Connor

Along with others, I thought this puzzle and theme was almost impossible to solve without knowing some seemingly very obscure Americanisms. REOS, ROID, ATRA, AFLCIO, XTERRA, USTEN, TGEL, DDS and OSTER mean absolutely nothing to me. I thought the theme was interesting and well-composed once I’d revealed it but was entirely inaccessible to me as we don’t have these brands in the U.K., nor am I familiar with them at all. I understand this is an American paper and this is what I pay for, but I would like to see some more internationally friendly clues to give those solving outside of the U.S. a fair chance at solving.

Wow, this one was incredibly tough for a Tuesday, in my opinion. I should say that I love learning new terms with cultural significance (even though I know that varies), such as NUYORICAN, as they make up such a large proportion of New York City's population. However, plenty of other terms which seemed very obscure for a Tuesday. Clues like ERG/BARRE, RIPSAW, and EAP were incredibly tricky for me. While "ASILIVE" "AND" "BREATHE" were nice, the rest of the themed hints involved a lot of unsatisfying guesswork and lacked any "Aha!" moments. Sadly, it broke my 4-time Tuesday streak and it was the toughest Tuesday puzzle I've seen in a while. That being said, TRAP and WORM had nice clues, and it was nice to see PALAU, POLYP, ARO and RAWTALENT. I did learn a lot of new things from this puzzle, so for that I am very grateful. Thanks, Daniel!

Another great puzzle! Good difficulty for a Tuesday in my opinion. BANHMI was a lovely addition and I also enjoyed FIGHTERFLIGHT and BABE. I struggled immensely with the lower-middle section - I'd not heard of the terms SOUSED; SAUD and PGA didn't occur to me (I had PRO for a while), and IRAS was always bound to trouble me as a non-American, though I should've got it with "Roth". EGGO is something I've also not seen before, but fits well with the clue! Thanks, Gary and Amy!

This was a neat puzzle, though there were some odd clues for me in this one. No matter how long I took, I would never have got HOV (?!) or GENOVIA; it was with some lucky guesswork that I got it in the end. Can't say I knew SEAM or SNARL in their respective contexts either, but it's always good to learn something new. Besides the top-left quadrant, it was pretty easy for me. There were some excellent links - I particularly liked PALOALTO and EVENTENOR. HOPS and MAIL were nicely clued as well. It also gave me a chuckle as a Brit to see TORIES directly above CON, which is the abbreviated term for the Conservative Party in this country, present in the election not long ago. Thanks, Sarah and Amie!

It was another tricky one today for a Wednesday, following on from yesterday's very tricky Tuesday, but I found this one immensely more satisfying. Plenty of "Aha!" moments, and the theme was very enjoyable to try and work out! It makes me think of people I know where English isn't their first language, and they say English is confusing - I agree, and this proves it entirely! Unfortunately I couldn't finish this one due to a few clues I was completely stumped on. I wasn't familiar with "On the LAM", AFLAC, ASSAY or ATF. LEA and FEN caught me out as well. BOSC was unfamiliar to me, too. However, I can't really fault this puzzle otherwise; there will always be American-centric clues that I won't get from time to time, as well as things I'm unfamiliar with, no matter how much prep I do. It was a lovely fill for the most part - ISLE, MOUSIER, AVE, MENDACIOUS, NEHRU, SAMOA, FAME, and LIEU were all lovely. ISLE is probably the best clue I've seen for a while! Thanks, Meghan, for a wonderful puzzle!

I would also like to add that "cheating my way through the late-week puzzles had taught me more about American life, pop culture and sports than a decade of living here had" is a really profound thing to say and is something I completely agree with. I'm not completely familiar with American culture but I have learned so much about it relative to what I previously knew in such a short space of time.

New here! Been enjoying these crosswords for a long while, and this was no exception. I wasn't familiar with the YES phrase, as well as a few other clues, namely LENAPE and BELA. Thought this was particularly tricky for a Tuesday, but it was well-designed nonetheless!

Wow, just wow! A fantastic puzzle, with a very clever theme! Broke my record for a Wednesday puzzle quite handily with this one, though some thorns in my side included SHOELACES and HEP, though it all pieced together nicely in the end! Thanks, Alex!

A really nice rebus! The answers were clever, especially HANDYNASTY and SCOTCHANDSODA. The puzzle filled in very nicely, apart from a few clues which really stumped me: TSTORMS, DESI, SCADS, ETERNE, COD, AETNA (especially), COATI, ARE (?), NEMEA were all lost on me, though I suppose I should have inferred COD from the clue! POST, RETOLD, XRAYS, IOU and EPEE all had great clues. Quite a few oft-found words in here but with more unique clues to them, which is great to see. Thanks, Christopher!

That was a very nicely designed puzzle - thank you, Kelly! I was surprised at how quickly I was able to get through it too; I had completed most of it within 10 minutes, though a few of the clues really stumped me. I struggled with PEKOE, ALCOA, LAYETTE and AMPLE. I couldn't say I'd heard of any of those in their respective contexts, but I was able to fill it in with some educated guesses. I really enjoyed it, though!

Lovely puzzle, and a satisfying fill. Usually, Fridays are a bit too hard for me, but I could fit most of this in quite quickly! It took me so long to see BERGS, kept thinking of bookshelves! I wasn't a big fan of HTS, which had me stumped on the top-left corner for a long time, and I eventually pieced IRR together, but I personally think it's a bit of a stretch. I loved WAIT, MODEL, FOOTLONGS, HOTMICS, RAINS, IDOLATERS, MUSEUMTOURS, BREATHMINTS (!), KINKSHAME, ERAS, TORSO. Lots of really clever hints! Overall, it's a fantastic Friday puzzle! Thanks, Hemant!

This one was great, and I filled it in most of it in much faster than usual for a Friday. Don't know if this was any easier than normal or if I'm just gaining more experience. The top-right really had me struggling, especially with CANA, DOONE (neither of which I was familiar with), INOT, POPTOPLID and OVENTIMER, though the clue for OVENTIMER was superb. Can't say I've ever heard of PENNYANTE either, but poker is such a weak point of mine that perhaps this is a prompt for me to learn about it more! Also was a nice surprise to see DOVER, which is only a bus ride away! Thanks, Jacob, for a really nicely designed puzzle!

This was a well-thought out puzzle, but there were a number of clues I would never have got, such as YMA, CHO, RANGEWAR and NESTEA, among others. I also had all but two letters of TIMEANDTIDE but still had to look up the answer before confirming I’d never heard of it. However, there were some wonderful clues here. VWS, LAT, EARCANAL and UND were particularly great. OCEAN took me a lot of reflection to understand as well. Thanks for your hard work in designing this, Paolo!

Wow, I absolutely loved this one! So many fantastic clues and an interesting theme! The top-right and middle-right (?) quadrants proved tricky for me, but it all pieced together perfectly in the end, with the "Aha!" moment I love. EATEN, LIE (!), ENDO, IDIOM, EYES, SIR and LOSER all had really fantastic clues! It's going to take some practice on my end to get that good, I feel. Thank you so much, Raji! Hoping there will be many more puzzles from you!

A really fabulous puzzle! So, so many lovely clues and the first time I completed a Saturday puzzle on my own, unaided, and actually at a reasonable speed for a Thursday, let alone a Saturday! TIKTOKDANCE had a great clue, with plenty of others as well. I can't really criticise anything here, there didn't seem to be much crosswordese to me. Thank you, Spencer! This one will be especially memorable to me!

I thought this was of decent difficulty, if not a bit easier than normal, except for a few clues I can’t say I was familiar with. It took me a long time to see COSTARS, and I wasn’t familiar with YENTE, OVID, ARCO or I CHIN GCOINS. I was also much more familiar with these names compared to yesterday’s puzzle. It’s always fun to learn about something new though, and I was overall very satisfied with it! Thanks, Juliana!

This was quite easy, I thought, for a Thursday, despite the 4th July theme predictably making things a little more difficult for me! That being said, I spotted the link pretty quickly and thought it was clever! The only reason I didn't complete it faster was perhaps overthinking some of the clues, they seem a lot easier in hindsight. I didn't see "Dawning Sounds" as OHS for a long time, and I feel ashamed I didn't get BOROUGHS immediately! Thanks, Adam, for a well-designed puzzle with clever clues!

Brilliant puzzle! Very breezy, but a nice one to start the week with! Also very impressed that the author is only 16, that's amazing - congrats, Tarun, and thank you!

Was close to a new PR but struggled to see the section around the ADS clue for about a minute! This one was especially neat too, so thank you!

Was able to complete this without hints, which is very rare for a Friday for me! This one was really lovely to fill in; it all pieced together very nicely for me. Particularly loved DIAL, CRAZYSTRAW and EUROS. Thanks, Malaika!

Beat my record on this one quite handily! Very nice puzzle! Thanks, Andy!