Alex

Very cool puzzle today! I really enjoyed it. For anyone who used the “Blue” theme on their phone app, make sure to take a look at your completed puzzle with the Light or Dark theme! Constructive comment for the talented puzzle designer: Down clues 3, 8, 37, and 51, probably would’ve fit the theme slightly better had they been flipped - such that the portions of the clues coming after the slashes instead came before, and vice versa. Food for thought at least…though I look forward to more of your puzzles no matter what direction you take 😉

I’m never ashamed to turn to Deb Amlen’s excellent column for occasional help with a hard puzzle, especially one like this. While I enjoy the occasional rebus trickery (one of the coolest puzzles in recent memory was the ‘pizza crust’ of rebus squares), I also far prefer puzzles where that “aha” moment happens during the solving process rather than thereafter. I sincerely hope anyone who managed to have that “aha” early on today is working in the cryptography industry.