Amanda

@Alex I find it eternally baffling that people complain about American brands and slang being used in a puzzle published in an American paper.

@Andrzej I love how you are so respectful and complimentary even when a puzzle is difficult. Many people here could learn from you.

@B I think a poem focused on the multitude of ways one can see the ordinary is sort of the opposite of navel gazey.

@Jim Prater’s gonna prate.

@Pani Korunova I was thrilled to see a bit of Portuguese in the puzzle! Most Americans are so much more familiar with Spanish, so I understand the tilde comment, but I am choosing to not imagine it :)

@Francis I honestly don’t understand why those people don’t skip Thursdays. Some people just love being miserable and taking everyone else with them.

@PR Betz What in this puzzle seems extremely hip and au courant? Certainly not the jazz musician who died in the 90s, the baseball player inducted over 20 years ago into the hall of fame. Was it the gaming console from 2012? The Mario character who has been around for decades?

@Søren Thustrup I agree, the clue should have read “le cognac.”

@Nick D. If you consider anything remotely hashtag shaped a swastika you’re probably best off avoiding puzzles that require rotational symmetry

@Mr Dave In current slang online, fit=outfit.

@Eric Hougland congrats, you’ve made homemade rice milk!

@Teresa I mean, those are kind of the definition of trivia.

@Nora You would think word puzzle enthusiasts would be well-read, but I was floored by the complaints and “never heard of her” comments on a Toni Morrison themed puzzle last year.

@Sam it’s an American paper!

@JM as a member of the contingent of crossword solvers under 60, I feel we were owed a gimme after whatever that was on Wednesday.

@Lauren No one is forcing you to solve NYT puzzles or give them your money, and there’s nothing niche about BRITA- it’s practically synonymous with water filter (in the US, where the puzzle was published and where the puzzle’s target audience is located)

@Pani Korunova Hey fellow American in Portugal!

@Heidi I had a mild panic when I saw the revealer was sports trivia as my entire bank of sports trivia knowledge is like two facts. Luckily I found the crosses easy to figure out.

@Steve L Yes but I also wouldn’t consider a gaming console that’s more than a decade old and a worldwide hit song from 4 years ago to be super hip.

@Carrie G I agree, I never enjoy trivia dense puzzles, especially ones obviously tailored to people 20 years older than me. But the ones who enjoy them hate my beloved Thursdays.

@Amanda never mind, google answered this for me! I had no idea.

@Barry Ancona The issue is obviously that it isn’t a word that is seen or used outside of crosswords. I’d reckon few solvers have encyclopedic knowledge of every obscure word used in the puzzle in the last 2 decades. Personally I got it from the crosses easily, but it made me check and recheck those, even though I was certain of them.

@Ιασων As an American, I have the same problem when I try to solve cryptic crosswords, whose clues sometimes include homophones based on BBC pronunciation and which use all kinds of unfamiliar British references. ‘Tis the nature of solving puzzles internationally.

@Ιασων Why? It’s not an uncommon word in my experience.