Mishlev

Yet another Monday level puzzle 🤬 If you go back to the first week of June of 1982, then you’d see a *real* puzzle 🤬 When will Shortz stop kowtowing to Big Crossword and publish crosswords that are not humanly solvable 🤬 Oops! Pardon, today indeed is Monday puzzle. But enjoy the vignette of what the comment section has felt like recently ;-)

All of these _”finished in X time”_ comments remind me of one particular classmate in college… Who would sit in the first row of the lecture hall and upon receipt of his graded exam audibly proclaim (with performative dismay) how close indeed the score was to being 100%. This was followed, without fail, by a furtive glance backwards to the rest of the class. I certainly don’t mean to imply the commenters herein are anywhere near as insufferable though ;-)

Perhaps the YENTA had me in a YSOM (Yiddish state of mind) because I confidently plopped down OY PAPI initially. Oy vey papi, indeed!

Hopping in here with my two cents as a full-time contrarian (and part-time statistics nerd)… I’d love to see xwordinfo data over the aggregate (as well as the standard deviation of solve times of Fridays, or any day really) because us humans have a hell of a time reckoning with recency bias (as well as another dozen or so biases) when evaluating the difficulty of crosswords as of late. Anecdotes are great but overall I would to venture to say that a streak of easy-ish Fridays *has happened* in the past over the many decades of NYT and *will happen* again in the future. Let’s cut the editors some slack and appreciate their creativity and hard work in tandem with the constructors!

The discussion concerning the relationship between “take” and “hold” reminds me of Seinfeld’s quip at a car rental agency, upon discovering his reservation wasn’t honored: “You know how to TAKE a reservation… you just don’t know how to HOLD a reservation” Iconic episode!

Congratulations, Sam, on a year in the books! I always look forward to reading through your commentary on the puzzle at hand, as well as learning something new in the process.

Unpopular opinion incoming: Let the haters hate, the gripers gripe and the kvetchers kvetch… but I for one thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle and tip my metaphorical hat to the constructor for this feat of cruciverbalism

A delightful midweek solve with a lovely geographic component to boot! I, for one, enjoyed traveling down one of the foremost waterways of the US while chewing on the clues. Kudos to the constructors!

As a software engineer, I absolutely loved the tech-centric theme here. As always, your mileage may vary ;-)

A delightful romp through the colorful prevarications of the English language. No need to hedge my thanks to Kate for constructing such an enjoyable puzzle!

All right, slight nerd moment - I caught onto the theme immediately (for MOTHER EARTH) but that’s all thanks to Asimov. Yes, _that_ Isaac Asimov, of the I, Robot fame. In addition to being a prolific author of science fiction he frequently ventured into other realms, such as a fascinating primer on the etymology of Greek words that came from myths. While it is intended for kids, I would recommend *Words from the Myths* for all ages. And while you’re at it, Asimov’s *Treasury of Humor* is also a must read. And who knows, it too could help with a crossword in the not-so-distant future ;-)

Fantastic puzzle with crisp execution! Hats off to the constructor. Now I eagerly await the commentary of the anti Thursday / Sunday crossword purist coalition ;-)

To me, late week crosswords are one of the strongest reasons to *not* make complex decisions late at night. Why? At midnight, my neurons are firing at least 50% slower than during the next morning. This is a scientific fact. Point in case, I started this gem and AMBLED about with an unsteady gait, making little to no progress. I peacefully closed the app after hitting (and acknowledging) the mental wall. Cut to this morning, and the veil had been lifted! The puzzle fell with hardly an iota of resistance (is that one ohm, or two?) In summary: when it comes to crosswords, or any other cognitive task, *sleep on it*!

Smooth puzzle, but now I’ve got quite a hankering for a late night snack.

Confidently plopped down DATING APP for 53A which made uncovering the true answer all the more satisfying. Alternatively, one’s height could be stretched on one of those Inquisition era devices but I’m more than glad that that route was not taken. Maybe next time Procrustes will have his chance to shine… Anyways, kudos to Mr Aaronson on a crisp puzzle with sparkling fill!

A delightful brain twister of a puzzle, made all the better by the fact that the author’s last name (loosely) translates to one who teases, pesters, or torments in Russian! Kudos to you, Sara, as I hope to see your name in the bylines once more.

I’ll be honest, confidently plopping in ASPERSE for 60A occupied more time to resolve than I’d like to admit… (at one point I was even rationalizing how Tempe, AZ could be a potential locale for one facing indecision at 42D). Ah, the unparalleled curiosity that is the brain. Far from accursed, this puzzle was a real peach to solve and a delightful way to kick off the Sunday!

Clarifying 50/50, is the answer ONE because we should interpret the clue as “50 divided by 50”?

This puzzle seemed especially smooth for those of a technical bent, what with the Java coding, URL visiting, Apple CPUing (not a gerund but bear with me here) aplenty.

Could someone help elucidate the clue for OCEAN?

Could some clarify the clue for 67D [Thunder shower?] I got it from the crossing but ESPN as the answer still escapes me…

Could someone edify me on 2D? Can’t seem to grasp the nature of “TOLET”…

Love the scrabble callout! But I’ll also mention that standard rules exclude proper nouns, so that move would be for naught ;-) Given that you *do* have those letters though, ATONIES would be fair game, so enjoy that 50 point bingo! Anyways, now it’s time to go play some scrabble…

Pardon, but could someone explain SOMETHING BOLD? Specifically, which letter ought to be removed and why 🤔