CeCe

Who was excited to see MENOPAUSE in a puzzle? MII! Let’s normalize normal.

I love that Stephen discovered that crosswords are “playful conversations between constructor and solver”. Especially when including answers such as Eloise (at the plaza), play doh, Girl Scout cookies, nana, Ronald (McDonald) .. A good reminder to approach a puzzle with a dose of whimsy. Bravo to the debut!

‘To Tell the Truth’ is a funny thing to say, yes? It indicates perhaps one doesn’t always? (similarly - frankly, to be honest, in reality) Anyway, a local store has a billboard where they post puns. Recently it said, ‘To be frank, I’d have to change my name’ I giggled.

Tell me I’m not the only one who put EROTICA on 40a 🤭 Perhaps I was subliminaly misdirected with the 3 X’s in the puzzle.

👏👏 Clever clueing & fun long entries! I thought myself clever when I answered ‘milk’ to what one might request after eating a habanero. Agua makes the burn worse, yes? Unfortunately ‘leche’ doesn’t fit so the clever clue wouldn’t work. Agua it is!

Perfect crunchy Saturday with lots of X’s & K’s! FauxNaif & ArtsyFartsy were my favorites & I will work into casual conversation today. Still wondering - why are SAPS good marks?

Personally I appreciated a quick solve Thursday because I needed time to finish my (harder than usual) Wednesday! Also, I thought the focus on SIN was clever given that lent has just begun.

I saw REUNES & thought, ooh, a rebus! But, sadly the cross didn’t fit so I was stuck with a weird partial word. // Ironically, auto-correct tried at least 5 times to correct the R word above, which justifies our complaints. Otherwise thought it was a clever quick Tuesday puzzle. I always enjoy @Sam ‘s oped.

I understand the constructor’s critique of the phrase, “I appreciate you” as opposed to the formerly more common, “it” as overspeak. Admittedly, I use the ‘you’ because I feel it is important to tell people regularly that we do value their existence. I would always rather over-appreciate than under. That being said, I appreciate all of YOU because coming here for the comments is my second favorite part of finishing the daily crossword! 🫶🏼

The numbers were a complete mystery to me (& I still don’t get them, actually) but I love a rebus puzzle so the pleasure was all *mine*

As an oenophile, I loved this quick & clever Friday - cheers! Also, may I suggest another name to add to the clue for 56A that would be more timely - Mikaela Shiffrin ⛷️.

You know it’s a Saturday when even the easy fill requires a double take! How many 4 letter words do I know for unwanted mail? SO many! Do BILLS even come in the mail anymore? Also, as a potter, I quickly entered CLAY for ‘moldable soil’. Alas, both things can be true.

Applause! Love this puzzle with my whole 💖!

Based on a quick review of the comments, I might be in the minority as to my familiarity with ‘Go ham’. And I’m a vegan fwiw.

Loved the puzzle - perfectly Tuesdayish. I’m also really enjoying Myk’s columns. Please keep them coming! Happy day solver community! As they say in the socials - I’m here for the comments. XW people are so witty & clever!

The puzzle in which Pants are pairs & Shoe is one. I like twists of logic almost as much as Cookie Monster likes his chocolate chip Cee’s.

Love love loved it! 🫶🏼 Got stuck on BATISHE / BATISTE because hehee rolls off the tongue easier than tehee but who’s to judge how someone laughs?

Brilliant construction! Rather than relying on the tried & true (snooze) Earth Day theme, it was weaved into such clever wordplay. Loved it! Now I’m off to hug a 🌳 b/c Earth Day is everyday!

When the ‘you solved it’ bell rings & your response is ‘huh’??? The trick of the day was cute but I didn’t figure it out - thankful for the wordplay column to explainnnnnnnn it! Cheers to Kit for incredible endurance on the quest to publish!

As an avid downHILL skier, I loved the theme! So clever to have the hills advance in difficulty/slope in accordance to the symbol. I see what you did there 👀! Fun Sunday with just enough chewy clues. Happy new week, all! We are praying to get a little early spring snow to ski on but it looks unlikely. It’s been one of those seasons in the western US that make you appreciate a ‘normal’ snow year!

Zoboomafoo was beloved when my children were young! I still remember the show fondly. Thank you for the sweet memory & yes, Lemur was an easy fill for MOI.

I did a jiggety jig when I finished this one! Lots of fun & not overly complicated. Loved the theme entries & the construction collab. I could have done without the obscure (to me, I’m sure it’s a favorite of someone on here & I will hear about it) peter o’toole film & IN RUN is new to me (as a skier even!).

Today’s puzzle was a 🤦🏻‍♀️ I filled the entire grid, then came here to see what the trick was b/c the starred clues (mostly filled with crosses) just did not make sense. The revealer was an easy one due to the Hozier song (which will now be a day long earworm) . Ahh when the clouds parted … 🧊

My first thought when I read the revealer was ‘elevens’ or the vertical lines between the eyebrows. Prior to my devotion to a competent injector, I called them my ‘Mad Mommy Wrinkles’. Fun solve! Welcome to Sean!

Fun Saturday puzzle. I was stuck on space-ship for a long time until I said YUGI out loud & my husband corrected me. Team work makes the dream work, or so they say. I attribute any struggles I had to the shingles vaccine (2nd dose) I had yesterday. IYKYK. 🤒

A fun Tuesday run-about but I can’t say I understood the theme until I read the tell-all. Now that I know, I know, you know?

Super cute theme - perfect Tuesday puzzle!

Fun puzzle! Got the ‘trick’ in the SE corner - pop & donor didn’t seem enough 🧐 Also, cannot over-emphasize the value of questioning answers I thought I was sure of. I was stuck in NW corner & asked myself if maybe ‘pals’ was NOT the answer for ‘buds’. Voila, the pieces fell into place.

To cuddle is to pamper, yes? My French bulldog thinks so. Urlon, orlon, it’s all plastic to me. A fun quickie tho I missed a pr due to my penchant to cuddle a frenchie.

Love the challenge of all those spanners! I was stuck at the end at 22a/9d & had to use my last ditch approach : going through the alphabet. Luckily ‘c’ made TIC b/c I have never heard of APERCU! Brava for the debut!

Mise en place is a very important part of cooking for me so I was happy to see it in the puzzle today! I recently started the Rainbow Plant Life (newest NYT cooking contributor) meal plan subscription. The meals are always delicious but often require a lot of steps. I found MeP to be invaluable to easing the stress of making dinner.

Was the original cluing, ‘rush delivery’ for the answer ‘SLOMO’ ?