If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now.
@Michael Weiland It's just a spring clean for the May Queen.
@Michael Weiland It’s JUSTSPITBALLING for the…. 26D queen.
@Michael Weiland In some grids I have seen clues that brought me to my knees And the choices I made were odd-looking
@Michael Weiland Ski resorts usually have music playing at the bottom of each chairlift. They know their audience and play a lot of classic rock. We went skiing for the first time today and heard a bit of “Stairway to Heaven,” which I otherwise hadn’t heard in a long while.
@Michael Weiland Led me to do an answer history search. BUSTARD - once BUSTARDS - twice And all of those only in pre-Shortz puzzles. ...
@Michael Weiland et al I had to google to (kinda, sorta) comprehend this comment (and its popularity, which I somewhat decry).... And then "bustards?"?? Extinct birds..large ones...where? I'm not being prissy; I just don't see how any of this relates to the puzzle, adds to the fun, or makes real sense. WAHWAH.
That new thriller about gardening? I was on the hedge of my seat! (What a plot!)
@Mike Yes, it really grows on you, especially when you can't spot the plants.
@Mike I nearly soiled myself reading your pun, but then I seed the light.
@Mike so funny I wet my plants. I’ll take my leave now
@Mike Manure on fire today!
@Mike Our punny friend, we all admire your sense of humus.
@Mike A shear delight! When you're put in the record book, there'll be no aster-isk next to your name, although if you earn two listings, they may columbine them into one.
@Mike Hoe, Hoe, Hoe, Merry 15 shopping days until Christmas.
There, for a bit, I was thinking "verdant privacy features" were FIG LEAVES -- and it fit! Et tu, emu.
@Lewis Your answer gave me a chuckle- thanks.
@Lewis They should save that for a future clue!! LOL
This is one of those days where I pity the long-time solvers who skip early week puzzles. What a gem this is on many levels. The empty grid itself is calming to look at, IMO, making for a subtle-yet-lovely intro to the puzzle. The theme answers, IMO, roll easily off the tongue, and it’s amazing that Kate found four at exactly 15 letters. They also pop with freshness – as three of them are NYT debuts, and the fourth has appeared in the Times puzzle but twice before. It’s also amazing that the grid is filled as cleanly as it is, given the sky-high 69 theme squares. Talk about LANDED – that revealer HEDGEROWS! How perfect is that? Descriptive, punny, and I never saw it coming. “Oh brava!” I shouted inwardly upon filling it in. Then there was the sweet serendipity of LANDED, as a joke, crossed by a backward HAW HAW. I came to the box today favorably disposed, Kate, because your puzzles exude quality. Once again, you delivered. Thank you!
@Lewis Well, yeahhh... but in all honesty I felt as if the "but" after "only a thought" was pushing it, really. An interesting puzzle overall. /only a thought /just ask old Zed the emu trainer
@Lewis Love your observation that LANDED crossed a backwards HAWHAW. You truly see more in these puzzles, and probably in the world, than I do.
Fun puzzle. A bit challenging for a Tuesday and I liked that. Clever theme too.
I felt that this dinkum was very fair. Probably the fairest dinkum I've ever encountered.
Great puzzle, really funny, perfect theme and beautifully clued and executed. 10/10 right George? Anyone here ever read Geoffrey Household's "Rogue Male" (1938)? It's an adventure novel where much of the action takes place in Dorset, known for its great hedgerows. In the book the hero has uncovered a plot by mysterious agents of a totalitarian state, who begin zeroing in on him in the Dorset countryside. He burrows into a hedgerow and essentially becomes a part of its complex micro-life and its various wild denizens and inhabitants. The denouement is unputdownable. And it makes one want to see the great hedgerows and explore them. I've seen some in Ireland that are so alive, vital, verdant yes, but also ancient and mythic, that approaching them felt like entering the realm of another older order, where humans were no longer dominant, like those kids tumbling through the wardrobe into Narnia.
@john ezra I haven’t noticed George in the comments for a while! But I’m usually here the night the puzzle drops and the next morning. He may pop in after I stop looking 🤷🏼♀️
@john ezra I never got to Rogue Male unfortunately but your comment brought to mind another connection with totalitarianism of the sane era: the “bocage” hedgerow warfare of Normandy 1944… <a href="https://www.dday-overlord.com/en/battle-of-normandy/tactics/hedgerow-warfare" target="_blank">https://www.dday-overlord.com/en/battle-of-normandy/tactics/hedgerow-warfare</a>
@john ezra I don't know if you've heard, but Benedict Cumberbatch is producing and starring in a movie version of Rogue Male, which will be filmed next year.
Just another solver at work . . . Wondering how to spell Z? In a British head, you call it zed please It was a strange cross, it made me nervous It took me in with an oceanic preface And I said Did you solve with a time down under? Frowhatitsworth it's just a number. Was your streak, your streak just put asunder? You better run, manana may be tougher! Buying beer from a man in Brussels He was six-foot-four and full of muscle I said, "Do you serva-a ricebeer here?" He just smiled and gave me a dry pilsner And he said I've defused your puzzle blunders When glitches jab you'd wahwah and thunder. Onlyathougthbut would you concur? Oreos are the areolas of crosswords.
This was fun, like unwrapping packages to reveal the prizes inside. Not too challenging for a Tuesday and not at all dull, a tough combination to cobble together for any day. Thanks, Kate!
Four grid spanning themers, three of which are debuts and still managing to deliver an interesting Tuesday level puzzle? Well done, Kate.
I personally found this way too hard for this time in the week, mostly because of the multiple proper names. I was very close to looking stuff up - on Tuesday! Also, two of my least favorite style of clues - one referencing the other, with little indication of what's actually meant - crossed... There also was a directional clue. Gah. That's just such blatant filler it always detracts from my enjoyment of a puzzle (especially when, like today, I haven't even heard of one of the cities). Microsoft keeps pushing its apps and services on me in Windows. It will sometimes take me against my will to its MSN portal. I don't know about the US but in Poland it consists fully of clickbait of the worst, most p®imiti✓€ kind. I detest it, and I hated to be reminded of it by the puzzle. Finally, Schrödinger's AhH/AAH also made an appearance, the final nail in the coffin of my solving enjoyment. Was it a bad puzzle? Even I can see it was not, but I still did not personally like it.
@Andrzej As usual, I enjoyed puzzle about the normal amount. The Z in ZEE/ZED was my last entry. I find coupled clues like 33A and 33D to be hard to wrap my head around, generally speaking. So, I was happy that my brain went there seemingly automatically.
@Andrzej -- As usual, I love your comment because you back up what you say. Also, it seems to me that recently, Mondays and Tuesdays have been toughened up a bit, while Wednesdays have become a bit easier.
@Andrzej I have to agree with you, mainly because I never heard of two of the theme spanners, i.e., JUST SPITBALLING and ONLY A THOUGHT BUT. The first one is likely slang that's simply unknown to me, but the later seems to be a bunch of words thrown together. Add to that the documentary that I didn't know, plus the ridiculous use of THA in any circumstance, made this a very unpleasant puzzle for me, even though I managed to complete it with no help.
@Andrzej I'm 100% with you on the non-words, onomatopoeic interjections like 'ugh' and 'yeuch'. There are very few standard spellings. How many Rs in 'arrgh'? How many As? Is it 'yeucch' or 'yeuchh'? And then there are the conflicting definitions. Is AAH relaxing or frightened? What about AHH? Just turns me into a grouse.
@Andrzej Agreed on much of your cranky analysis, but I still thought it was a decent-to-good outing. Yep, 3 letter directions are the worst and lowest form of filler. The crossed zees were interesting but really out of place for this puzzle. Ahh/aha/aah is another perhaps unavoidable filler quirk. And the "but" after "only a thought" is still stuck in my personal craw... Ah well, certainly one of the more interesting Tuesdays.
I for, one, don't have to cross the Atlantic, just the Detroit River. (or, for that matter, just turn and face the other end of the living room sofa.)
Bill, If I sing the song, it comes out “zee” (cuz all poetry must rhyme). In isolation, or when indoctrinating (protectively hedging?) my [grand]children, it’s “zed”.
@Bill talking about Z39.50 (an early bibliographic exchange standard) was always surefire way to spot the Canadian librarians...
@Bill Right? The first time I heard it was the live version of YYZED. When Geddy said that in the intro, I was like, "Do what now?" (For everybody else out there, Rush is a Canadian band, and YYZ is an instrumental based on the airport code for Toronto.)
@Bill A very American friend of mine (upon learning that Canadians say ZED, not ZEE) once ask if they referred to the blues band as Zed Zed Top. I took it as a rhetorical question.
@Sam, once again a pun-perfect picture and caption, followed by an uber-entertaining writeup. We are lucky and privileged to have you.
Just one man’s opinion, but I loved this puzzle
Oh, trying not to laugh. We AUSSIEs dont "ask" Fair Dinkum. If anything it's the answer, not the question, a statement even. Is that true? Fair dinkum it is!
@Jo I'm not an Aussie, but am visiting there at the moment (dateline & time zones are making it a challenge to keep my streak going!) and came here to make the same point. It's an expression, but not a question. To quote Merriam-Webster: slang, Australia : unquestionably good or genuine : excellent —often used as a general expression of approval these cigars are fair dinkum “Fair dinkum.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fair%20dinkum.accessed" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fair%20dinkum.accessed</a> 9 Dec. 2025.
I'm not an expert, but IMHO this seems to be a very satisfying Tuesday puzzle.
As anyone who’s been pushed into a HEDGEROW in a single track road with an oncoming car will know, another apt 15 letter phrase is: OW! OW! OW! HAWTHORNS!
@Cat Lady Margaret Been there; done that !! lol!
Merely my opinion(15 letters), but this was a fun theme with a great revealer.
My Diary of a Crossword Fiend review: <a href="https://crosswordfiend.com/2025/12/08/tuesday-december-9-2025/#comment-565579" target="_blank">https://crosswordfiend.com/2025/12/08/tuesday-december-9-2025/#comment-565579</a> For anyone not familiar with with Diary of a Crossword Fiend, we review about a half-dozen puzzles each day, including the NYT, Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal. It's a good way to lear about some good puzzles that you might otherwise have missed.
@Eric Hougland You’ve linked to the puzzle review right before your review for this puzzle (if that makes any sense.)
@EH Good review, but I'm not quite sure of your use of the adjective "squishy." Good or bad? Comfortable sofa cushion, or Wonderbread?
I am gobsmacked, simply gobsmacked at how many people are complaining about 33A/D. It seemed very ordinary a combination to me, with gentle crosses to enable the solver.
@Steve L I just finished the puzzle during my lunch break and quickly scanned the comments... I have to say, I was surprised about this too. I expected some complaints about THA but did not think it would be ZEE and ZED. Granted, the Z was my last to fill because I ignored it until I got everything I was sure of, as I typically do with answers I don't immediately know. The puzzle filled itself in nicely for me, and then I went back there and gave it a bit of thought and plunked the Z in. I thought it was kind of cute. Sometimes I worry that I'm not picky enough to be a crossworder. I just like doing them and don't find much to dislike. 🤷♀️
@Steve L, what is surprising? The clue didn’t give the solver anything and wasn’t an intuitive solve. Seems to make sense to me.
Steve, Do you remember the first time you ran into a crossword clue (or clue pair) that seemed to make no sense until you filled in some of the answer(s) from crosses? I don't, and I doubt you do either. But I'm sure it threw both of us. Now we don't give it a second thought. We've got quite a few people here for whom this is the first time.
@Steve L I would have thought that the ZED/ZEE divergence would be common knowledge to crossword solvers. "End of a series in Shropshire" seems like a clue I've seen before.
@Steve L Different brains think differently. I've been solving for years and knew they use zed over there but had to guess quite a few letters before hitting Z.
@Steve L I echo your sentiments at the top of this thread 100%. I’ve even noticed a handful of regulars more or less agreeing that it was an especially hard and/or bad pair of clues. Incidentally, the Z in question was the very last letter I entered into today’s grid (and at that, only after drawing a blank and running half the alphabet in my head before it clicked). In other words, I found it to be a tricky clue. But it wasn’t exceptionally tricky. For instance, all the people chiming in about Canada’s usage of ZED should have gotten it easily enough once they caught onto the clue’s shtick, either by direct knowledge (I happened to know about the letter words for “Z” in Canada, USA, and England, and that doesn’t strike me as knowledge that would be rare among this crowd) or inference. And it’s certainly a familiar enough *genre* of clue. 🤷♂️
This was a perfect Tuesday grid. I liked the theme today. This must have been very challenging to construct. WAHWAH may be the sound of the sad trombone, but it also reminds me of Peter Frampton and his wahwah pedal 😜 <a href="https://youtu.be/o6xGqi5itxs?si=LKeHXQb7RdEjF0Gh" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/o6xGqi5itxs?si=LKeHXQb7RdEjF0Gh</a> Thank you, Kate!!
@Jacqui J Frampton is OK, but Hendrix is the master. <a href="https://youtu.be/v_jCaXlylmg?si=TB09OqMn7crfuDO" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/v_jCaXlylmg?si=TB09OqMn7crfuDO</a>- It's also a decent George Harrison song. <a href="https://youtu.be/NDVAQE7nplU?si=0rA0mFWa_TogXf0e" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/NDVAQE7nplU?si=0rA0mFWa_TogXf0e</a>
Thank you, Kate Hawkins, for this entertaining puzzle. I thought it was a bit challenging for a Tuesday but I nevertheless enjoyed it.
Good puzzle, but I was thrown by Zee/Zed. I mean I understand the Zee/Zed pronunciation thing, but it wasn’t/isn’t obvious to me as a clue…
@MB These coupled/cross-referencing clues are always annoying, to me, and when they cross they become insufferable.
Great puzz! “If there’s a bustle in your HEDGEROW don’t be alarmed now!” - Robert Plant
@Charles Nelson Reilly HA! I always though he said "If there's a bustle in your hedgerow don't be a lawman." More education from the crossword!
I love the cute and imaginative HEDGEROWS double meaning wordplay. And finding four (4!) grid-spanning 15 letter answers to so neatly fit the theme -- well, that's a real coup! A lively, breezy puzzle that makes for a splendid Tuesday outing.
This one had two things I strongly dislike in crossword puzzles: 1) a “sound” answer (37D) - too subjective, though this one was thankfully fairly straightforward, and 2) whatever you call the ZEE/ZED pairing at 33A/D that has no real clue. Shouldn’t one of the clues be [Last letter of the alphabet]? Despite those, I did enjoy this puzzle’s theme. So clever!
@Cherry Agreed. Maybe the paper version has it right, but the online clue doesn't lead you to think of an alphabetic letter.
@Cherry I was pretty sure many would be up in arms with ZED/ZEE the moment I entered the Z as my last entry. After one has solved these puzzles for a while, it's refreshing to see a trick you hadn't *quite* seen before. It's stimulating. So you'll notice that most of the seasoned solvers here liked it, or at least didn't not like it. I assure you, this clue would have had me steaming 18 months ago. It's all a matter of experience. But thanks for saying you enjoyed the puzzle otherwise! I think being able to like a puzzle that had a clunker in it is a sign of maturity and wisdom.
Asahi Super Dry sounds like an extremely niche deodorant. "When you don't want your frat bros to know you were in detox."
A crunchy Tuesday, but enjoyable. The ZED/ZEE crossing stumped me for a while, but raised a chuckle when I finally got it. Today in Pedants Corner; THA is not a word. I don’t care if rappers use it, or even if it’s in the dictionary. Who uses THA as a legitimate alternative to The? Here endeth today’s rant.
@Helen Wright Of course THA is not a real word, but it’s part of a real album title. I wasn’t familiar with the album, either, but it seemed fine, knowing how the kewl folks bend the spelling rules just to look more kewl, and JLo is certainly kewl to THA max. And the crosses were quite fair.
@HW "or even if it’s in the dictionary" Welp! you have certainly sent me down the Pedants Rabbit Hole this morning! I have five on-line dictionaries bookmarked, 'cause, well, I'm a nurd: OED, M-W, Green's Dictionary of Slang, and yes, Wiktionary.org; as well as the Middle English Compendium (hosted by the University of Michigan, 'cause everyone in Ann Arbor speaks likes Chaucer). Of those five, "tha" does not appear in M-W at all, nor, surprisingly, GDS, at least as a headword. Unsurpringly, it does appear in Wiktionary, in it's "rap usage." Now, under the headword "the," the OED lists dozens of forms, historical and dialectical, with hundreds of citations, and those include the form "tha." Now, many of the historical forms used the spelling "þa," with the thorn, but let's just look at the the ones with "th." Back when English was still an inflected language, "tha" appears as a form in certain genders and cases--feminine accusative, for one, as in "ic luvie tha sangestre Jennifere Lopez." I write this, as the OED *lists* "tha" as a spelling, but doesn't offer any citation. However, as generalized (non-inflected) Modern English form, the ONLY example the OED offers is as a Northern Irish dialectical variant; and as a citation offers a quote from a leaflet published by the Health Promotion Agency for Northern Ireland: "Gin yersel or anither bodie in tha hoose is no weel." So clearly, the Wise Clerks of Oxenford don't listen to American rap. (Boy, that was fun!)
@Helen Wright Imagine the kerfuffle it will cause when it gets clued as "Charlemagne ____ God".
No one ever said a crossword answer has to be a word.
@Helen Wright @all of you. Ha! Great responses to my tongue in cheek pedantry. I love this comment section.
@Helen Wright And xcx is not a real Roman numeral but some guy named Charli keeps using it!! 😆
At our house, hedgerows are big arguments. Like:”Please just decide!! Either he loves you, or he loves you not - stop wavering! And go cut down some of those daisies, they’re blocking my view of the dinkum patch!” And that is absolutely, 100% true.
AAH, we’re GAGA over this puzzle! Kate has once again LANDED a 10/10. AS FAR AS I CAN TELL, this is just about the cleverest theme ever. Put all those long hedgy phrases together and it ADDS up to PURE fun. We could live on a DIET of Kate’s puzzles. They’re our favorite cup of TEA. Please FIRE up your creative engine and START creating more Kate! We can’t do them OFTEN enough!!
When I was uneducated in across the Atlantic spelling, I checked into a London hotel and gave the desk clerk my name. He asked if my last name started with ZED and I replied " No, it starts with ZEE"
@coloradoz Could have been much, much worse. I was once standing in line at the entrance to Hampton Court and overheard the couple behind me discussing the different languages for the MP3-like audio guides, which were indicated by the flags of the countries for the different languages. Him: Huh, I don’t see any American ones. I guess we need to use the British guide.
@BR That might stump Americans who don't know the Union Jack
@coloradoz Starbucks barista asked his name, dude said, "Marc with a C" When he picked up his coffee it said, "Cark"
@Bill in Yokohama I truly did laugh out loud at that
Enjoyed it except for 33A/D which I got by brute-forcing. And yes, I understood the answer but still don't like the clues for it.
A delightful romp through the colorful prevarications of the English language. No need to hedge my thanks to Kate for constructing such an enjoyable puzzle!
Took our Lewis' advice and deliberately avoided the reveal answer which was a real treat when it finally filled in. Not my last fill though: Had to run the alphabet at the 33* square and got all the way up to "emm" before catching the ZEE. Nice one and thanks. *(Too early for a Rolling Rock?)
Now that was a fun Tuesday! Four grid spanners in one puzzle, a new animal to learn about, a new show to check out, and some funny, funny clues that made me laugh out loud. I thoroughly enjoyed Kate's puzzle and had a good time figuring out the challenging clues that were mixed in with the rest of the entirely doable fill. Thanks for the fun Tuesday, Kate!
Overall I enjoyed this puzzle. My only complaint, and I’m guessing many others had the same, was the zee/zed clue. I actually think this is a clever dual clue but “across the Atlantic” is nonsensical. How are you supposed to get Zee/Zed from that? There has got to be better wording than that
@Kevin ZED is how you say ZEE (the letter Z) on the other side of the Atlantic (i.e. in the UK). And vice versa. It’s crystal clear to me. It doesn’t have to be crystal clear to everyone, but I can assure you that it isn’t nonsensical.
@Kevin, be careful with saying anything against the puzzle or Steve, Barry, and others will rush to the poor puzzle’s defense and belittle you.
Hedgerow made me think of WWII France. Maybe I'm just getting too old...
Always happy to see another Katie Hawkins day and wasn't disappointed. Good long workout for me, but just lots of nice moments when I worked things out from the crosses. One answer history search today was inspired by HEDGEROWS. BUSTARD - once - in a pre-Shortz puzzle. BUSTARDS - twice - also in pre-Shortz puzzles. Some of you will get that. I'll put my puzzle find in a reply. ....
@Rich in Atlanta As threatened. A Monday from April 4, 2005 by Christina Houlihan Kelly. This one was all in the clues. Here are the theme clues and answers: "Check mate?" DEPOSITSLIP "Balance beam?" TEETERTOTTER "Firm offer?" BUSINESSTRIP "Vegas spread?" URBANSPRAWL Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=4/4/2005&g=26&d=A" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=4/4/2005&g=26&d=A</a> ...
@Rich in Atlanta -- "Katie Hawkins day" -- Hah!
I don’t have to HEDGE today to say I enjoyed this puzzle and the theme. I got ZEE and ZED pretty quickly, but I can see why you might not like self referential clues that cross like this (but NOT because Canada just happens to say ZED as well Britain). I liked the reminder that some EMERITI are women and the nod to Oh, MARY. I didn’t see it but I heard wonderful things about it, and had the pleasure of meeting Bianca Leigh who played the chaperone and seeing her perform in person. She is a wonderful actress and person in general.
Really loved this one. I didn’t find the theme a hindrance or a necessity for solving the puzzle but rather a fun addition, exactly what I want them to be. The clues were tricky but largely fair, with a wide range of subjects, but nothing too obscure. I will echo others who ask that onomatopoetic words be left out of these puzzles as there isn’t a standardized spelling for them in several instances. Some may like that level of obfuscation, but I find it a bit too loosey-goosey, if you will, and crossing two of them together was a bit cruel. I did really, really hate the ZEE/ZED clue and found it, on its own, to be nearly impossible to get. That definitely could have been omitted. Overall a fun puzzle! Happy Tuesday!
@D The Z in the cross was my last fill, after entering every other letter of the alpabet. Zounds!
@D the zee sad thing makes no sense at all as clued.
Very nice puzzle, sadly tainted by ‘zed/zee’.
@Jon I might or might not agree. It was overly cryptic for me, to the point that I really expected more than we got in the end. And I was sure for quite a while that it was referring to crossing the T in the word Atlantic. I guess what really bugged me, though, is it had nothing at all to do with the puzzle's theme. It didn't earn its prominent placement (both physically in the center and mentally in its difficulty level).
@Jon came here to say the same thing. thanks!
@Jon Chacun a son gout, getting that Z was my favorite moment of solving the puzzle. Why does any answer other than HEDGE ROWS and the four related long entries have to relate to the theme? IMO it doesnt!
Okay, I failed to finish the puzzle because of the first letter of 33A and 33D. Well, guess what? Another reason we'll never be the "51st state" is because WE SAY "ZED" TOO! And we ain't across the Atlantic! A terrible clue and totally unfair to Canadians. Thought you blue-state New Yorkers respected us . . .
id rather the long theme crosses be among the most difficult rather than the easiest pars on the course but the devilish 33A/D bunker made up for it. a fine tuesday round.
Completed this very enjoyable puzzle in good time while procrastinating studying for law school exams. Congrats - and my thanks- to Kate on a wonderful puzzle that transported me out of Business Organizations and into a HEDGE maze for a couple of minutes!
@Grace Good luck with your exams. I just got an invitation to the 40th reunion of my law school class. I’m glad things like exams are far in the past.
@Grace Oh, God! Biz Org -- many decades since I had to write an exam on it and I am retroactively bored all over again.
"Fair dinkum" is a response, not a question, something like "fair enough". You'd never really ask someone "fair dinkum?" similar to how you wouldn't ask "fair enough?"
@SEAN I knew it from an old music hall song with the lyric "Likes my ways and claims to think 'em / What these _____ call *Fair dinkum*.
@SEAN I have no idea about Fair dinkum, I definitely might ask, "Fair enough?" (Like, "Are we good?)
@SEAN It’s most commonly a response, but it’s not not used as a question - most commonly used as if to ask “really?”
@SEAN I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. Fair enough?
@SEAN you can ask Fair Dinkum?, its the equivalent of asking is that true?
@SEAN > similar to how you wouldn't ask "fair enough?" Why wouldn’t I ask that? In fact, I’m sure I *have* asked that, perhaps even quite a few times.
@SEAN I hear people ask "fair enough?" as a question far MORE than I hear it as a statement. (It's not a phrase I use.)
Zee/Zed tripped me up. I tried using a rebus even though it’s Tuesday to make it Sea/Bed since that’s what’s across the Atlantic. : ) Fun puzzle!