Chris H
Georgia
The most satisfying solve in recent memory. Very impressive theme execution! ALSO: A plethora of proper nouns is so much better than multiple clues qualified by "in modern slang"...IMO, SMH, LOL.
Two literal LOLs for me today: 1. The theme reveal after having worked through the three anchors, and 2. "Basically anything on a string" answer Bravo, gents!
Saddened by the "execution" and technical issues reported in these comments. This was a very clever and impressively constructed puzzle, and I enjoyed it very much. Wish everyone else could have had the same experience.
In addition to TETLEY, also found in this puzzle [TEA]TREE, S[TEA]MROOM, and ACU[TEA]NGLE. I wonder if this puzzle may have grown out of a grid with a different theme originally
Another very fun Sunday solve. I like rebus puzzles myself, and this was a 'doubly' enjoyable theme and grid with T[I/O]P execution! Thank you Dylan and Will!
Many of the clues were more challenging than I usually see on a Sunday, but still solvable without any look-ups. This was a great morning mind work-out and the theme answers were clever enough for me...including the theme itself - Comical Mutations. I just wish I was as clever as other commenters who add their own takes on the theme, but I'm stuck. Test result? No. Test tube? Uh, no. Test harness?!? I'll see myself to the door.
Not bad entries in the least. None of these three are difficult if you are part of the regional target audience. US-centric, yes, but this IS the NEW YORK Times Crossword puzzle. This was a very good puzzle all around and a fun, quick solve for a Friday.
Brilliant puzzle! Congrats and thank you, Avery!!
@Nancy Regardless of the technical issues with the colors you saw, the solve was faithful to the official (and easily-found) iconic color scheme of the Olympic rings.
Tough, but certainly doable and fun...especially when the 'pretentiously creative' answers revealed themselves...hahaha.
Note to self: read each clue all the way to the end. In 1979, the tagline 'No one can hear you scream' was prominently featured in promotions for the (also) five-lettered movie ALIEN. Boy did that "100% sure" conceit clog up things before an exasperated clue-staring session resulted in an "AH I SEE (with a SHORT A, not a long 'o')" moment that confirmed I did a "Demerit." YES!...wait, what?
I love Thursday challenges and I loved this one! Good challenging clues and good theme execution. Some real thinkers put me well above my Thursday average, but that meant I got to spend more time than usual working FRUITFULLY on it.
@Jane Wheelaghan - to find an example of its modern (and quite frequent) use, try an internet search for 'south park mr. mackey' with no fear of the show's crude reputation.
@Claus Anthonisen FTR, Jeez is an abbreviated form of Jesus, used by many as an exclamation of frustration (not a compacted form of Gee whiz?) so the J here is appropriate here and the only spelling that came to my mind.
@Francis Yes, and the weakening of NATO is atop his wish list. Our alleged leader is compromised.
@Murhatroid My assumption is that the puzzle grid was more densely populated than on a typical Sunday - like a more powerful Saturday puzzle. Definitely had to power my way through this grid - twice my average time - but the cross clues were (eventually) helpful enough to make this a satisfyingly solvable challenge...after realizing that Psyche's partner was not Soma.
I'm with all the other folks insisting on the AYE and YES each had to go in one rebus block, but AMEN and no happy music forced me to go back and get the solve by reading the circled letters in lieu of the rebus. Still, I had no idea of the significance of confirmation BIAS. Thank you Sam for helping to enlighten me of the secondary definition of the word. I had never heard it used in that way, but now I am ready for it to be used as a future clue for the crossword-friendly BIAS!
I too was confused at first and then quite amused by MACGYVERED, but I came to the Wordplay column to confirm my suspicion that it was indeed a first time use LOL...and I am a literal GenXer myself.
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