Vernon
Atlanta
WAY too many pop culture clues - pop signers, video games, pop tv shows -
I am just your average puzzler - don't keep track of stats, or puzzle creators, or any such - I just enjoy solving, and have for many years. But this puzzle seems to kind of thumb its nose at ordinary solvers - I used to be able to solve Saturdays fine, but the dominance of obscure trivia now blows me away - do most people just look all that stuff up? Looking stuff up feels like cheating to me, but guess things have changed? No joy here today
Delighted by this puzzle by a female who doesn't rely on arcane sports trivia! The mention of oreo reminded me of my childhood preference for Hydrox cookies, basically the same as oreos, but less sweet, and, interestingly, Hydrox came first. A google search shows Hydrox basically impossible to find now, although supposedly available from Walmart online, they show them as not available.
Too many esoteric answers. Hate it when the hard puzzles depend on little-known stuff, especially if you are female and live outside NY
Lots of puzzles created by men feature lots of sports clues - MVPs, coaches, and such - and video game clues - I get tired of areas of pop culture where I don't stand a chance - sigh - need more women to write puzzles!
This is a "bro" puzzle - too many male-oriented clues and answers. Boring.
Way too esoteric - bittorrent?? Apologue?? Please. Real skill is in making a difficult puzzle that ordinary people have a chance at solving.
Enough with the clues about video games! Some of us never have, and never will, be gamers. I want to solve with skill, not knowledge of pop culture online games. Frustrating.
@Gooffking looks like you are not seeing the point - there are lots of people who are NOT into video games, and therefore have no knowledge of the characters.
@Mark Hi - it seems as if men assume that everyone plays video games - many, many of us out there do not, and therefore have no knowledge of video game characters.
I am often frustrated with clues that come especially from male puzzle creators - emphasis on sports arcana and video games - but today's puzzle starting out with "Manly," with an answer of "macho?" Many women, especially older feminists like me, would say that is the opposite of manly. Where are the female puzzle builders? I know there are occasional ones - And why soooooo much emphasis on pop culture? I am not conversant with most current pop stars - As an older adult, I want to be able to be competitive - I love the crosswords, and have been doing them for decades.
YES!!!! a puzzle that doesn't rely completely on arcane trivia no one knows! More of this!!!
yet another puzzle more dependent on trivia - especially obscure trivia - than puzzle-solving. don't like puzzles where I have to look things up. sigh.....
OMG!! a puzzle not reliant on video games & pop songs! And a Thursday, no less! a bit easier than most Thursdays, but not complaining!
@Katie yeah - but I give credit for the amount of that stuff being minimal~! ;) So many puzzles that have lots of gamer stuff, and pop songs/singers have utterly frustrated me -
@Steve L The dictionary I used defined it this way: "showing aggressive pride in one's masculinity."
interesting how crosswords have evolved to be almost more about mastery of trivia than clues that are just clever - it's impossible to solve most without looking up obscure trivia, which is not skill - it didn't seem like puzzles were so trivia-dependent when I started solved NYT crosswords some years ago -
sigh.... another puzzle that is more about obscure trivia than solving skills.... pass
@SP My! of course I know how difficult it is to make a puzzle - but to me, that doesn't mean relying on cheap shots - "macho" as overweening male posturing has long been a prominent usage. I don't like the thought that young people can walk away thinking that's a fine equivalence.
@Mean Old Ladyn Yeah, LOTS to worry about - and I do!! I just miss being able to solve with clever word play, not obscure stuff - ;)
@Mark ? no idea what you are talking about - does seem to give credence to my point about esoterica -
@Steve L BTYW - the Spanish word for "man" is hombre
@redweather how about... Otis's love interest on "Sex Education"... or, of course, the type of willow... Dallas baller (for those of us who aren't obsessed with baseball, basketball, and football trivia) - and that's just a few from today - each day has lots of them - maybe most of you look all that stuff up?
@Steve L heavens, no! I do the crosswords for fun - I don't research history of crosswords...
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