Carrie G
Durham, NC
The theme was fine, but too many obscure names/proper nouns. It felt hard for a Wed puzzle. Icelandic poet Sturluson? County in northeastern Nevada? I don't work crosswords to hone my google skills. I prefer clever clues over obscure trivia/names.
@Clutch Cargo there were something like 9 proper nouns here, more and a few obscure. Even when I had crosses, I had to guess at the other letters unless I looked the people up to get the correct spelling. The fact that the constructor couldn't find better alternatives because of the rigid nature of the grid says it all.
@Jennifer You stated "especially as it seems a label rejecting common forms of interaction. " No, this is a group of people aren't "rejecting" anything. They are people for whom the desire for those forms of interactions aren't a part of their makeup. They were born that way. There are, and always have been, ARO and/or ACE individuals. I, for one, enjoy learning new things about the human race.
The optical illusion was fine, but some of the cluing felt unnecessarily obtuse for a Wed. Too many proper names. It felt more like a Thurs puzzle.
I loved the aha moment when I figured out the theme! I didn't use any helps for today's puzzle. I know that's not like getting the Friday/Saturday puzzles without help, but it makes me very happy to have grappled with this and come out on top! Have a great day!
A Thursday puzzle I could figure out on my own! Very clever and fun.
I can see most people enjoyed it, but it felt much more convoluted than most Sunday puzzles. The clues were vague and reminded me more of the non-themed puzzles, like Friday or Sat. That's fine, but I look forward each week to relaxing with the challenging but doable Sunday puzzle, and my skills simply weren't up to this one. So, sort of dissapointed today.
This was a lot of fun. I got the revealer before I finished the themed clues, but I still needed an ahha moment to "see" the shaded squares! Not difficult, but it made me smile.
Definitely tougher than usual for a Tuesday, but I liked the themed entries. Struggled with some clues and thought I'd never get the breakthrough I needed. Almost cried when I had it filled but got the "error" message at the end. Took me forever to find that one letter I mistyped. :-)
I'll admit I'm not up to solving many Thursdays or Saturday puzzles without help, so I expect to look at Wordplay and get some help. But there was no place for me to grab onto and work out from. I need at least a corner or a spot where I can get the answers so I can start spreading out from there. Today there was no joy. I'd have to look up too many answers to make it fun.
Wednesdays used to be my sometimes challenging but doable puzzle, while Thurs-Sat were my "learning" puzzles where I leaned into the hints and tried to gain skills. (Sundays are usually doable for me, maybe with a hint tor two.) The past two Wednesdays have felt oddly tricky. I agree with one commenter that there should have been a "revealer." Please give us usual slope up to the difficult days. :-)
I got 18 Across but still didn't get the puzzle theme until I finally read wordplay. The theme was ok, although I never did figure out the pun in 62A. What I really don't care for is all the names, especially when you can't figure them out just with crosses. It lowers a puzzles enjoyment when there is no way for me to solve it without looking up names.
@Laura Whitaker Thank you. I didn't get it either. It's a very tenuous connection, imo.
I've always thought "take a powder" referred to taking a bathroom break, as in going to the "powder room." It can also be used to allude to being annoyed and needing a break from people/situation. "I/you need to take a powder!"
@Jay Pwned, which rhymes with "owned" is gamer slang for "I owned your *ss." (or I trounced you). Noobs (or n00bs) are newbies, or new gamers trying to figure things out. It's also used as a mild insult when a more experienced gamer gets pwned. I don't play video games, but my husband and 5 kids are all active gamers.
@JRinMA That also works!
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