Jay

I am not under any illusion that this comment adds to the discourse, but I’m proud to say that I figured out the theme almost right away, which is a new achievement unlocked for me on a Thursday puzzle!

As other commenters have said, this seemed mid-week rather than Monday. Unlike them, I don’t attribute it to April Fool’s Day, but rather as part of a pattern since Will went on medical leave and Joel took over. I like Monday and Tuesday puzzles to make me smile on my way out the door (or on my way to bed, depending on when I do them), and I want Wednesday and Thursday ones to make me sweat and feel accomplished if I solve them without the column. For the last few weeks I’ve just felt disgruntled every time I finish, except on Sundays (go figure). I hope things smooth out a bit, if only for the sake of beginners who aren’t already too hooked to give up the chase.

I had never heard of GELID before, and therefore nothing tipped me that I was wrong when I thought of MEALS on wheels rather than wheeling and DEALing. I feel bashful admitting that I needed the answer key on a Tuesday!

I thought maybe SPITS GAME was SPITS LAME because the clue made it seem like an unsuccessful attempt, and I had GAPS as LAPS, thinking they were intervals of a race track.

I thought the theme was cute- didn’t take me too long to figure it out, but it wasn’t so easy that I felt cheated out of a Thursday mental workout. Thankful for the crosses, because I had RIB instead of BIB and NEARLY instead of NEARBY.

The clue for 1-across includes the word HURT, and that’s the answer for 3-down… I thought it was a no-no to use an answer in a clue? Otherwise, I liked it very much!