Todd

Gulp. Well being new to NYTimes crosswords over the past few weeks, this was... humbling. All of a sudden looking forward to Monday :)

Loved this theme, although should have swapped with yesterday's puzzle, as it was much easier.

Yeah this one was just too hard. Peripeteia? Thomas Paine (I had originally put in Machivelli, since it fit)... and shower beer? A bit too clever for my liking, this one.

Great Sunday puzzle, especially following yesterday's slog. When I discovered Wreck It Ralph didn't fit, I knew something was amiss. KabukiTheater made it click! Admittedly, I got stuck way up in the NE with "Embers". I somehow ended up with Ebbers/Beat for "Heart of the Matter". UGH! Good stuff.

Love the shout out to the brilliant Frank Oz, who also created and was the puppeteer for Yoda in the Empire Strikes Back. I'm big time bummed that Mail Order Brie didn't make it into the puzzle. That's an astounding pun/play on words.

First time under 10:00!!!! (9:01)

Fun Sunday treat, especially for Father's Day. Southeast corner was a bit of a slog though.

Still a little confused with "POLED" for Punted???

I enjoyed this difficult puzzle, and it was a learning experience. 2 beefs: 1) Still don't understand DEBATE CONTESTS for "Matches with forensics. 2) I get the connection with spells/witches for 37 down; but the wording throws me "Spelling combinations"...??? Maybe "Spelling conventions" instead? Or Spelling groups? Ok, 3rd beef... ZARFS?????

For whatever reason, this one felt like a slog, and I wasn't feeling it. Example: 74 & 75D answers just seem off. Ashame after a fun Saturday jaunt. Oh well... can't win em all!

Maybe more of a Tuesday puzzle, but I mostly enjoyed it. I admittedly had never heard of speaker stands being pluralized in such a manner!

I enjoyed this puzzle. Medium-to-hard difficulty with just the right amount of clever clues. Took about 5 or 6 times through to figure the answers, but not hard enough that it drew complete blanks. Brava!

Here's another... UNFAIRWAY