Cody

I feel like I’m the only one who thought this was so contrived and not a great puzzle. Gimmick was unsatisfying, a ton of Naticks and crossword-ese to make it work, and everyone is saying it’s the best puzzle of 2025 so far. I don’t see it. It’s not a bad puzzle, but honestly, it’s not all that everyone in this comment section is making it out to be. “Brilliant” is a stretch, for sure.

This one was absolutely brutal. Not unsatisfying, but definitely not fun.

This puzzle is full of bad cluing, worse answers, and a comment section about the author’s garden to distract from the lackluster puzzle. Two Sundays in a row we’ve gotten just grids full of garbage in service of a half-baked theme.

This is just not a good puzzle. Two Sundays in a row have been garbage filler, esoteric clues, and a gimmick that is specific and essentially unexplained by the puzzle, especially if you don’t know exact specific references. The cutesy constructor note is distracting from the fact that this puzzle is lackluster, contains some truly awful cluing (RHO, ATT, SISI, ULTRA, I DO, AD LIB), and some teeth-grindingly specific answers (OR DOCS, GIRL SCOUT CAMP, TRIPS, SRO). Not to mention the Naticks SAHL, ENTEBBE, ODELL, TASHA. A true slog, worsened by the manufactured clamor about pepper plants.

Don’t see this mentioned elsewhere, but what is NEAP tide?