Steve

@Carly A bit harsh? SP graciously took it in stride.

@John Eames chairs are pretty notable, no?

@Brian Murphy Why do you consider it lazy? Do you think the constructor had the puzzle just about complete, but due to some bad planning, ended up with 4 squares that they had to last minute jam the same 2 letters into? And then needed to quick think up a “theme” clue to cover for their laziness?

@Mike I can think of a lot of things that could ruin Valentine’s Day for a person. I’m sorry to hear that for you it was a crossword puzzle :( Try not to take it too personally.

@Steven M. Felt like this thread was missing a third Evestay.

@Elly Zee Can you say more about why you thought that crossing was unfair? CLEF is the first symbol on the staff and I wouldn’t ordinarily consider a dAY OFF as an extended period of inactivity. Not that I think you were wrong to try that combo first, I just don’t think fairness plays into it.

@WR Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet Roy G Biv

@Dave Munger This is so refreshing. Instead of coming to the comment section to vent in ignorance about a word you don’t know, you did some simple research and provided enlightenment. I love it. Thank you.

@Sara W Steve's L post is chock full of relevant citations, all showing that the "I'm hunting wabbits" speaker [ELMERFUDD] was voiced many times by Mel Blanc. Regardless of whether Mel Blanc voiced that exact line. (To Barry's succinct point.)

@Barry Ancona Agree. As an ED physician I can tell you that EKG is the most common daily usage, notwithstanding etymology.

@Lauren I’m sorry you had a frustrating time with this puzzle. I don’t consider myself a trivia collector, at least not nearly on the level as many solvers. I had a nice time with this one though. The majority of the comments I’ve read seem to rate positively with many observing an easier Saturday than usual. Your comment seems to needlessly assert opinion as fact, speaking for the majority as the “rest of us.” I would submit that a more accurate statement might be “I didn’t like this puzzle because I didn’t know many of the answers, though I cannot speak for the majority as I have not conducted a scientific survey.” Indeed, perhaps shifting your perspective to one of curiosity and self-improvement might enhance your enjoyment of the puzzle in general, rather than insisting that constructors utilize only your specific fund of knowledge.

@Andrzej I disagree. Shouldn’t our minimum expectation of civility be to use the same language in our comments as we would directly in person? If you were standing around, chatting in person with Mr. Newton (constructor) and Grumpy, and Grumpy blatantly insulted Mr. Newton by saying his puzzle was lame, I hope you too would come to Mr. Newton’s defense. I don’t think this forum is any different. Everyone is certainly welcome to their own opinion, but expressing opinions in an anonymous insulting way is not civil. I might think in my mind that your shirt is ugly, but I’m not going to blurt it out unsolicited.

@Michelle This made me laugh. Well said.

@Anthony IMO “Like many a Swiftie” does not stereotype that most Swifties are teenagers. The people I personally know buying TS tickets are parents for their kids. (Also just one dad’s anecdote and not meant to generalize.) Multigenerational fans in my family including this 40-something :)

@jennie I keep my adult activities, like crossword solving, in the bedroom.

@Andrzej I took it as a fine compliment. Cheers :)

@B PRANK call may also be a regional thing. I had cRANK first too, but grew up using “PRANK” in MN, so no worries. Can you be more specific about your method for defining the poorest clues? If the constructors and editors are reading the comments, any detail you can add might help them avoid poor clues in the future.

@Andrzej Thank you for your thoughtful response. I respect that life experience has given you a different perspective on this and acknowledge that there is a wide range of tolerance for directness of opinion that varies regionally (even within the US). It is my opinion that a person who creates a form of art for others to enjoy deserves better than to have their creation insulted as lame. I’d assert there are more respectful ways to express a constructive criticism. Car vs crossword analogy didn’t quite hit home for me. This forum feels more personal, more like a community. Agree to disagree.

@Chris Much like the OCTOPI discussion yesterday, this is frequent fodder for the comments. “Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids.[1]” <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wool" target="_blank">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wool</a> I can’t claim to be an expert on wool sources, but this entry would suggest alpacas (camelids) are a source of wool.

@Briana It’s my internal mantra as I pull on my ski jeans.

@Jack Green Merriam Webster: <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/talk" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/talk</a> Or from <a href="https://www.gonaturalenglish.com/silent-letter-l" target="_blank">https://www.gonaturalenglish.com/silent-letter-l</a>: “The word “talk” can also be pronounced two different ways. The first way is like the word “tock.” This is the most common pronunciation. The second way is like the word “tawk.” Again, this is not as common, but you may hear it used in some dialects of English.” Or, just google.

@Eddie He speaks! Maybe you have before and I missed it, but good to hear your “voice.”

@Aubrey Good point. In this case, they are using the informal signifier to indicate the answer is an abbreviation.

@CaptainQuahog We had cedar shakes on my childhood home in MN

@CZitelli <a href="https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=rawr" target="_blank">https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=rawr</a>

@Hardroch “Does not condone”? Citation please. Otherwise I would think it perfectly appropriate to refer to the practicing infectious disease specialist, Dr. Breen as such. <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidshaywitz/2015/11/01/why-does-the-new-york-times-say-mr-carson-but-dr-kocher/?sh=24e97a15682d" target="_blank">https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidshaywitz/2015/11/01/why-does-the-new-york-times-say-mr-carson-but-dr-kocher/?sh=24e97a15682d</a>

@Jess I thought today was if a Friday and a Wednesday had a baby but you could tell there was some Saturday a generation or two back in the gene pool.

@Anonymous I'm with you. Though I think it might be a joke as it's not in the MM:SS format.

@Jane Wheelaghan Hoopster = basketball player The PISTONs are the NBA team from Detroit.

@Leapfinger I'm with you in the common usage. Though I bet someone could take the perspective that from person to person, injury to injury, physical or emotional, new hip vs scraped knee, there may be a SCAR literally or figuratively that does not yet indicate a completely healed condition.

@KC Response was factual and OP found it useful.

@Bill Recognizing the theme helped me fill in 52 across. (Didn’t know TANEY and was struggling to parse NBASTARS.) I enjoyed it. YMMV.

@Bridget Great explanation!

@Warren My introduction to, and favorite use of DONEZO in pop culture comes from Parks and Rec. <a href="https://youtu.be/acLp0S3K6mk" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/acLp0S3K6mk</a>

@Elijah Can you say more? Looks correct to me.

@Alex Barry Sounds like you have nothing to lose at this point!

@D The magic seems to have worked on me and the majority of commenters.

@Steve L This is how I got it after a couple crosses. Didn't see the movie, but remembered the title. As I filled it in I was thinking, "no... really? Could that be it?" Satisfyingly, yes.

@jp inframan I have a feeling that the general, even well-educated, public will always know foods (traditional food, fast food, junk food, etc) better than sculpture techniques. Seems more like a fact of life than commentary. I was glad to learn the term today. That crossing B was my hangup.

@SBK Fair point and I understand Wikipedia’s weaknesses even pre-AI, but it was late and this didn’t strike me as important enough to dig deeper. Apt almond milk analogy.

@Kevin I read a different comment that said this was perhaps too easy. We should have you guys get together and compare notes, try to find a middle ground. Maybe we're already there?

@Steven Welcome!