Tony

Reluctantly on the ABYSM/ABYSS crossing with MAXIMUM/MAXIMUS complaint train. Kind of rained on an otherwise enjoyable solve.

Interlocking bookworms, inchworms, and earworms? Wow! Next level construction. Great puzzle!

Ok, that was totally maddening and then totally fun! I love a puzzle that stimulates some unused corner of my brain and delivers a genuinely euphoric eureka moment. Bravo!

One of the hardest Saturdays I can remember. So few gimmes. Satisfying to finally finish, with some clever cluing, but felt like passing a kidney stone.

Anyone else struggle with “Throw” as a clue for PEG? I’m not familiar with the example phrase, “the catcher pegs the ball to the first baseman" in the Oxford dictionary.

I was CAREENing toward a personal best before a CAREER-limiting move on 109 across.

I speak Spanish and still missed “Once” (11) being “Numero”. False cognate alert! Great clue.

Wow, just wow. Could not figure this out. But when I did I was utterly blown away at the cleverness of the clues. Really wish I had seen it before I read the explanation but kudos for the *rillia*t execution.

I’m actually relieved to see others struggled with this one. Felt like a Saturday in difficulty. Was starting to question my sanity as the clock ticked 16 minutes over my average!

How many times did I look at my calendar to see what day it was? Let’s just say my mind was fRAYed and led astRAY as I foRAYed into disarRAY and had to pRAY to say hooRAY on this Wednesday Or as Poirot would say, I had to use the little gRAY cells.

Double my usual Tuesday time. Relieved to see all the comments that it’s not just me!

Sacré bleu, Hastings! Poirot prefers a little more challenge to the little gray cells in a Friday puzzle.

King Kong weeps he couldn’t find his way into this clever puzzle.

“Junk drawer” - literally laughed out loud

Came here because I don’t know DIC, and even that looks wrong. Thanks fellow solvers for juDICiously dishing the meaning.

That is a ridiculously cool concept. Why I love crosswords. Bravo on finding a way to make it work!

Holy Grandma Moses that was Monet-mentally difficult.

Delicious solve! Compliments to the chef!

I stared at _IALO_ way too long.

Awesome! Love a tricky original theme.

I needed help to CLOSE THE LOOP on this one, but “O” wow does it pay off when you “C” the clues transform from nonsensical to perfectly reasonable when you remove the BLOCKADE. Kudos!

Such a clever theme. A+ work!

That was easy peasy lemon rind squeezy after last night’s slog.

After watching a ton (Washington) of Sunday puzzles, I’ll miss again (Michigan) the fun of this one. I carry a line of (Carolina) favorite puns after 3,000+ puzzles and I’ll connect and cut (Connecticut) this one out.

Tough sledding! More relief than enjoyment to complete this one.

Love the theme! Great work finding words using the DO RE MI scale and encircling the grid with FULL SCALE SIDE NOTE RING TONES.

Great theme, clumsy execution. Love the concept of Tea Leaves though!

Love this theme! Well done :)

So much misdirection! Thought it was a NO CAN DO Friday. I felt stupid (DOPESLAP!), and contagious, but here we are now, entertain us. Way over my average to get the AHA MOMENT but finally put this SLY BOOTS of a Friday puzzle on ice.

Excellent work! I always admire puzzles where something difficult to find (in this case, phrases that contain the word “once” but also a unit of measurement — repeated twice within the phrase!), can be executed so elegantly. Kudos!

That was a fun Wednesday-level puzzle. I look forward to a little more blood, sweat and tears on a Saturday.

Very direct NO NONSENSE cluing (or is it clueing?) for a Friday. Easy peasy breezy sneezy squeezy parcheesi… lost my train of thought there.

Great theme!

Good challenge for a Tuesday!

Great construction! A truly tasty Thursday cruciverbal concoction.

The puzzle was a fun solve, but the end game/escape theme was too clever for me! Not a knock, just couldn't get there without help. I suppose it's good to get humbled now and again!

Wednesday-level of difficulty makes for an early Christmas gift: More time to plow through the 11,350 puzzles in the archive.

Simultaneously too arcane and not tricky enough for a Thursday.