Gavin

@Teresa If it were a rebus (multiple letter entry), it would not work on the down clues. You need to notice that and conclude that it can’t be a rebus. It’s part of the puzzle.

@Steve L If [Bird] can be an accurate clue for EAGLE, then [Formerly known as] can be an accurate clue for NEE. “Bird” is a more general term than “Eagle”, and “formerly known as” is a more general term than “nee”. The link between clue and answer is never a two-way guarantee of equivalence.

@Alexis I’m 99% sure that almost every crossword we see was submitted many months beforehand.

@DrewT There are many kinds of guitar. The fact that you (and I, and everyone else) means a certain kind of guitar when we say “guitar” is neither here nor there. The clue defeated me too, but I think it’s fair.

@Gilead Kutnick They were instant write-ins for me. (My total solve time was about 45 minutes, though, so I’m not bragging.)

@Danielle SOUNDSLIKE… is the revealer. There’s not supposed to be wordplay there.

@MC in SJ I’ve been doing these about a year now, and I’ve only just started even looking at Fridays, and only occasionally attempt a Saturday. And that’s fine. Gotta have something to grow into.

@SP I had no knowledge of the phrase “darkest timeline” but could intuit it from only a few crossings. Only filled it in mentally until I could get more confirmation. No complaints from me.

@Dan Collins You add (“give”) an O to get the proper answer, and you remove (“steal”) an X to get the proper answer.

@Mean Old Lady Here’s my take. ADHERE refers to things physically sticking together (as with glue). COHERE refers to things figuratively sticking together (like people working as a team). Think also of the word “coherent”.

@jennie I disagree. Leon is right. It should be highlighting 57A not 57D. Same thing happened very recently.

@Patrick J. Not only that, but words, or in this case, “words” can have many meanings. That you can use it differently doesn’t invalidate it.

@Niall I think I know this one from Futurama (an excellent cartoon), and got the correct spelling. The correct answer didn't come to me straight away, though. I needed one of the crossing letters.

@kilaueabart ING is a well-known (online only) bank here in Australia, so that answer was an instant write-in for me.

@Charlie Fuchs I got it immediately. (But struggled with other things, of course.)

@John Carson Yep, the online crossword incorrectly highlights 49-down instead of 49-across. I didn’t notice until you mentioned it. The theme had also escaped my full comprehension.

@Heidi I never noticed the Easter egg, even though OXO was an easy fill for me. Thanks for mentioning it.

@Edward I originally has HOSIERY instead of LADDERS, thinking I was so clever…

@RichardZ I went and watched it. Thanks!

@ACDMD The confidence of your assertion is entirely misplaced. Asterix in no way implies rebus.

@SP Totally agree that the theme was a bit shallow. I’m surprised it’s getting so much acclaim. I enjoyed it, and the penny didn’t drop instantly, but when it did, that was it. No slow realisation; just get on with the rest of the puzzle.

@Kate Way too hard for Wednesday. Or maybe my brain just didn’t work well today.

@Barry Ancona A clue that mentions “the grain” is not obliged to be true for all grains, and more than a clue that simply says “Bird”is illegitimate for solving to EGRET.

@Chris Same. I had to leave it half done overnight. But I persisted to complete it in 90 minutes total, with one reveal and a couple of lookups. It’s a compliment to the constructor that I felt it worth persisting so long for a Wednesday puzzle.

@Bob T. And TAO was perhaps my first write-in. I still had a lot of trouble with the NW corner though. Congratulations constructors. A very fine job.