Michael R

Way too easy for a Thursday, I was hoping for something more fun. My opinion on the 10A clue is that it’s technically accurate. Conflict is a very broad term that can be applied to wars or family arguments. In crossword puzzles, I’m not looking for current-day news analysis, nor a particular point of view (although I have mine). Also, for years, journalists have referred to the ongoing cycle of violence in the region as the Mideast conflict, so I don’t fault the editors for thinking of this clue as an anodyne description. But perhaps any reference to Gaza should have been delayed until quieter times.

Great one! Loved that the rebus reversed itself between the across and down answers. Really high quality puzzle!

I do like puzzles with so-called gimmicks, so consider the source, but I don’t buy the criticism that the blank acrosses are not words. The hyphen indicates that they are continuations of something else. I’m also unbothered that the animals embedded in those acrosses are not related. They’re animals and they’re attracted to the magnet. I fully enjoyed the hour I spent puzzling it out while watching the French Open.

Hard for a moment, and then, forgive me folks, too easy. I loved figuring out that the first two letters were dropped, but once I knew they were right there in the clues, the puzzle became extremely straightforward to solve, and although it wasn’t a PB, pretty close. Also was a tad bit disappointed to read the details of the construction, with so much assistance from software, but I suppose I should get used to that. But still, a cool trick, and I don’t share the concerns about how a crossword puzzle “should” be. Make me puzzle over it! Yeah!

I haven’t made it all the way through the comments yet, but I guess few if any others were bothered by ECONOMIC for “cost-efficient” as opposed to economical. But hey, I suppose you can stretch it to that sense of the word. Otherwise, I loved this puzzle. Every area required test answers, erasing, little toeholds, and nice epiphanies when the right answer was revealed. A great Saturday workout!

Very, very difficult one for me. Partly because I didn’t trust some of my correct guesses, like EPEE, ICEE, and ACRE, I felt uncertain all through the solving process. And I sat too long on many of the incorrect ones, like “brings up” for BROACHES and “furriers” for TERRIERS. But leaving and coming back gave enough mental flexibility to start erasing, and later guesses, while often still wrong, helped get some areas “locked.” Never got into flying through mode. Was actually shocked at the happy music. Whew.

Very difficult, very highbrow puzzle, at least in the fill. At first I thought this was a streak killer, but again, not giving up saw me through. This was a true Saturday satisfier.

Deb, thanks for giving us a little warning about your plans, so we can shower you with appreciation between now and then! You calmed the waters when they got rough, and made new solvers feel welcome in every column. Thank you, and may the next phase be rewarding in every way.

Loved the wormholes and space theme! Fantastic puzzle.

What a delightful puzzle! One of my favorite themes EVER!

Genius puzzle. I never tire of being thrown for a “loop” and the subsequent magical feeling of seeing the concept as a whole. Thanks for a delightful Thursday!

Big fan of this one. Sticky in places but gettable fill and great clues. Congrats on a stellar debut!

Very cool puzzle. Once I figured out the tilt from AT WINDMILLS, the rest got easier. The curls, though, looked like a filmstrip to me, but the clue was pretty straightforward. Thanks for the fun!

Wow! I really thought, first time through, that my streak (956) was coming to an end. But stopping and returning saved me, starting with HAIR SALON, which gave me a toehold in the SW, and gradually expanding out from there. The last area to fall was the NW, thanks to the X in X FACTOR. Really good puzzle! Hopefully I can make it to 1000, when I can stop making the NYT crossword the center of my day. Okay, probably not.

Loved this one! I especially enjoy tricky themes when they first confuse me, but then become a solving aid, as this one did. Amazingly clever and a treat from beginning to end.

Just a great, satisfyingly clever puzzle. What an amazing multilevel concept and construction! The SW corner was especially tough, but eventually fell to the old “leave for a while” method. I really loved this one.

I used to really enjoy, and contribute to, this comments section. Lots of interesting addenda to particular entries, personal stories about solving, and humor. Also, yes, some specific objections to certain clues or entries that were delivered thoughtfully. I’m sorry to see it’s devolved into a debating society about whether the puzzle is good or bad, with an angry tone.

Amazing and brilliant. The light slo-o-owly grew and finally clicked on when I got back up to the top and parsed ELECTION DAY properly. I loved that adding the "star" letter to the clue eliminated the need for the missing letter in the answer! Kind of a seesaw of letters in the clue-entry balance. This was one of those where I got the revealer instantly, but it took forever to see where it was leading me. Boy do I love Thursdays. Fantastic!

This puzzle was so good, I interrupted a family FaceTime call to read out some of the SET clues and talk about how delightful it was. I love the hardest puzzles and my streak is over three years long, but this is one of my absolute faves. Wow!

I just left the boxes as U’s and everything worked out just fine. No need to write out a word that’s already in the clue. Fun one!

Very cute! Thanks for an entertaining puzzle.

Great multilevel twister of a theme. Always nice when the light dawns in time for it to be helpful. Not a big fan of pronouns as answers (HES) when they don’t refer to specific persons (or, I guess, animals). And pluralizing “he” adds to the discomfort, despite its being a legit word as noted by others. That was my only nitpick. Otherwise this was a beaut!

Boy, did I love today’s theme! Brilliancy. I’ve been commenting much less lately, but this one broke through and I had to stop by. I can see many others got the same jolt of happiness I did!

Almost a Saturday record for me, which was a little disappointing (in the sense that I hoped for a more challenging puzzle), but also really enjoyable to guess right on so many long clues. WE ARE SO DEAD! I remember saying that to my sisters many many times. Brought a smile to my face. Thanks for a nice cup of coffee and puzzle.

Really great puzzle all around. Loved the cluing -- just tricky enough to throw me for a while, but then it all made sense. And the theme -- impossible until the revealer, then straightforward -- was a romp.

For me, a classic of the “walk away and come back later” variety. First time through, very few gimmes and a lot of white space. A toehold in the middle stack but I really wanted the medical answer to refer to a vaccine or DNA somehow, and that kept me stuck. Round 2, my unconscious mind had done its work and the puzzle clues suddenly made perfect sense. Zip zip, done. Highly recommend this strategy for getting unstuck. Very enjoyable puzzle with a lot of humor in the cluing.

A real pleasure. Either I’m getting a little better, or it just was up my verbal alley. We have a MOLCAJETE that I make my “famous” guacamole in, so that was a gimme, and the rest of the puzzle clicked in pretty quickly, except for PETIT and AT ONCE, which I stumbled on. Thanks for a very enjoyable solve!

What a delightful and difficult puzzle! I really love having to get to the third or fourth meaning of a clue word, along with an unusual sense of an entry word, to finish the solve. “Hurried” for SWIFT was the only dubious one IMO.

I just had to jump back on here to marvel at this amazing puzzle. What a great theme! And how artful the fill, considering how branch-like the theme entries were. Loved it.

Favorite Monday in a long time!! And a little tougher than usual too. Fantastic!

Friday PB for me, like many others, but quite fun. I look forward to more puzzles from this constructor, feels like I might be on his wavelength.

What a great puzzle. Harder than usual for me, but once the theme became clear I was able to slowly crack it. Letting go of EX(HAL)ATION for 17A was key to unlocking the NE. In the fill cluing, I loved [inspiration for an essay writer] and ["wild" ingredient in some beers]. Thursday nearly always brings a treat and today was no exception.

Love crosswords that teach! From the Spanish Steps to DISTROS I got a ton of interesting and unique bits of knowledge. Got stuck on vacuum instead of LACUNA but was able to avoid, or correct quickly, other wrong guesses. I rarely comment these days, but this one was a delight.

This one was right in my 70s wheelhouse, and almost a Friday PB for me. I was fully expecting a chorus of “too easy” complaints here, but glad to see it was just a good match of lucky guesses and happening to know what the constructor had in mind. Let’s Get It On has always been one of my favorite jams, the kind you sing along to in your pajamas on a lazy weekend. Sweet!

Raced through it, puzzling over the revealers and wondering how they pertained to the circled letters. Sat with the puzzle for five minutes before filling in the last letter, and FINALLY got the AHH / AHA moment! What a spectacular achievement (on the constructor’s part of course)!

Not only a great puzzle, but some of the best constructor comments ever! This one made me happy.

Really great Monday, one of the snappiest in quite some time. Great theme!

My lack of Mario knowledge was a hindrance, but somehow BOWSER came to me after leaving and coming back twice. Very entertaining and difficult puzzle for me. Just the way Saturday should be!

I would guess there’s a lot of Venn diagram overlap between crossword and Jeopardy fans. I’m certainly smack in the middle of it. Loved this one!