Patti

@Patti Oh, oops - never mind. I peeked at the answer key. I’d missed the rebus DN but the app said it was correct, so I’d overlooked the error.

@Bob McFate Bob, I completely agree! You and I interpreted “inside the lines” as inside the lines of a grid square = rebus. Alternate interpretation: “inside the lines” =‘inside each one of all of the colored lines’, in other words, inside the line. Entering it like that makes each across clue incorrect unless you add in invisible letters of each color name, or write the color names ON the line. Some people thought that was clever, even brilliant, but I had the same reaction as you did.

@Sarah Lots of comments tonight that come from the app saying the grid is correct when rebuses are missing - I had entered METRODOME and ROADOISE, but the correct answers are METRO DN OME ROA DN OISE Just coincidence that the “missing” N can also be grabbed from NONEOF - :)

@Sarah the D should be DN

@Heidi, you’ve missed my intent (and needn’t have had such a tone as well). I solved the puzzle in that I’d entered correct answers for all the clues, albeit as a 2-letter rebus instead of hiding the 2nd letter inside the colored line. Some found that construction “brilliant” - but to me it was just annoying, as I’d interpreted each rebus as “inside the lines” - not “inside the line” - as each rebus is between 2 lines. (Yes I realize the plural is for all the colors, but see how that could be interpreted differently?) Difference of opinion - it’s a good thing, makes the world interesting. Snark, not so much. Be happy and be nice to others.

@Amanda thanks Amanda, for the follow-up post. To answer your questions: Tidy way to color - as in a coloring book - we color shapes “inside the lines” - not “inside the line”. Not a stretch to think of a rebus as a color inside the lines of the grid squares. To me, anyway. Especially since the answers were only correct with the extra letters. Seemed extremely unlikely to have to imagine invisible letters for answers to be correct. The down answers made sense to me when reading left (answer) vs right (color). In retrospect after reading a lot of posts here - this is a controversial puzzle because the theme can be interpreted different ways - inside the lines vs inside each line - and either way, the grid as read does not show correct answers. (Rebus - downs are problematic, invisible inside the lines- across answers as written are incorrect) Thanks again for posting! And I hope you find a peaceful moment to enjoy your day!

@Wggwg But the theme is “INSIDETHELINES”, plural. I interpreted that as inside the lines of a grid square, as opposed to being inside each of the colored lines. Not a stretch, I think, since the clue for the theme included “Tidy way to color”. The down clues make sense if read left or right, but you do have a point that reading both letters together for the down answers don’t work. Just as reading the across answers as entered are also incorrect. So - yep, annoying: Inside the LINES -> rebus - down answers ‘make no sense’ (or hard to read) Inside the LINE -> invisible letters - across answers are wrong (unless adding those invisible letters in your head) I preferred the former interpretation. Just my opinion, I know many fellow solvers loved the invisible letters because it’s not obvious, and would argue I’m just not understanding the theme. I’m just saying that for answers in a crossword puzzle to require invisible letters is annoying, and the theme as written includes the possibility of a rebus. Thanks for your reply, different opinions make the world a more interesting place and I love this forum for that!

@Francis, thanks for posting! Your post is really interesting to me because we have the same input but different conclusions: “Tidy way to color… inside the lines” - to me this was like coloring inside the lines of the grid square. So it seemed obvious to enter each as a rebus (which the app did not recognize as correct, which led me to the key and this forum). So if the grid is only correct with invisible letters, then “inside the lines” means inside ALL of the colored lines, not the lines of the grid square. I posted my annoyance with this in a separate post, and someone pointed out that the down answers make no sense if entered as a rebus. (I read left vs right, so that hadn’t occurred to me.) But, the across answers are incorrect as written, unless invisible letters are added in your head. So - 2 interpretations, only 1 is correct, but it requires invisible letters - Clever, or annoying? (Both?) Again, thanks for posting!!

@Patti And now I’m a little relieved that no one has jumped in here to explain the title - I almost didn’t post because i thought surely it’s obvious - I’m just not seeing it…. Love this forum! Helpful no matter what!