Kelly

I am one of those who gets excited when it's a Rebus Thursday. A puzzle within a puzzle. So thank you! I got the theme right away and it just seemed more intuitive to leave the circles blank. (I solve on my PC.) But I would be happy to put the word in if need be - it only takes seconds. I take the time to enjoy and savor the puzzle. I'm happy to say I am over trying to solve it in the fastest time possible. Maybe that's one of the benefits of, ahem, maturing.

Having been on the planet for a while, I know of Toni Morrison and am familiar with the titles, although I have not read one of her books. Oprah Winfrey was a champion of hers, and brought the book Beloved to the screen. So for me, just being around in the age of Oprah, this puzzle was easy for me, and it was a pure delight to see how well it was constructed along this theme.

Superb Tuesday puzzle. The clues were top-notch.

Count me in as one of the few (perhaps if looking at the comments) who loves to be continually challenged in different ways (good for the brain!). I thought it was going to be a tough nut to track, but just kept picking away at it. I had to do a few lookups but I got there eventually. Keep 'em coming, keep us guessing!

I love a Thursday puzzle. Put your brain into high gear. Be on alert. Is there a trick? I'm a rebus fan, so I easily fell down the rebus rat hole but quickly found my way out. Nice puzzle.

Wowie zowie. What a feat of construction. And I loves me a rebus any day. Yahoo! Hats off to Mr. Schiff.

I originally had "line" in the answers too, but the "downs" had me scratching my head. Changing them to dashes made all the more sense, and everything came together after that. Great puzzle!

For my current crossword puzzle solving ability, this was right in my wheelhouse. No lookups. So IMO a perfect Friday Puzzle. Huzzah!

Wowie zowie. Took me 25 minutes longer than average but I was determined to rootle this one out.

I come to be challenged and I'm rarely disappointed. This is what puzzling is all about. Bring it on.

I feel moved to say, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. I'm sure this will be unpopular but it is all rather disappointing to read such negativity. As if we need more negativity in the world. Try and enjoy your day. It's just a crossword puzzle. (Off soapbox.)

Very clever fitting that all in. Well done!

Finally saw "it" about 3/4's of the way through. I also relied on a lot of lookups. It was humbling. I need a cookie. Or something. To untwist my brain.

A tour de force! Great workout and fun. Kudos to the father/son constructors.

Kudos to the constructor for a great puzzle. It just kind of sang. And it took me half my average time, and I didn't need to turn on Autocheck. I don't want to get too overconfident, though, as Saturdays are usually a bear for me.

Saturday is for Autocheck. That and serially entering letters.

Wow. That's all I've got. Brilliant construction and clueing.

After a few passes, I needed to turn on Autocheck. Even then I struggled. I would have to say the cluing was tricky, mis-directing, but I appreciated them after I got them. It's good to keep the mind nimble. Between last week and this week, I'm still wondering if I'm slipping!

Every once in a while, you get a puzzle that just sings. That's what this one was. Poifect.

I loved it! If you're on a highway and Road Runner goes beep beep. Just step aside or you might end up in a heap. Road Runner, Road Runner runs down the road all day. Even the coyote can't make him change his ways. Road Runner, the coyote's after you. Road Runner, if he catches you you're through. Road Runner, the coyote's after you. Road Runner, if he catches you you're through. That coyote is really a crazy clown, When will he learn that he never can mow him down? Poor little Road Runner never bothers anyone, Just runnin' down the road's his idea of having fun.

Kudos to the construction for a very enjoyable Thursday puzzle. And I haven't seen Wicked. I was able to figure out the trick, and all the fill in's got me to the song which of course I had heard of before. I do need to see Wicked some day, or read the book.

Well, that was pure pleasure. Well done!

Clever puzzle. So many aha's. I kept picking at it. The last to fall was Texas. I guess I was tired by then. Well done. Keep on surprising us!

Took me about 2 minutes longer than average to do Monday's and 5 minutes longer for today's. But I'm not complaining and I found today's fun and unexpected. Great cluing. And then I thought, well, Will Shortz is back! Wonder if that has something to do with it. Welcome back!

This was a challenge for me for sure. But I appreciate it because it made me work a little bit harder. I had a clue something was off when letters wouldn't fit. It took awhile but everything started to fall into place. Make no mistake, I needed to look a few things up.

This is a Monday puzzle and I always fly through Monday puzzles. But today, I'm way out of my solve time. I'm brain deficient after having a poor night's sleep. So there's that. But the thing is I've made a mistake somewhere and I cannot find it. I've poured over the puzzle several times and I came here thinking I'd find a kindred spirit. I'm feeling rather stubborn about doing a reveal on a Monday puzzle. So If anyone has an idea please ring in. Thank you.

I don't know why but I was resistant to the idea that this could be a rebus puzzle. I knew there were letters missing, but the theme of the puzzle - nuclear fusion - had me going down another road. I know. I had to peek at the column to see the word rebus and then I was off and able to finish it. Not too far over my average time but if only I had allowed myself the possibility of the rebus (which I am a fan of BTW). Chewy, meaty Sunday puzzle.

Well aren't we having FUNFUNFUN lately! Mondays are fairly zippy and I rarely make mistakes but this time I did and lost my patience and checked. The dance thing tripped me up, ZUMBA not RUMBA silly. Your basic reading comprehension fail.

I bailed when I only got 3 answers the first time around. Way beyond my pay grade.

This puzzle was very humbling. I may resort to Autocheck from time to time on Fridays and Saturdays but haven't had to go to the column for hints in a very long time. Phew! That was a tough one.

Well that was fun. Clever puzzle!

I had a feeling something was up... When I "got" it, I actually screamed out loud. AHHHH! It's Wednesday!

I would say this was a rather perfect Friday puzzle, solved in nearly half my average time. Voila!

Nice zippy crunchy Monday puzzle! Congrats on your debut!

This one just zipped along. Perfect Tuesday puzzle. And I came in well below average. Kudos to the constructor!

Just stopping by to say, Autocheck is on, very early in the game. Very hard to get some footing, like, anywhere. I'll be back, I hope. I wonder how long this is going to take me.

That one hurt.

Very clever and enjoyable Monday puzzle. And I'm not offended at all; a little surprised but pleasantly so. I'm all for having a little fun.

Zippity doo dah. Smooth sailing this one. 5 minutes. A great debut. Congrats.

Great crunchy Wednesday puzzle. Today I learned about semaphore. And, March Madness! I love this time of year. These young kids, so talented, the coaches, the relationships, the teamwork. They are learning great skills for life! And I still am in awe of the 3 point shooters. (Shout out to Caitlin Clark!)

I usually pay little attention to the title of the puzzle because it seems to spin off one of the clues in the puzzle. This time, I wish I had read it, because it would have given me an edge.