Christian

I'd like to thank my freshman year English literature professor for centering our entire class for that semester around the OHENRY prize stories. That was my first real entry in the bottom half of the puzzle, so I couldn't have done it without you. TAXDODGES, BLOVIATES, and GOLDTEETH in particular tickled my fancy today, but I will give a nod to OTC as a response to "unscripted." Very proud of my 17:59 time today! Well constructed puzzle, just enough to keep me second-guessing myself as I went around the grid.

The theme and execution for the most part was really good, but between "pineapple upside down cake" and "apple turnover," the wordplay's impact on the clue within the grid was exactly the same (flipping the last word of the dessert in reverse). Call me a harsh critic chirping from the peanut gallery, but that felt a little "half-baked" in execution. Otherwise, I had a good time solving. Loved the answer of "ARTCURATOR" for "Oil bigwig?" Solve time of 18:05, 75 day streak

If I was able to digitally write in and keep track of the HORSE letters I might have been able to figure this one out without any hints or assistance, but no such luck. A little bit too obtuse for my taste, but still clever nonetheless. Maybe this puzzle stacks up to the Thursdays of yore that I hear so much about as a younger crossword player?

The bottom left corner of this puzzle was quite the NIGHTMARE. I'll ADMIT that I wasn't familiar with the spelling of CAGY (I had never seen anything but "cagey", but maybe IMANIDIOT), and it left me in a PIT until I finally cracked it. Definitely felt like a MORON. I ended up with a gold star solve, so I guess it was all a WASH. In all seriousness, this was a true Saturday. Wonderful grid arrangement, great difficulty of clues. I haven't spent this long on a puzzle in quite a long time! Bravo. Personal favorite answers were RIBJOINTS and CARDSHARK, though I would have preferred if the former clue had included a proper wordplay indicator (?). Time of 48:21, now up to a 42 day streak!

Brilliant theme, if just a tad easier than I was expecting for a Thursday. Before I knew it, I got my gold star! PARIAH in the bottom left corner almost got me, but I managed to pull it out as my last squares to fill. 7:57 time, 61 day streak! 🌟