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I usually don’t complain about puzzles—especially debuts—but this one was extremely disappointing. The theme was cute but not that funny or remarkable. Given that you absolutely need the crosses I’ve never seen so many ambiguous clues that could be filled by very close words—BASE/BASS MOTE/MITE, MICRO/MACRO, CEOS/CFOS/CIOS. Then there’s SMOOVE and MAMA which is a horrible Natick—I don’t mind learning new cultural references but a cross like that is really questionable especially when you can clue MAMA differently. Same with PEG and YUNG—I don’t mind PEG so much although it’s a reach but when crossed with an obscure rapper. No really fun or clever clues. I’m so sorry this one left me cold. I will put a lot of this more on the editors and I would encourage this new contributor to keep at it, as the idea had a lot of potential.

Loved the puzzle theme overall and a really cute idea but some of the clues were torturous at least the way they were clued. I had two absolute Naticks, UZI and SUZIE and ADELEH and BELLE, all fairly obscure references, and since three of them could have been clued less ARCANEly it seems like it would have been fair to make at least one of the references more accessible. Anyone else feel that way or is it just me?

We don’t always give a lot of love to Monday puzzles, either solving or constructing—at least I don’t. And I’m really not a fan of word ladders generally. But let’s give credit where credit is due—this was an extremely tight Monday puzzle with a ton of theme content, and to do that and make it entirely accessible to Monday solvers deserves a lot of applause.

Wow, the constructor in me is just stanning. I can’t remember when I’ve seen this dense of theme material. I loved your sweet constructor’s note, Hoang, but what I really want is a geek out about how you came up with this idea, how hard it was to implement, and what was going through your brain while you were creating it. I feel like I’m looking at a Dali or Bosch painting that you can look at for hours and still marvel at the details. 3 reveals. The appropriate use of CAN as the reused word. The smoothness of the reduced words that so precisely mirror their longer version. The elegance of the recycling words that use the same letters again exactly and no more. Maybe this is more of a constructor’s puzzle but I hope the allure to the solver is the slow burn of gradually revealing the themes and wondering how they will all fit together. Two more unrelated notes: I guess they wanted a head start on REUSE when they reused FLY yesterday? And second I hadn’t heard of LOUCHE and I had everything but the L at first—I guarantee you it wasn’t the first letter that came to mind.

What to say? I hate to burst the bubble of these two constructors who put a lot of time, thought and heart into this. This would have been a fine Monday puzzle on an average day. I suppose it was put on Wednesday because the editors thought it was April Foolsworthy. But it just really wasn’t. Cute idea, yes, gave you a second of pause when you had to figure out why the quip wasn’t a quip, but just a second. Oh and let’s circle the letters just in case there was a remote chance that we might actually fool someone, we wouldn’t want that. And in the meantime how many brilliant April Fools tricks have we seen through the years— is there nothing trickier that had been submitted? (Even if it were a little trickier than the average Wednesday?) And maybe a misleading or tricky clue somewhere in the grid? Anywhere? I think by any estimation both Monday and Tuesday were more engaging and Wednesday worthy than today. I’m sorry in the spirit of kindness I really debated posting this, I don’t want to hurt the constructors or any poster who really liked it. But I think I can at least be honest, and if I had created and submitted this and it had been posted with those clues on an April Fools Wednesday I would be very disappointed and would not be hurt by someone saying so.

The most irreproachable puzzle in a while, I hope, not withstanding another ARHAT. The clue for KENS is the funniest I’ve heard in a long time

Great puzzle, but there’s got to be a cleverer clue for GOATYOGA. How about “fitness class that might lead to firm butts?”

“All the vowels are in order!” Tom said, facetiously.

So this was MUCH more impressive than it seems at first glance. When I saw the first themer, I was a little bit “ho-hum”. But then when I realized it was the same clue each time, and how natural and elegant the entries were with phrases related to making/forming etc., I was wowed. (BUILDABEAR was my favorite). And thanks Isaac for giving us a little insight into how the sausage was made. Terrific decision to keep it to four themers, because this was a very interesting, chewy grid for a Wednesday and would have been fun even without the theme. Some clever clues like “Veg out in a spa” and “paper view” and even a fresh OREO clue. I liked the ASAHI and SAKE cross and the “Brest friends” near ABREAST, not to mention TROTS and TROTSKY. . Happy to say I got THEDEETS with little prompting, I guess crosswords are making me cooler. I like the little misdirect of MORDOR before MTDOOM. Last, I always love a crossword coincidence, and I just got back from a wedding where I shared CAKE with a former member of the Village People, who shared his YMCA moves with us during the disco party the night before. You can’t beat that!

I think VACUUM PUMPS would also be excellent footwear to go with the DUST JACKET.

So the theme was EEZPPZ since EEONDOWNTHEROAD was a gimme to me. But oddly enough another theme could have been Trivia I’ve Never Even Heard Of (but maybe should). TABOURET, VOILE, STAYMAN, PUENTE, ENSOR,SINEBAR, EMILIO and ANTIHERO (as a Taylor Swift song) as a start—a long list for me for a Sunday. If I were like many commentators lately I suppose I would just say it’s the worst puzzle ever and blame it on the editors in Will’s absence. Instead I’m going to chalk it up to one of those days the constructor just has a wider experience than I do in those areas, or else dug further in their word bank to make a really tight clever theme work. So I'll just be grateful that today I got to learn a lot of new things and managed to get through the puzzle regardless, admittedly having to run through the alphabet a few times.

First, thank you Sam for your timely words. They are a good reminder that we should be able to reflect on our experiences without putting down anyone else’s. I thought this was an extremely well executed grid and theme in my opinion. There’s the grid art—then the excellent theme material. I personally appreciate that the themes were all gettable on crosses but none of them were obvious or gimmes (to me at least and I do enjoy movies). I thought this was a class A grid as well. I had no issues with TRANK or DOTER. Yeah, SLEEKEN’s a little clunky, but perfectly legit. And I actually love OGREISH as a word. And in the meantime look at the medium sized stacks in the corners. All this while crossing 4 long theme entries and maintaining the grid art. That’s not easy folks. Steve L I hear you, there was a bit of straightforward clueing for some of the short entries. But I thought it wasn’t overdone for a Wednesday and still decently crunchy for me. Thumbs up from me.

Trying again, emus: This has been one of the best solving weeks, starting with Sunday, that I can remember, and today’s offering continues the trend. I can hardly forget Mr. Spooner’s first offering, which was New Year’s Day, since he happens to have the same exact name as my crossword loving boss whom I mailed to ask how he could have submitted a puzzle without telling me. I was impressed then and even more impressed today. This was a proper Friday! The only gimmes were trivia that I happened to know—BOGART, VINNIE Barbarino, Anna KARENINA, and THEOLOGY as a stab—and without them I’m not sure what other footholds I would have had—and even with them had to work hard in every crack and crevice. The SE almost did me in since I had HINNY before JENNY (I guess I shouldn’t pull answers out of my α$$ and I couldn’t find a preposition after SNEAK that looked like it would go with an N and D going down (oh, that Acrobat!) Too many sparkling clues to mention and few duds, but I’d call out IN-LAWS, DAFFODILS and DONOTDISTURB for best clues of the week. Nice reminder of yesterday’s puzzle with Secondhand Offerings. Please no pearl clutchers for W*F, it’s not a debut and civilization will not collapse. Finally, ESOPHAGI has the same number of letters as RIGATONI for tubes going down, but luckily I was so sure about BOGART I didn’t swallow it for too long. Thanks Andrew and editors!!!

“This is the perfect time to change to another bug spray!” TRADE IN THE OFF SEASON “Our deodorant expires very quickly” YOU CAN’T KEEP A SECRET “Our laundry detergent is no longer very popular” TIDE IS GOING OUT “Our dish soap formula no longer works” DAWN IS BREAKING These just go to show how hard this is, all of the included ones are so much better!

I guess I’m going to be the first negative Nelly today. I have a lot of respect for Ms. Lin usually but what the heck has happened to Thursdays lately? They are rapidly turning from my favorite day to my least favorite. Early week puzzles seem to be getting more interesting (I enjoyed all of them this week more than today’s) and Friday and Saturday, while getting easier, are at least still engaging and have a share of fun clues. But Thursdays have lost all spark. This theme while cute doesn’t seem worthy of a Thursday. Two themers use the same trick and the other two were just ho-hum. (I admit I was looking for angel food initially for the “rings on top”.) Any enjoyment I might have had was squelched by the inordinate number of gimmes—again seemingly even more than the early week puzzles, are they trying to overcompensate for a trickier theme? Finally it’s a turn off when your first two clues are so clunky—agree that GOIPO just doesn’t sound like something anyone would say on Wall Street, and while BACH IT is a thing I can’t imagine anyone actually writing it that way. I know it’s officially a spelling—but it sounds more like playing Baroque music and I would desperately avoid writing the phrase down, or if I did would write it BATCHIT although it’s equally clunky. Also thought the ADORED and POSER clues were just off. Just to add a positive at least I did like the “oil bigwig” clue and the clues for WAN and FROST. But those were my only bright spots, to be brutally honest.

After reading some of your responses to Sam’s comments, I feel the need to respond again and be very clear. I don’t believe that complaining about the lack of challenge in a puzzle is a priori unwelcoming. I am certainly not being “judgmental” by doing so (even if you take it that way) nor is it about elite “super smart” people who want the puzzle catered to them. It’s the opposite—I have only respect and praise for those who are embarking on their crossword journey. I think you are all super smart if you are attempting it and coming to the comments to grow and learn. And I know lots of people who are super smart—certainly smarter than me—that don’t have the inclination, patience or the experience yet to finish a late week puzzle. Solving NYT crosswords is a skill like any other that involves lots of elements, not just trivia knowledge—understanding word patterns, recognizing common conventions, lateral thinking, even learning crosswordese which is a regrettable but necessary part of construction. It’s not for everyone but I firmly believe that EVERYONE who wants to can hone those skills and continue to get better. It shouldn’t just be “can I finish the puzzle by myself” and keep my streak. I would be delighted if every Saturday there is something I can get only by crosses or even something I had to look up because that is how I learn. (Continued below, sorry to be long winded but I am clearly passionate about this)

Fabulous debut. Perfect fun theme, excellent grid, and despite the early comments I think more of a Wednesday challenge than Tuesday. Loved the Houdini clue. Going on my list of early week POY nominations. I expect more great puzzles from you!

Really really clever. I figured out the trick easily enough—a missing letter where the asterisk was—which made it pretty easy to guess the themes, but I love a theme where you can’t wait to see what the revealer would be and this one didn’t disappoint. A quick solve but extremely fun. LOL before I realized that the missing letters were always B or N I was looking for COVID of Ancient Greece and imagining some sort of mythological epidemic!

So for everyone giving Joel Fagliani a hard time: Folks, the grids are accepted months even a year in advance. It’s pretty likely Will accepted this puzzle. Occasionally there are tweaks on clues late in the game so that may be on the recent editing crew but if you didn’t like the grid because it was too obscure then please don’t put that on them yet. And this is the same editing crew who worked on most of the clueing (with Will’s approval) before his stroke. For my two cents, I haven’t seen a lot of difference since Will left. There have always been irregularities in complexity and enjoyment before and always will but I think overall they are similar and I think people are just looking for things to grouse about.

Happy Passover to all who celebrate! I enjoyed this. Yes, it could have been a Wednesday but at least I think the level of clueing today was a cut above what I’ve seen lately, and it took me long enough to get the theme and I had an a-HA moment when I did. Had a lot of fond memories from some of these clues. I went to school in Boston within view of the iconic CITGO sign. I still say NEATO and am a consummate KAZOO player. My daughter in law is from Arizona and my ringtone for her is “Get your kicks on Route 66”. Mozart’s prolific output reminded me of the late Tom Lehrer’s classic line: “it’s a sobering thought that when Mozart was my age…he had been dead for three years”. Anyway I got a lot of laughs from this puzzle, thanks Joe!

So there’s definitely a theme to this puzzle—a doctor’s office: Question for a psychiatrist? AMILOSINGMYMIND Make sure you take the entire dose of medicine… DRINKITALLIN …and don’t complain about the taste! SILENTTREATMENT And, of course, what a plastic surgeon does when you ask if there’s anything else you need to work on— BRINGSUPTHEREAR

YES! Ask and you shall receive. SO EXCITED to review this—anything but HOHUM. This had everything I could ask for in a Sunday Puzzle. Fresh, innovative idea that’s a challenge for both constructor and solver—and one that contributes to the solve once you get it but still isn’t a lay-up. The theme entries are smooth as silk and great accessory fill as well—PROMPOSAL, AIRHIGHFIVE (what you give after the proposal is accepted?) GOESROGUE, HOLYCANNOLI. (Good choice not to crowd this grid and the double themer in the middle is masterful). Just about the right difficulty of clues for me—an occasional easy clue to get over the tricky spots but plenty to stump over. And a few clever misdirections—PRISM, COSTAR, SCALP. Even a sly connection between Ned Flanders and Bouvier DES Flandres. I am so sorry that folks solving on the magazine had an issue and I hope they got to solve it elsewhere, that’s unforgivable for a such a wonderful puzzle. I had an interesting path to get the theme—had the rebus at ISLANDHOPPED but had PLAYEDHARD so had DEAD but not HEAT—figured the heat might come from the nuclear fusion! Then WHATATREAT before IFEELGREAT—which seemed to work with Pizza HUT. SECRETPLOTS finally broke it open. One minor nit and one observation—when you PAWN an item you are officially lending it for security on a loan, not selling it. And last, our British friends would argue that the answer to most words ending in “ize” is MISSPELLED.

I was very afraid when I came here today that the haters would be out in force and was pleasantly surprised, so far at least. For the record, I liked it, I thought it was well constructed and a fun challenge. But here’s a recipe for disaster: 1) rebuses (divisive on their own) 2) needing specialized knowledge and reading the title which not everyone does 3) no clue where the rebuses would be and not symmetric (not that it would be possible for this complexity) 4) overall higher level of difficult clueing for a Sunday (and if you think no one is going to complain about having to know the name of an obscure discus champion guess again). Just fair warning they will come, and this is certainly a harder than average Sunday for most. But again I really enjoyed it, thanks for stretching me.

What a lovely debut, Philippe. I have to admit this was a pretty loose theme, with some stretchy pronunciations, but most of them were clever enough and made me laugh so I won’t be a stickler about it. I especially love SONATATHING and ARIAKIDDING, with STANZACHANCE a close third. I probably would have clued CODASILENCE as “Audience reaction to a particularly bad orchestra ending”, since I can’t imagine a lack of applause no matter how reverent the reaction. The first word ending in A was a consistent part of the theme and it’s too bad the key at the end wasn’t in A Minor—and though I can understand someone calling foul at a Natick there, the whole point of supporting diverse constructors is for them to include a part of their heritage, and what a great opportunity to respect your Haitian history by including ARISTIDE, which in any case should not be such an obscure figure for anyone nor unguessable phonetically. This was a great grid for a debut as well, with not a lot of junk and good accessory fill like SEWERRAT. Love the LADS and LASS pairing. Andrzej, sorry about the math. Finally, nice call out to TRINITY where my son got his theater masters. Again Phillipe glad you came on the scene with a delightful debut!

I’m sitting on the fence with this one (pun intended). There are many who feel as a rule grid entries shouldn’t be gibberish. I’m not generally not that rigid. But in this case I do think the theme would have been better served by having backwards birds in normally entered phrases, like, say COI(N RET)URN. This would placate those folks and make more sense that you flip the bird (turn it backwards) to complete the phrase. That said this was still clever and enjoyable. As to the shaded squares, I’ll always vote for greater challenge but can’t fault the choice they made. I would much prefer they kept the shaded squares and instead upped the difficulty of the other clues. Last nit was a big one for me as a student of Ancient Greek history. I have to double down on what Barry said earlier about the clue for SPARTAN. This clue was quite awkward and misleading. Yes Menelaus was a Spartan and his contingent was part of the Trojan war and certainly were in the Trojan horse. But there were lots and lots of soldiers there from all over Greece. To say “one inside the Trojan horse” is SPARTAN is like saying “one inside Congress” is LIBERTARIAN. Not sure why they didn’t just say “like some inside the Trojan horse” or just clue it with something more iconically Spartan. Sorry I know I’m being pedantic but so many people have misunderstandings about the Trojan war I just wanted to set the record straight.

“New York paper’s crosswords aren’t what they used to be!”? TIMES, THEY ARE A CHANGIN, Maybe, but I have no complaints today. I appreciate the difficulty of finding and placing all these themes and I’m glad you stuck with it, Sam. These all made me laugh inside and finding a place for 8 long themers is no walk in the park. I ESPECIALLY appreciate the time Sam and/or the editors took to polish some of the shorter clues—the clues for ANT, WATER, ZIT, NOMAD, and TATAS show that just because an entry has been around the block a few times doesn’t mean you can’t take time to find a fresh clue for it. I found this entertaining and reasonably challenging for a Sunday. Last comment—one can’t see EJECT in a puzzle, especially clued the way it was, without saying a prayer for the safe return of both our downed pilots in Iraq. God speed!

When you see Katie Hoody on a byline you know you are in for a treat and this didn’t disappoint. Like Steve L and Barry I solved it faster than yesterday but not sure it was “easier” and not sure that will be the consensus. It was just in my wheelhouse. Classic movie actresses (LORETTA)—check. Astronomy (LEONIDS)—check. Geek who still says “Up the WAZOO”—check. Piano player (LEDGERLINES)—check. Andrew Jackson trivia (kitchen cabinet CRONIES)—check. Particle physics (PION, TAU)—check check. Pokémon—OK, no, but I could at least guess it started with SNOR. And unfortunately my Gene Kelly/George Gershwin fetish didn’t help me with American in Paris, but still… Tons of fun misdirections—MORN, SHOES, AZURE, GRATER, HERS, SCALP, PDA—who says short entries can’t be clever? I had OODLES of fun with this one (or at least two OODLES)—thanks Katie!

A bit of crossword punditry to open the weekend solve: Novice solvers approach Friday with trepidation, but at least get an Easy Version and TWO CLUES FOR COMFORT. The editors would love to offer it on Saturday also but of course are SHORTZ STAFFED. Meanwhile the long-term solvers open the puzzle with GRID EXPECTATIONS and hope for plenty of FILL GOOD MOMENTS. And what do the veterans long for on Sunday? THEMES LIKE OLD TIMES, while the newbies just wish not to get THROWN UNDER THE REBUS.

Interesting the constructor’s name hinted at two clues Kate (KATY) and SADIE(S) Hawkins. I thought this was a well constructed puzzle, not much to nitpick about.

Fun and challenging puzzle. Had to flyspeck at the end because I had RAP instead of RAG (POSEE seemed vaguely possible). Finally, I had __CK for canoodle and you can bet my first thought wasn’t NECK.

Well, it doesn’t exactly fit with the double meanings of the clothing, but I would recommend, for an aspiring Cruciverbalist, a letterman jacket, preferably with down fill and cross stitching.

Things are finally looking up for Thursdays! I have had few POY contenders in my mind this year, but have have added this one along with last week (and yesterday and Sunday to boot, what a great week). Not surprised when I saw the byline of two of my favorite constructors, together or apart. Loved the texts in the comments, and like Zhou would have been daunted by the task of three pairs of words that had ME in and out with perfect meanings either way (so three pairs is six words but you really need 12 because each has two alternatives. Extra points for difficulty! And these were all smooth and not obvious. Then add to that fun entries in the longer across spots and you have a real winner. It didn’t take me too long—again, the editors seem to be overcompensating on some fill to make sure it’s doable for everyone—but I still had a ton of fun and some chewy spots. I loved that this week’s mini-animal theme continues with fun clues for COATI and COLT and FAWN. (On the first themer I wondered if we were headed for animal rebuses with (ASP)HALT.) Other inspired clues like DO(UGH)NUT, and misdirected plurals like PENNE and USO. Last, thanks for recognizing that this DAD has certainly my kissed his share of owies in his time in addition to MOM.

So much to love about this puzzle. I love a ZIPPY start like the Napoleon clue. Love the cross of COMFY and WARMFUZZIES. Love those 5 O’s clustered in the middle. Never heard of BOOMROASTED even though I’ve seen The Office, but just watched the clip—hysterical. Love the clue for RUB but I guess that’s the Hamlet lover in me. Loved that WOOKIEES was spelled right even though I forgot it. Love the clue for EROSION. Loved the pace of this puzzle. Some start slow and then fall fast, some start fast and then one corner is a grind, this just kept slowly building but I was guessing to the end (the middle for me). One of my favorite themeless puzzles in a while. My only nit—how is BAILS dips? Like bailing a boat?

One of those themes that definitely make me say “I wish I had thought of it”. Clever, elegant and well executed. While I didn’t deliberately try to get the revealer first, I dropped down pretty quickly there naturally and it helped me get all the theme clues very easily. Without that it would have taken me longer because I do think the non theme clues were intriguing and appropriately challenging for a Thursday. But once I got the trick I solved well under my average but no matter I was delighted all the same.

Well, you had me at HELENOFTROY in terms of fun factor! Look, I agree with Barry, Sundays ain’t what they used to be but I’m getting beyond expecting much more (I’m still going to harp on Thursdays and Saturdays). I’m going to be content with an engaging, clever, consistent theme—check, although more impressed by the ones whose acronym was more inherent— so not as wild about THE Big Game or GOT in the ballpark. Loved the rest though, and just going to brag I somehow got SNAKESONAPLANE immediately with no crosses, how weird is that? Yeah, a lot of easy answers but enough interesting accessory fill and clever clues to still amuse me. PARADIDDLE! MUMBLERAPPERS! (I don’t speak much Spanish but I imagine, regardless, Bad Bunny’s picture is in that encyclopedia entry). And clever clues for REV, NEWDO, even EPEE—so, check, check. Probably too many proper nouns for some but I think all gettable from crosses—my history teacher will be happy to know I got GHENT and TRENT pretty quickly. Overall a more than decent grid—so, check. No complaints then. I’ll be holding my breath for the occasional really scintillating Sunday like we got with Middlemarch and Roubdabouts, but in the meantime will be more than satisfied with a reasonably amusing Sunday like today.

Just want to lends my voice this is really is this the best Monday puzzle I can remember. Believe me this is a feat to create and still keep all the fill straightforward. I can’t even imagine