Mark M

@dlr when my kids were in elementary school, they had a practice called “learn it, teach it, know it”. I think it’s the same concept here - the act of thinking through your challenge clearly enough the make sense to the person you are asking is enough for you to see the flaw that you has been overlooking.

@Becky Culbertson but it wasn’t a rebus - the entire word was there on the “bias”.

@Jordan There are easier and harder to spot rebuses. This one contained a big tell in “Lebron James”. With a few crosses there was no doubt that the answer was with even a passing knowledge of the NBA (which is all I have). Pajama Party and Jamaican Rum were similarly easyish answers. You could see a bunch of letters “fit”, but not all. At the least, that should flag it as something weird. Then the revealer gave a big hint what you needed to do: “chock full - like 3 squares “ Yes, if you had never seen one it could be confusing… especially if you are using the app. But that should only happen the first time you do one. This puzzle spelled it out as much as it could without just saying it’s a rebus and these are the squares. Which it could do, but I think enough solvers prefer figuring it out for themselves that it’s not to big a deal for those learning it.

@Funaddict except most schools don’t us E as a grade. The grade above F is a D.

@Katie I suspect that the marketing folks at the Times do their homework. I’m sure they analyze the stats around how many people do each puzzle, the time they spend and whether they come back. If the puzzles are getting easier it’s because that’s what the subscribers want. The folks in this comment section are not a representative group - it’s a bunch of extra smart people who are interested in the theory and mechanics of the puzzles, not just sticking letters into the grid. Obviously there are great insights to be gained from the commenters, but I suspect that the numbers are what will set the editorial decisions.

@Luke I get not liking them but dismissing them as “lazy”? The rebus words all fit the theme. Then you need to cross words that also contain the rebus. I don’t see any way that a rebus is easier to construct and multiple ways it’s harder. How are you seeing it as lazy? What am I missing?

@Michelle Botwinick I don’t think that work means what you think it means.

@Darren in high school English Dr. Teichgraeber has us do an archetypal critical analysis of “The Dream of the Rood” - an Old English poem. I’m not sure if any of us knew what we were supposed to do, but I did learn that a Rood is a cross. Now, 40-couple years later, I finally found a use for that knowledge.

@Andrzej thank you! I didn’t understand peanut until I saw your comment!

@Grant Magic Helmet?

@Captain Quahog it doesn’t for me. I was trying to make “are we a-kidding” work, and it hurt. There are three clear syllables to my ear, with the stress on the middle (ahr-EE-uh). It just doesn’t work to my ear.