John

After reading all the praise I guess I’m the lone (?) dissenter. Too many proper names, found the whole thing tedious. The theme entries were mildly amusing…

Less than half my average Thursday time. The link to this discussion is broken on the iOS app (at least for me). I had to search for it…

First 100 day streak. I guess that’s an accomplishment. Solved this particular puzzle in average time after getting tripped up in the upper right. Spent at least half my time on a quarter of the puzzle.

Sorry, not a fan. I didn’t enjoy that solve at all…. Needed vowel substitution to ‘solve’ the crossing in the south east. Ugh.

The newer version of the app on iOS now prompts you to sign into Apple Game Center even if Game Center is turned off in settings. While the prompt disappears if you don’t interact with it it’s still annoying. Who asked for this?

Half my Sunday average time, cute theme, didn’t know the poet…. Thought it was a little late for Plato to get a Pulitzer but it would definitely be posthumous!

A bit too clever for me, I solved in under my average time but it wasn’t enjoyable. On to tomorrow!

Wow, less than half my average Thursday time! Felt like a Tuesday maybe? Cute theme but certainly not a Thursday puzzle…

I had little confidence in my solution but was pleased to get the music upon filling in the final square. A few minutes under my average time. I saw the title after I had filled the puzzle . Cute theme. In other news I screwed up the courage to enter a crossword contest at the local library. 3 NYT crosswords. I think I did okay.

Chalk up another member of the simply ‘f’ camp. Never thought of entering a rebus. Got slowed down by the lower center but still managed 30% faster than average for a Thu…

Fun quick romp out here in the wilds of the Olympic Peninsula! 30% (ish) faster than average. Had a little tumble on the e b white quote…

So perhaps Friday and Saturday should have been swapped. Friday: twice my normal time, Saturday: one third my normal time. Felt like a Tuesday or Wednesday really….

Started off rough and the upper left and lower right didn’t click at first. Filled the rest, took a break, and then the rest flowed to a finish in just under my average time. I guess that makes it an okay Saturday. I’m not up the the rules of puzzle construction so can’t comment on the clues… Anybody else missing Vertex? The new Strands is weak IMHO.

Seemed really easy until the UL totally tripped me up. Ended up solving right at my average Saturday time. So I guess it’s a good Saturday puzzle. I balked at Insulations and ideamen but nothings perfect…

Thought I was doing well until the puzzle was filled but I didn’t get the happy music. 😕 I too was caught by ROME/ETTE. I thought 23D was a real groaner…. Dad joke territory. Other than that a fun solve!

This started really slow for me, groping for a foothold after the first pass through the clues but then something clicked and I finished in under half my average Friday time. A fun romp!

Fun puzzle and the original kink shame clue was great. Just a minute of two off my PB for a Friday. I must have been on the same wavelength as the creator as this flowed like smooth peanut butter…

Another breezy puzzle, filled easily then the search for typos…. Found three and was rewarded with a gold star! Bested my Thursday average time so that hints to it being pretty easy for a larger puzzle. I thought idyll had two l’s…

I did the MINI and there was animation after the solve (first time?). No idea what the significance of the animation was. Did I miss something? Sunday was close to a PB timewise…

Felt like a slog but faster than average. Nothing really stood out for me but I too balked at ‘ teentsy’ no matter how many times it’s appeared before…

That was a romp, one second off my Tuesday best and faster than my Monday average…. Now I need something to entertain for the rest of the evening! :-)

Dry skin == Ashy??? That’s all… So long and thanks for all the emus…

Except for a small detour in the lower right this puzzle had the makings of a personal best! Oh well, still several minutes faster than average for a Friday….

Pretty straightforward, solved in essentially one pass, nothing too challenging here. Couldn’t be bothered to figure out the theme. Seemed like a hard Tuesday in difficulty…. Solved in just over half my average Sunday time…

Filled the top like it was Monday, filled the bottom like it was Wednesday and then got bogged down in the middle… but still managed to solve well under my average time. Nice puzzle!

Another Thursday puzzle where the theme was cute but superfluous. Easy fill (half my average time) and there was no need to get “the truck” to solve the puzzle. Good debut effort…

Cute trick to finish an easy puzzle, completed in less than half my average time.

Bad memories of ‘six count burpees’… Ran through the across clues and was stuck until the bottom right corner. Filled the puzzle in backwards from there…. 25% faster than my average for a Friday…

Both my solving buddy and myself raced through this Thursday in about 60% of our average times… nice romp!

Got hung up briefly with the theme but solved in average (for me) time. I also solved the last Vertex puzzle. Sad to see it discontinued. Not of fan of the new Strands game but to each his own I guess… and don’t get me started on Tiles…. :-)

That was an amusing 10 minute pastime…. Like the railroad reference, the shorter clues really revealed the long stacks without much effort. Fun!

Easy peasy? Not a PB but close. Straight through top to bottom and then circle back to catch a couple of typos…. Nice Sunday…

After a tough beginning to the week something clicked and I finished this puzzle in half me average Friday time. Not saying it was easy, it did take a few passes to get everything filled in. Nice puzzle…

Very straightforward for a Friday I thought. The congressional record was cute and took a moment but the puzzle just came together in less than average time without much drama…