Cat

27:29 I found the theme thoroughly enjoyable! The puzzle took a lot longer than my usual Wednesdays (seems to be a trend for puzzles this week). I will admit I was not a fan of UTE but other than the top right cornder I had a lot of fun. Favorite entry by far was BUMKNEE. Archery: F CRAPSHOOT

5:45 Cute theme! The rest of the fill was nice as well. Like many others, I did not love the MARESNEST / ALFRE cross. Both were completely unknown to me and stumped me for quite a bit as I stared at my phone screen in confusion.

19:48 (because of neapolitan / neapolitan) What an amazing Monday puzzle!! You could do it while completely ignoring the theme or fill in the shadows as you go. Feels very approachable

25:22 Would have taken me a lot longer, but I guessed STEELERS for no reason other than the letters fit and that got me the bottom right corner. I understood pretty early on that the trick was to drop OM, but I didn't get the pun until reading the column. Personally not a fan. I really enjoyed the puzzle though and I was able to solve it and have fun without understanding the chance / chants connection, which I think is probably important for a puzzle whose trick might not be a crowd pleaser

38:47, which is pretty good for someone who still sometimes gives up and uses auto check on a Thursday 😅 I didn't get the theme until quite late in the game. I filled out COUNTERARGUMENT based on C____R___UMENT truly for no reason other than vibes, then managed to figure out the theme. Unlike what seems to be a lot of y'all I really liked the theme. I just thought the other clues and filler words weren't great. Other than meteor shower (which I loved!!) I didn't have fun filling those out. Also was not jazzed about crossing BASSI with BLUTO and other crosses of multiple esoteric clues.

9:29 Fun theme!! Didn't quite laugh out loud but definitely exhaled audibly through my nose in amusement. I will admit that I thought "lie next to" was ABET, and then I was so pleased with my own cleverness that I left it like that for longer than I should have. Big fan of SIDEQUEST as an answer - I love to see more modern clues/answers that aren't out of fashion slang (looking at you, YEET).