I enjoyed both of your puzzles, especially the trickier WSJ one. Without spoiling anything, I'll just say it was fun and well executed. Knowing how much you dislike pop culture clues, I was a little surprised by the number of names. Was that Will's influence? For the record, I didn't know 19A, 25A, 32A, 53A, or 2D. That didn't bother me though, due to the crosses, but I kept hearing your voice. "Why would I know about or care who ______ is?" Haha, thanks for the links. Hopefully you'll continue to let us know when you have a puzzle published.
Alas -- I cannot control when the clues I provide for proper names are changed. First of all, Will N goes out of his way to have as few names in the grid to begin with when he works with me. He knows I hate them and he's a really considerate collaborator and a good sport. But of course the limitations of a grid, especially a tricky one like the WSJ today, makes some names a necessity. This is where I come in. I clue the names with the proper names I already know if there's more than one choice. I try to find a little-known fact about that well-known person if I can, but I avoid picking someone whom I never heard of if at all possible. Then the puzzle goes off to the people who either1) HAVE heard of that person or 2) haven't, but think that's a fun, legitimate way to make the puzzle crunchier. To me it's neither fun nor legitimate and I hate it as much in my own puzzles as in anyone else's. So my apologies to all of you for any forgettable people in the puzzle who will be forgotten completely by noon today. It wasn't me what done it!
I used to dread Thursdays. Now as I've become more experienced and confident, I love Thursdays! Especially here where each theme entry was a mini word puzzle to solve. That was really fun. And the fact that I got stuck in the NW and couldn't figure that there was a triple rebus instead of EGG for the longest time... I'm just annoyed at myself, and not deflecting it onto the puzzle or the constructor.
@Geoff same for me, exactly. But I was pretty sure that Jason Mraz didn't have a mega-hit about eggs, which is how I ... uh ... cracked it. Gen X ellipsis for the EMU :)
Oh dear. I don’t know what to say that won’t be negative and I so hate being negative. This one was just not for me. Way, way too gimmicky and too US centric. As always, of course the NYT is a US paper and perfectly entitled to be as US centric as it likes. It just added an extra layer of difficulty in an already v difficult grid for those of us over the pond. I’m always in awe of the constructor’s skill and remain so with this grid. It was just so far out of my wheelhouse I couldn’t even see the boat. Hey ho. Well done all of you who found it a blast. Onwards and upwards to Friday for me.
@Helen Wright I did notice that it was US-centric as I solved, had a thought for our international solvers. McRib, messy Texas, Foot-o-scopes, baseball references. But you did have LEEDS in there. See ya tomorrow!
I ended up getting the AESTX without even understanding what it was and was very frustrated. I kept thinking it has to be DON'T TREAD ON ME and was trying to figure how to have TREAD over the word ME. never thought of Texas and only understood after coming here :) otherwise the patterns were easier to figure out.
@Bob Silverstein Same here. I was trying to figure out how 'TREAD' could be in some way be superimposed on 'ME' - it didn't help that TREAD has five letters, some of which it shares with AESTX so I just knew (wrongly, as so often) I was on the right track.
@Bob Silverstein Ditto. Lots of lost time. And IMO “Don’t Tread on Me” is a way cooler motto than “Don’t Mess With Texas”. But (a) it’s not a state motto, and (b) it’s been adopted by election deniers. Too bad.
@Bob Silverstein Same. Wasted a lot of time avoiding entering AESTX although that's what I kept coming up with. I kept trying to find a rebus that would fit the "mess with" part and later realized the answer didn't have a rebus this time. I found that whole corner irritating.
This was peak Thursday insanity. Lots of fun. Complainers: stop complaining and stare at it longer.
@Brian About half the "complainers" finished it fine but still didn't much like it. ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (I do this instead of emuing)
I kept solving the ‘themed’ clues without getting the theme at all. Deeply deeply unsatisfying. Kudos to the constructor for the intricate work required to pull this off, but where’s the fun? Given how things have been going recently, I’m thinking we’ve entered a period of puzzles that are more excruciatingly grinding than they are engaging. I know things do change over time, hoping it’s not a slog for weeks to come.
@Mickey Maybe take a break?
A little wobbly in places but the freshest puzzle in a while which is always appreciated, so for that it gets an A
This was delightful! Fun clues and a great "aha moment" for each and every themer!
While I do tend to love rebuses and Thursdays, this one was an unpleasant mix of too hard and too American for me personally.
This was like a tasting menu of fun little gimmicks. My compliments to the chef!
i value the joy in solving the puzzle... however, each of the 4 puzzles within the puzzle added zero value to solving the next puzzle within the puzzle. there's no ah-ha moment or breadcrumb to go figure out the next item. it's just 4 arbitrary items shoved into a puzzle that was not the best clued, imo. i appreciate the effort it took to create this puzzle, but i feel like there should be more of a payoff for the solver rather than just arbitrary items dropped in.
@Charles In addition, the fact that one rebus required whole words while the others didn't was inconsistent, and to me confusing.
When there's a crunchy, delicious, brain tingling puzzle like this, and people show up to complain about rebuses, "trivia," "gimmicks," "tricks," and just general whining and moaning about it being too hard or unfair, I just think those people don't actually like crossword puzzles. At least not the NYT ones. The "gimmicks" are the thing, or at least part of the thing. What you call tricks or gimmicks are part of the nature of crosswords. Why would you subscribe to the NYT Xword, spend your time solving the puzzles, and then show up to spend more time complaining when crosswords exhibit their very essence? Why do you do them? Why do you come complain about them when you do? Make it make sense. You have to adapt to the crossword, the crossword isn't going to adapt to you. Look I love a themeless puzzle too, but if you don't want hard crosswords or "gimmicks," maybe go to the grocery store and buy a book of 500 easy themeless crosswords for 5 dollars, do the USA today crossword every day, or just stick to the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday NYT puzzles. Lots of options other than demeaning a puzzle (and/or its constructor) because it didn't conform to your own preferences or abilities.
@Tex Get over yourself, maybe? I like crossword puzzles but I didn't like this one and I wrote about it below. Do you think I should like every puzzle? Or maybe I should shut up about any puzzle I do not like? Also, is complaining about complainers a better kind of complaining where you come from? Or are people only allowed to complain about things you let them complain about? Should I cancel my The Guardian subscription when the newspaper publishes an article I don't like? Or should I only cancel the subscription if I had the audacity to post a negative comment? Seriously...
@Tex I’m with you, Tex! Some of us like challenges. If others don’t, let them skip that day. Don’t deprive the rest of us an occasional twist now and then.
So cruel…it’s sitting right there in front of your face…You keep going over the phrase in your head…and yet the answer doesn’t present itself…and then it does All Your Eggs.
Really enjoyed this one, loved figuring out the Theme and how each entry utilised a different crossword 'trick' to solve! I part solved it on my commute to the office in Canary Wharf then returned to it over my lunch break - as ever, it seems like my brain had been contemplating it in the background so it came together relatively quickly after cracking (pardon the egg-related pun) the first Theme. So for anyone who struggled with this one, great advice is to take breaks and return to the puzzle later instead of giving up
@Joel Yes - that always works for me. I'm struggling with a clue; put it down for half an hour; open it up again; and the answer is obvious and immediate. I'll leave it to a psychologist to decide if that is because my brain was subconsciously beavering away all that time; or if it was long enough to just abandon the road I had been (wrongly) traveling and set my feet in the right direction. Probably both.
Well now, wasn’t that a doozy! But fun. A smorgasbord of Thursday trickery!
Fantastic puzzle! That business / pleasure clue was especially bold... loved it. Definitely a puzzle that will be popping up in 'best of NYT puzzles' lists.
@CB Oh it certainly will not. It was adequate. ____________________ Jesse Goldberg 8/28/2024 for Puzzle of the Decade (I do this instead of emuing)
I couldn’t figure out ALL YOUR EGGS. I knew that had to be the answer, but I couldn’t get over that part of the puzzle being the only rebus. That is the price I pay for being too much of a stickler for consistency. Next time I’ll try to remember that rules are sometimes meant to be broken.
@Jay Yes, ALL YOUR EGGS was the worst. First I just had EGG, which worked with EGG ON but nothing else made sense. And then I knew it was IM YOURS but I wasn't getting BE ALL (I thought maybe it was BE YOU...). I knew the phrase we were looking for but couldn't figure out how to get it in the circles. Ugh. Streak no more.
Loved it! Each one a different trick. A perfect follow up puzzle for the point I tried to make earlier: ask questions of the grid.
My father worked part-time at Little Chick Shoe Store in Chicago, supplementing the G.I. bill for his graduate degree in the late '40s. There was a "foot-o-scope" there which my four-year-old self enjoyed very much. So far no foot cancer.
@Patricia Henry One of my elementary school classmates in the same era was the son of the neighborhood shoemaker. We would often stop in the shop on the way home and check our foot bones. No problems here either. I wonder if there are any studies dealing with the population at large.
Really liked this one, but I'm also one of those people that enjoys a good rebus or Thursday. Though not my top 10 favorite. Mostly due to the non-theme entries. RIMIER was... a word.
I was starting to turn into a basket case before I hatched the theme. It'll take a while to get ova this one; my brain is totally scrambled.
@Jim Really? I thought it went over easy.
@Katie Glad you could see the sunny side.
@Jim My brain was a bit scrambled until the theme cracked and I beat it! Omelette you guess how long it, took, though… 🐓 …