Anker Lerret

C’mon, folks! We’re supposed to be word lovers. Why all the yabbering about learning a new word? Thanks for a witty Monday puzzle.

This was a fun Monday puzzle…and isn’t it fun that EBONY appeared in both the mini and maxi puzzles?

Best. Crossword. EVER.

Marshal used the phrase “striking and irresistible” in his commentary. The phrase perfectly describes his crossword, too. Bravo!

I did several lookups…but AFTER I had the answers because the facts were so enticing. For instance, I got TITAN, but had to check Wikipedia to see for myself that it had subsurface water. The entire puzzle was a pleasure. Brilliant, Bryan, brilliant. I hope you’re working on more.

I very much enjoyed the “Jeopardy” theme. “Who’s ‘Who’?” was my favorite answer. Thanks for a completely enjoyable puzzle…and for adding “larrup” to my vocabulary.

Like @Vaer, ROLLWITHTHEPUNCHES was my favorite. It was my first theme answer and made me realize the theme. Rich, thank you for a fun ROMP. And I’m agnostic about the northwest corner.

My hand is down. I took IRES to be a noun: “There were multiple ires among the disgruntled employees.” Thanks for a fun solve.

Can someone help me understand the theme of today’s midi puzzle? I get HUMECCAN, FOOD, and GREETMAT. Or is it GREAT HUMAN FOOD (with just the circled letters)? Neither makes any sense to me. What obvious thing am I missing?

What a fun puzzle! I *loved* the cluing. Several answers completely eluded me last night, so I left the puzzle and went to bed. My mind must have worked on it in my sleep because this morning every one was obvious to me. My favorite “ah ha!” moment was the “R on an envelope.” I grew up in a rural area, so I knew it had to be either RURAL or ROUTE. (Rural postal customers in the US are grouped into rural routes, so an address might be “RR 3.”). I figured I’d decide between RURAL and ROUTE with the crossings. Of course, the crossings didn’t cooperate, so I went to bed frustrated. This morning it was obvious. What fun!

I was a day late to this puzzle, so I got the pleasure of seeing myself at 24A in this puzzle as well as at 13A in today’s (Tuesday’s) NYT midi puzzle. That makes it a big day for a chorister! BTW, I didn’t think this was overly difficult for a Monday. I’m clueless about both sports and movies, but figured those out in the crossings. Thanks for a fun puzzle and please keep up those choir references.