Thad

I'm sure this won't impress very many in the comment section, but after 20+ months of working the crossword every day I've gone Sunday through Saturday without ANY lookups. I've been under my average time every day as well.

Working in IT for 40+ years has its perks. As soon as I got the first themed answer the rest came along quite naturally. Very well clued, especially the theme entries. Not only did I enjoy the solve but I finished with a PB time. Yay me!

Clutching my pearls after seeing 32D on top of 51D

PRELL was the go-to for soaping fountains in glory days gone by. It wasn't me, honest. Repeating what I've heard, I am only.

I like a good rebus puzzle, but this was just too obscure for me. When it takes almost a third of the Wordplay column to explain it, it's just too much.

Apparently not all rebus puzzles are created equally. Really fun solve and I was quite surprised to get the music figuring I still had much work left to do. I was lucky in solving the crosses, because the themed answers had me scratching my head. Very cleverly done, and one of the few where I actually understood the theme before reading the comments.

I can hardly believe I solved it without any help. Once I got the "unwritten rule" issue sorted out it became much easier. So many unknowns filled in with their crosses, and I'm still trying to figure where AIT fits for British isle.

I thought I was doing well until... I was sure the crossing OCHS + PUTH and/or ENDRANT + WONT was where my problem was, but couldn't pull it off without my first trip to that answer key in about 3 weeks. I mean, it is a Saturday puzzle.

I was originally thinking what an obscure reference to LUK, the German clutch maker and that nobody but me would get it. I guess that's what I get for thinking - LOL!

A pleasant Saturday puzzle. I tend to like them on the simpler side, so it may not be everyone's cup of tea. I was quite impressed with the Roman Numeral grid spanner. Was anyone else naticked with LAP for 43A and wasn't up on semi-obscure Korean barbecued ribs?

A Goldilocks Monday for me. Halfway between my average and best times. As one who has worked on thousands of gasoline engines in my lifetime, I cannot go without saying that 35D could have been clued with much more accuracy. I was also surprised to see how many downs were completely filled as I blasted through the across answers.

What's wrong with the login? I don't want to upgrade, just let me play!

What a great Tuesday puzzle. I was confounded by ZEE and ZED, missing the Z and thinking for sure I must have the crosses wrong. Still under average even with a couple of typos.

This whole week so far has been a slog for me. All three days 'well' over my averages. The good news in all of this is I've persevered and finished them without any lookups. I can hardly wait to see what the rest of the week bestows upon us.

Not impart too much negativity, but the bonus clues did nothing for me to enhance the puzzle solving experience. "I done did this puzz" without needing nor wanting them. Otherwise, a fair, albeit easy Sunday puzzle.

With its ease, this felt like a Monday to me and Monday's felt like a Wednesday. Have we entered a wormhole?

As usual, I completely missed the themed entries. Very clever indeed! This was a fun and challenging solve. Seemed a bit tougher than usual for a Tuesday.

After an over-average almost every day week a nice change of pace. Being an across first solver I spotted (what I thought was) the I/O rebus early on and filled it in as such. I felt like I was zipping through until I started hitting the downs. Much head scratching until I found some of the down rebuses(?) and knew something else was going on. Then... AHA! If you know the feeling, you know. In the end I was decently under average and enjoyed this puzzle more than any of the prior days of a challenging week for me.

Nice, easy solve for a relative beginner. I was amazed at how many downs I had filled completely with just the across clues. I didn't know (or need to know) 33D, learned ENDUE, as well as how to spell ANDALE.

Thank you Mr. Gordon. Nicely constructed puzzle. I got the tough ones (DAVIDHO, SNORRI, GOURDE) on the crosses. I was oblivious to the theme until I read the comments.

Wait! There's autocheck?

This was a fairly easy solve for me, but I completely missed the theme part. Oh well, it was fun anyway.

For once I figured out the theme (before reading Wordplay) and it actually helped!

I have to admit I ashamedly went to the answer key for the first time in months as I had CURLyCUES. OZEMPyC seemed fine with me.

I SPED through this once I figured out the gimmick. Others will probably not enjoy it as much. To each their own.