Anand

A perfect level of difficulty for Monday with a perfect theme. I finished in 11:59, which is 10:24 faster than my all time average. For those starting out on crosswords: That used to be me in 2021. I started out practicing Mondays (my time used to be 60 min), then Tuesdays when I could do Mondays in under 30 min. Now I only do Wednesdays (< 30 min) and Thursdays (< 60 min) for the most part. I truly delight in the trickery and mockery that Thursdays bring - rebuses seem mundane now. I don’t do streaks. I didn’t grow up in the US so many pop references beat me. I am below average at word games - I have never enjoyed languages and English is my second language. I never thought I would enjoy crosswords. Most of you beginners will have more success than I have. I have seen this among friends who I have introduced to crosswords. Persevere, because sheer delights await you around the corner. Good luck!

Fitting tribute to Giorgio Armani, who passed away today.

Brilliant! Loved the theme (twisting of the tongues) and the clueing (“made man” was a fun one). Seeing the symmetry and looking at the letter patterns as they got filled in gave me hope that anagrams might be involved. I stumbled with guessing - Laotian and loo. Happy to have picked up a good conversation starter for my next Vanessa. 41 minutes versus an average of 65.

Looking at the top comments it seems I am the only one underwhelmed by the theme today. It would’ve been more fun if the abbreviations were legitimate, rather than made up. I rate this theme 1/10..

Thank you, Evan Kalish! 10/10 on fun factor. Easy, smooth solve. 13 distracted minutes for me.

Fun theme but the trivia and names killed the fun.

Great theme, but terrible clueing. 5/10. I hesitated with CATDOM, because surely not, right?

Thank you for an excellent theme and puzzle, Jesse Goldberg. 10/10. It took me 38 min. I aim for 30 min on Wednesdays. It was worth it!

We have reached peak DAD JOKE theme.

Had to lookup how to spell Loop-De-Loop. Got stuck at 25A because I put in SETTLE. Had not heard of NEGAWATT before. Watt is a measure of power, not energy. Power x Time = Energy This was quite a bit of fun. Thank you, Simeon Seigel.

With a nod to William James. I found this one [fun]. I [don’t care for] streaks. My time was [41:48] which is 27:43 faster than my average. It was not my best. [CAPS] and [CAPS] [witty pun] (I am punny after second coffee) I now know where [ZEDONK] comes from. Thank you, editors. This was [crunchy] for a [Thursday]. The [theme] was [a bit of a let down with no animations upon completion]. I [applaud] Joe Deeney. [What’s an emu pun] SigHed At Times Struggling

Thank you, Joe Marquez. That was a delight overall. The theme was very crunchy. I finished in 47 min with no help, against my average of 68 min.

Finished in 41:45, after turning on auto check. Sometimes you get off on the wrong foot and end up with a bunch of incorrect answers Loved this theme.

Aidan and Jacob, this was such a pleasure to parse. The puzzle blew through my usual time and I had to check my answers more than once, The theme and many of the clues were crunchy and buttery smooth. Cheers!

Thank you David Steinberg for a fun and delightful Thursday crossword. What a neat trick with the theme. Definitely did a double take when I got to Mic-key because surely the answer couldn’t be that literal.

For the zythophiles in our midst Duck Rabbit is a yummy milk stout that’s been my favorite beer for over a decade. It’s produced by a NC brewery. You will instantly recognize their logo after completing this puzzle. Cheers to the Wiegmanns!

What a fun, brilliant theme by Samuel Donaldson. 37 min for me because I kept looking for a “square” in the answers. I did not find the clueing onerous.

Easy for a Thursday. Seemed more like a Wednesday. Neat trick with the theme though. Finished in 30, I usually average 67.

Too bad 22-A cannot be TRUMP. Maybe after the Nobel, and that’s no joke.

Jeanne and Jeff, this was much fun. What a splendidly tasty theme. It was a great break in my early workday.

As the late William Safire once pointed out, the first words uttered on the lunar surface were the grammatically incorrect “A small step for man…” They should’ve been “A small step for a man…” Good puzzle, too! Loved the theme. Had to look up Midnight Cowboy. My Wednesdays average 50 minutes. This one was 46 minutes.

That was a fudgesicle of a puzzle. Thanks for the a-ha moment!

So where’s the supernova graphic? All that for just the annoying jingle? Sad.