Mike

I usually dread Thursdays because of them almost always being rebus puzzles. I knew the one answer had to be IKEA, but then the connected across clue was just the dash. Once I had enough down answers to get 40A, it all clicked into place. Well done! For once I actually enjoyed doing a rebus!

Man, this one had me confused for a bit because obviously a Scottish girl is a wee lass, but then the down crossers didn't make sense. But then my second run through with enough letters to get STONEPIT and realize the actual answer, it all clicked into place! Great Thursday puzzle!

I always forget that Thursdays are almost always rebus puzzles. I knew 29A but had too many letters, and then as soon as I got to 13D I smacked my had as if I forgot to drink my V8 (remember that ad campaign?) and then it all fell into place. A very enjoyable Thursday puzzle!

Can we go back to Thursdays being the rebus puzzles? Aren't the Sunday puzzles hard enough without having to remember that they're also rebus puzzles now?

When inflight magazines were still the norm, I used to fly every month to visit my parents. The only thing worse than finding the puzzle already done was finding one that was half finished, and most/all of the guesses were wrong. And I liked how it always said "Puzzles already done? Ask your flight attendant for another magazine!" and 9 times out of 10 whoever was responsible for restocking the magazines before the flight didn't bother to do it or at least leave some for the flight attendant.

The way I almost spit out my coffee as soon as I saw the picture for 23A lol. Well done.

I haven't finished the puzzle yet, but I had to stop in to say that Hall & Oates haven't been musical partners since 2022, and by all reports they never will be again :-(

Ok, maybe someone can explain the connection to SWIPERIGHT for me on the last too. CREDIT CARD makes sense. PICKPOCKET is a tiny bit of a stretch, but I get it (swipe being a synonym/slang for stealing). But how do you connect INSULTCOMIC and MMAFIGHTER? I got the first two, missed the third, and originally had the last one, but when I got SWIPERIGHT I deleted it because it didn't make sense to me.