Jay

@Anna As a youngster I watched my dad do them every Sunday. Every now and then he would laugh and show me some clever wordplay that he figured out. So smart! When he collapsed and died a half- completed Sunday slipped from his hands. A while ago - pre internet - I picked up a Sunday and after a struggle was able to complete it. Then my wife and I would do one every now and then. But I really got going during COVID. Subscribed, and have done over 800 so far, and got my daughter hooked.

@Isa I took WAWA to mean how a little kid who drinks from a Sippy pronounces water.

@John yes, that held me up for a long time. I don't understand it.

@Xword Junkie If you're trying to do it and you can't do it, then you're not doing it, then there is no activity involved.

@Mr Dave I agree with you, a volt is not a unit of power as you say. I was pretty sure there would be extensive comments on this and I guess I was right although I did not scroll down to read them yet. My thoughts are, hey, it's a puzzle, it's a game, what do you tap to get there (hint, it rhymes with "say")? Like you I didn't have a problem with it

@June Well, TIL, as they say; thanks. What's the significance of the capital Os in the word noob? As info the last video game I played was Space Invaders by Atari, ha ha.

@Jane Wheelaghan The University of Illinois is in the big 10 athletic conference and their nickname is the illini. Booked is slang for hurried. Never heard of a tip roast, in California there is a cut of meat called a tri-tip but it's unknown on the East Coast. Omni is a hotel chain so is Wyndham. People put decals on their cars that say "my kid is on the honor roll," or other things like that. If something is big but you're not sure how big it could be described as yeh big but I thought it was YAY not YEH. Hope this helps, any comments or corrections are welcome.

@CaptainQuahog I'm ready, I still have my slide rule and I know how to use it LOL

@Barry Ancona Thanks Barry, where do I find this link?

@meredithb23 Here's my take on this: I always thought that [for a song] meant something you could buy on the cheap. And [to do] means some type of controversy, as in it's a big to do, which could also be called a flap.

@HeathieJ I know several folks who have had an ablation, ranging from age 35, to an age 45 marathon runner, to an 86-year-old and it's been successful for all 3 of them. Question have you had a cardio- version? It's less invasive than an ablation and that plus tweaking some meds has taken a family member out of a fib for a year now. But their a fib was mild, really no symptoms except some occasional shortness of breath during exercise. Good luck.

@Heidi Me too!

@Xword Junkie We did that all the time. We'd say, "Let's go hit em out."

@JohnWM Interesting segway to the radioactive element clue. I have a master's in Nuclear Engineering and I never heard of that one!

@Everett When the answer calls for a number you're supposed to write in the square root of that number. And the hint was the answer "your roots are showing." I didn't figure this out, I read the commentary.

@G As info, uranium ore is about 0.7% U-235, the fissile isotope. It needs to be enriched to 3% to work in a nuclear power plant and much higher, maybe around 90%, for a nuclear submarine and near 100% for a weapon.

@Nancy J. I had someone who would say "for all intentional purposes."

@Jane Wheelaghan Right-handed, makes it much easier to throw the ball to first base. A lefty would have to rotate their entire body then throw, not good.

@Jay Thanks all for the helpful comments, it was definitely January 18th 1987.

@Paul Hi, I always thought mean and average were the same. Then, I read the article which I agree was pretty poorly written. It seemed like it was saying that the mean is just the average after you throw away a few of the obvious outliers, if there are any, in whatever data set you are dealing with. Is that right? Or is there really no difference? I'm curious now. Thanks.

@Karen I hit two out of three there because I ran track in high school and played some college tennis.

@Mean Old Lady: Eat raw clams? Yes, all the time growing up on Long Island. It's the only food, IMO, that needs absolutely nothing at all added to taste great. If you like seafood and love that fresh air smell at an ocean beach, try 'em.

@Grant I liked Slade. I think (lol!) I even saw them live.

@G Sure glad to help but those last 2 %s are just guesses based on what I've heard anecdotally, I have no special knowledge there.

@Vaer Thanks. I usually go to the puzzle from the main paper not the games app but Gameplay has the last several columns, thanks again

@Christo 9 players on a baseball team and one of the teams in California is the Padres.

@Phil I don't know if I would say way easier but I do know that my Friday average time is a bit faster than my Thursday average. OTOH, a week ago Thursday's puzzle was my fastest Thursday ever so go figure. I do Thursday the least of any day because I find the gimmicks and stunts a bit diabolical sometimes. I did finish yesterday's and caught on to the gimmick pretty quickly but in the end I had to "take the blue."

@MaggieP How about Mikaela Shiffren and Lindsey Vonn, 2 of the best skiers ever male or female.

@CaptainQuahog Oh, I am guessing Navajo.

@Louis Way to go Louis. As info my average Friday times are a bit faster than Thursdays'. I think it's because some of the Thursday themes are a bit diabolical and it takes me a while to crack into them. Fridays are themless. My fastest Thursday was July 3rd of this year, try it!

@Louis Nice going Louis. Friday, they say, is about the second hardest, the hardest is actually Saturday. Sunday is longer but - according to NYT - is about the same difficulty as Wednesday.

@lucky13, Thanks for this I'm not familiar with her, but I liked it. In a somewhat similar vein, check out Emily Dickinson's poem that starts: "I taste a liquor never brewed..."

@Mean Old Lady I entered RATS.