michael mccann

@Jack M Do "tell" 🤪

@Nancy Sometimes people are "in tune" with the constructor and see the meaning of the clues quickly. I was not so attuned today, though. 😱 I do agree with you about the theme, nice one.

@Barry Ancona Your logic is faulty.

@Alison my cats only do the wordle, they turn up their noses at the other puzzles like they were generic cat food 🤪

@Asher B. Debate and questions are good things, in my opinion, but some comments are snarky and some people seem to like be rude and condescending. That sort of stuff does detract from the sense of community, Of course this is just my view.

@lucky13 I would tell them to you but I don't want to sound catty 🐈‍⬛

@Pat Don't rush? Have a cup of coffee or something to slow yourself down so you can savor the clues more?

@Kathleen880I just put an "a" there and it gave me the solve music, so i missed the rebus bit, so inappropriate for the theme 😱🤪

@Nick It was tough, and I had to look up two answers overall, but I wouldn't call part or all of it "rubbish".

@Nora that would be "clink"

@Lex b Yeah = informal Yea = formal at least that's how I see those words

@Chuck Pruitt Not sure what was "too technical " about it, or how the possible use of computers by the constructors (how would one know that was done, and, if it was, why is it bad?) was an issue. As for lacking common sense, I don't see how puzzles can have common sense. It was hard, took me 90 minutes, and I had to look up the "former alliance" answer, but Sunday's are supposed to be hard, aren't they? Anyway, I enjoyed this one, but more so once I was finished.

@Elbridge Gerry Yes, in my view a very unfortunate word to use. I tried multiple ways to put in rebuses (rebusi?) and never got the completion. All of my mistakes were trying to make stop and go fit with red and green. I certainly understand why unusual things like this make some people (myself included) a bit unhappy, since it's a twist on a twist. Lots of thought and effort but you can't get to the solution. Oh well, hopefully tomorrow's will be less "unusual " for me.

@Barry Ancona you're not helping

@Linda Jo are the aliens among us, or are cats doing crosswords now?🤔

@Amy Take a look at the comment above from "Mike Hunt" (never heard that one before) about the constructor. Very rude, in my view. But, I do agree with you in general, there are many supportive people here, and I do appreciate reading their thoughts and suggestions.

@Cherry I think what is meant is that the full answers to those clues are words, while the shaded squares are anagrams of the unshaded squares in the same answer. PUL and LUP, etc, not that the letters in all of the sets of shaded squares also form words by themselves, although some do. I had the same question after my first read of wordplay, but then I realized what (I think) was meant there.

@Linda Jo Please don't take the joy of solving a Thursday puzzle with only one mistake (yes, whip, not whap) away from me! 😱

@Erik P I'm with you on that. This made me think there must be a rebus there, i kept trying to make it "rateable". oh well

@Barry Ancona That was sarcasm. Yes, I've heard it before. In terms of the column, I seem to recall Sam writing about people being rude towards the constructors. That is the case, in my opinion, in the comment to which I was referring.

@RachelJNYC me neither, so now i feel better about it, wasn't just me!

@Pedant Me too but then i put together "track meet" and "heats" as in individual races and "setting " as in location " good one in the end 🤪

@Barry Ancona But AMASK also fits, and not everyone watches tv, so I don't think it should be surprising that some folks (myself included) found it a bit frustrating.

@JessieSquirrel aah! I should have seen that but is was stuck on rent as payment. thanks!

@Floridaworder Given the obscurity of many clues in weekend puzzles, I must disagree. The clue should not be incorrect when other clues rely on arcane knowledge. And i have a knowledge of both taxonomy and cooking, so 😝

@Barry Ancona not to a mycologist, and mycology is not the same as botany, so another nitpick?

@Stephanie it was quite perplexing and I only got it all finished by reading the wordplay, oh well

@Elbridge Gerry now i feel sad

@Jerry could be about water skiing ⛷️?