Melissa

This might be my favorite Monday in a long time! Thank you, Kareem, for a great start to the week. ASTO why that PESKY fly set the STAGE for me to struggle early on, I can list a SET of excuses. Hooray for shoutouts to Philip Larkin and Patricia Lockwood shoutouts.

Best Sunday time for me- what a solve! Terrific and very enjoyable, unique theme. Willa Cather is one of my favorite authors so OPIONEERS was a lovely entry that brought a smile to my face. AVE threw me for a loop because I’m familiar with the Latin form, but it didn’t register until I realized the location…of course! Ugh. Clever clue. SEISM was a new one for me, bonus points that I learned it with the crosses and not a Google. Thank you Luke, for my best Sunday solve and an enjoyable puzzle to start the day.

Chloe, thank you for the lovely Tuesday puzzle. I enjoyed working the grid for the solve and had a laugh at 8d considering yesterday’s theme. Today’s theme was less natural for me to conceptualize, but when I got it based on the (terrific) clue and not the “revealer hint” everything snapped into place for a nice aha moment! Perhaps I’ll treat myself to an APEROL spritz later.

Holy COWTIPPER! I needed this column today. Vexing puzzle for me but quite nice to take in the whole grid. I agree that there is a Kerouackian verse in here, which was great to admire after the solve. Heavily had to use all my resources today as my brain decided to pick and choose which answers seemed obvious. My last fill was the cross at 5d and 20a….why oh why did I DWELLON the letter g. Enjoyed the OMG clue. Learned a lot today, let’s hope some of it sticks around.

OLDBAY! My favorite! Cute theme, great puzzle. I like the nod to Nash and the laundry loss clue for 8d. Thanks for the puzzle!

Whew. Needed the column today for the solve. I’m still trying to make sense of the EWE/rebus clue but ….oh my gosh typing it out now I just got it!!!! Ugh what a great clue.

The NE Corner is going to start haunting me in my dreams!! That being said, great Friday puzzle. I loved (and solved!) the long 8d thanks to those emojis with very little crosses- in fact I was starting to worry with how little fill I had before hitting the downs. That’s worth it right there. Proud of myself for getting SOLO right away but started questioning it because I hadn’t been exposed to the Tribune being called ‘The Trib” and I thought surely I had an error. Had a facepalm with VELCRO, but those are my favorite moments. AVALANCHES was a good clue. CAME closer than I’d like to admit to needing the answer key but once I battled the NE quadrant, well “that” WAS “that”!

Clever and cute! Had me guessing a few times but I love a good Tuesday!

Lots of fun clues for this Friday! Enjoyed this one. Thank you! The SE quadrant was a bit rough but I learned some new words which is always a good thing!

Thanks for the puzzle, Josh! Seems to be too much UGLYCRYING around these parts, but I got the theme and didn’t catch that there were eight signs as an extra PLUS until I read the column. I sure do miss my Magic 8 Ball and for the life of me, could only place that idiom with my memories of the black sphere and not a moment before. I had to ask Mr. Melissa about BELA, his bluegrass knowledge came in clutch and for reasons I won’t begin to fathom I couldn’t make sense of the alphabet soup halfway through REVIEWERS. Perhaps it’s the lateness again, RATS! One thing is certain, this critic appreciates WIEST as a well-cast mother in “The Birdcage”, one of my all-time favorite films.

Dodged Dahmer! Loved this solve. Had a couple hangups but I really enjoyed the theme and general playfulness of this one. RODAN was a welcome entry, but CANNIBAL takes the toenail. Possibly one of my favorite clues of all time. And that EVIE? She’s absolutely stunning. Thoroughly enjoyed learning about her on a Wikipedia lookup.

I really enjoyed today’s theme and how it was implemented! Thank you Jeanne Breen and Jeff Chen for a lovely puzzle. Today’s lesson was an exercise in trusting my instincts with my original word placements. Had to look up Fergie’s ex like a SLEUTH but gleaned more about her life in the process. Always a win when that happens.

My my my- a puzzle like this can OPALESCE on a hard day. Thank you Royce, for the SMASH of a crossword with many an EAR hiding in the PREGAPs. There are few things more satisfying for me than solving a rebus on my own. The revealer was delightful and not taxingly difficult, which I appreciated. Absolutely loved the clue for ACNE. I originally had Exams for 63a but when I was clued into the shenanigans of 36d things clicked into place- just like my favorite kind of puzzles do. Bravo! Or shall I say, WELLDONE.

I enjoyed the theme and the clues for VEEP and DYE. I also liked the play on words with VICIOUSCYCLES and bicycles. I can appreciate that. VIAND is new to me but perhaps I need to brush up on my French and 70’s trivia. I used to love watching Mary Tyler Moore when I was a kid, so I was a bit bummed when I had to look up LEACHMAN since it stretched my memory too thin. The more I look at this puzzle after it’s completed, the more I admire it for what it managed to put together. I think francophiles would certainly be pleased. Thanks for the climb!

Back in the saddle! I almost gave in but there are few things more satisfying in life than solving a rebus without hints. Lots of favorites. That OREO got me good. Had it not been for Mr. Munch I don’t think I would have pulled through.

Adored today’s theme! GROKS is foreign to me but it was fun to flip postcards from TONGA to SOMALIa. Thank you!

I really liked the simplicity behind the clue for STOPWATCH. Had to use some crossings to get it and then I had the aha moment for the rest of the theme clues. The NE corner and I are having quite the time as of late, and my last fill was ATTIC. Big oof! I was thoroughly misdirected with finding naval academy destinations, ala Top Gun Miramar, but it was worth the facepalm and the rooting when I learned quoting Top Gun while attending as a student incurs a $5 fine. Thank you, Brad, for the puzzle. While I join the rest of the boohoo-ers regarding TINCT and HUNTS, I found joy with ASTROPOP, ACORNS and RAILCAR. So seemingly summer. Or shall I say SUMNER?

Slow clap for Hoang-Kim Vu. This was a monster that I just couldn’t step away from. Usually for Saturdays I have to walk away and revisit it later with a clear mind. A SYNAPSE or five million to BESTREW about the annals in my brain. Clever at times, enjoyable with just the right amount of playfulness, and then the cold hard reality of a Saturday challenge. Favorite goes to PLANTSITTERS with KAPPA clueing and TERRIERS with honorable mention. Thanks for the think piece!

Good theme, and good puzzle! I was happy to get most of the theme answers on the first pass, except for RACERJACKET. I clued in to the face cards and missed the ace until this clue and it was a nice aha moment.

I liked it. Bonus graphics at the solve! Had to look some up but that’s okay with me. Clever.

Bravo! I loved this one.

Can’t believe I got Hemingway’s on the first go! Great Saturday puzzle. Really needed to REMAP my brain around TRAINTRIP. My last solve was that SW corner. Excavation site got me good. Oof.

Throughly enjoyed this Tuesday’s theme! For some reason I got hung up on the ELECTRICFENCE. Perhaps it’s because I just…CANT TOUCH THIS! Great solve.

This Thursday schooled me! I did enjoy the mogul clueing and familiar favorites in the fill. For me it was pretty challenging, but it became almost a dare to finish. I’m going to blame some recent anesthesia on my struggle today, but I sure am glad that today’s puzzle was here for me! IHOPE I feel better soon and am more sharp for Friday!

Thank you, Zachary for the Sunday puzzle! I totally missed the double meaning with the SILENTAUCTION so that was a bonus after making it to the Wordplay column. I had some trouble with the SE quadrant, again, it seems to be my trouble spot as of late. PAN got me good, and I’m still learning the use of that term so I’m hoping it will stick for the future. DAMNWITHTHEFAINTPRAISE is completely new to my vernacular but a welcome addition. Like others, I marveled at the clueing for 3d. When it became apparent with the crosses I filled it in and it brought a smile to my face. Loved the Swiftie clue and got it right away. Brought me back a few years and it was well worth it. NODISC was also a great clue! All in all a good Sunday puzzle with challenging fill for me.

Wow, what a solve!!!! Thank you Robin for the amazing Friday puzzle- I absolutely loved the clues and I’m proud of myself for committing to the solve for my fastest Friday ever! 36a was brutal but I’m so glad I was able to have it click into place. Touches for 41a was a really good clue too- totally had me stumped. The cluing all around was just terrific!

I liked it! WHYOMING was my favorite theme entry and helped make the connection for the theme. Had some roadblocks along the way but par for my Sunday course time. 10a and 10d really stumped me though. I started running the alphabet as I was pretty sure that was keeping me from happy music and a happy solve. I don’t think I noticed anyone commenting on that junction, so I’ll chalk it up to my novice skill level. I’ll chime in ONKEY with the chorus of disliking the entry for VERGEINYEAH and the clueing for GEESE. I very much love a RIOJA wine, and my cousin is currently there sipping it without me. Nice real-life connection. Thank you and congrats to your debut, Ginny Too.

Margi, what a great puzzle! I go for speed on Mondays and I was tripped up plenty of times to get my palms sweaty for an average Monday time for me. Perhaps it’s the late start time, HEH. TWAIN was my favorite clue. I originally had “patrons” for 43a so that caused quite the gap on my first two passes. OHJOY.

Back in the saddle. Man this was a tough one! I did enjoy the clueing for NBA and I always enjoy a little spicy entry like LIKEHELLIWILL. I had some problem areas that resolved with help from second person but we both agreed that DELE was weird and I had entered “Tonynom” giving me “steam” for 13d. STEAD is a much better fit. I was happy my original entry of GOSSIPY held after my first pass, and today’s icing on the learning cake was WPAMURALS. Fascinating bit of history there! Thanks for the puzzle.

Fabulous Monday puzzle. Thank you!!

Kelly, this was without a doubt one of my most favorite NYT puzzles. The only thing missing for me was a clue about rabbits! Many of my favorite things in this grid and I was astonished as I filled it for the solve. Tea, ARIADNE, Marilyn, arboretums, Whitman- oh my! I’m ONTO you. How did you know I was an ARIES? Outstanding debut. I cannot wait to solve more from you!

Going to bed happy and looking forward to the SUNRISES because I just got my fastest time and I couldn’t be happier!!! Thanks for the solve.

Life happened and I just got around to this one. Tricky tricky. Really liked the clue for 1d and 16d. I knew it had something to do with the whacky tobaccy from the question clueing but hilariously was stumped on what it was from incorrect crosses early on. Thank you!

Late to the Wednesday puzzle but this was a good solve. Fun theme. That SW corner yet again plagues me. I had Las/Los for the longest time! CIS was an aha moment! I definitely needed the help of today’s column to get that SILENT I. My brain had many a VACANCY. Thank you, Simeon!

Wowzers, indeed. Definitely a challenge and I am grateful for this column because the struggle bus was going up the hill. Clever theme, one which I didn’t figure out naturally but may have gotten if the clues were on Tuesday but alas it is great for Thursday. Slow clap for the clueing on SLEIGH. I had really gone back and forth on 37d with my spelling, which was frustrating in a bad way because I had 37a right all along! Grateful for this puzzle! Gives me the drive to keep improving. I also welcome PENTADS into my vocabulary. Had the prefix, at least.

Loved the theme, loved this puzzle! IMUP!

Wow, great puzzle! Had to look a few things up but I was able to dodge this column which in my book is a win! (But I do love this column so IMUSEDTOIT) Struggles with the NW corner but persistence was key and trusted my instincts. Felt great to get the happy music, I gave it a little BOSSANOVA to tune with the solve.

Thank you for this puzzle! I loved the theme. I received a new best Thursday and didn’t have to look very many things up, which is always a BOOST. My sincere gratitude for my new best Thursday time. Huzzah!

Thanks for the puzzle! Never had a BANHMI but I have a hankering for one now, along with a trip to the KARASEA.

It will be a big if when I break my Saturday record. NUTSO! Great puzzle and I loved many of the entries. DOGSAT was cute.