Sam Corbin

@Herstorygirl Don’t be discouraged! I have no doubt you’re doing great. Every now and then I am humbled by a Tuesday or Wednesday puzzle, and sometimes I breeze through a Saturday so fast that I wonder whether I’m secretly a genius. It ebbs and flows, regardless of skill levels, and no single puzzle should convince you otherwise 🙂‍↕️

@SP Far be it from me to knock a passionate rant — ask me how up in arms I was about SLEEKEN and DOTER — and I think you've got it exactly right. The key is kindness to all involved: solvers, constructors and editors alike.

@Heidi Well I, for one, hope you stick around. You DO belong, just as everyone who struggles to solve something that others found easy, and vice versa. What my colleague Deb Amlen once said of the column, which holds true to this day: It's a party, and everyone's invited.

@Lewis Make my day, why don’t you!!

@Mar in PA I'd offer that being "well read" isn't a helpful way to look at the skills that make for a good crossword solver, nor is it a fair assessment of someone's age, intelligence or life experience. We live differently, read differently and speak differently — and I find it utterly thrilling to discover these differences through a puzzle, of all things.

@Riley I think of jargon as exclusionary, like "corporate jargon," where the acronyms don't represent more than the words they stand for (e.g. OOO). Nuyorican is a word that represents a larger migration and arts movement — embodied by movies/ musicals that are popular outside the northeast, like West Side Story — and is worth getting to know! <a href="https://poets.org/text/brief-guide-nuyorican-poetry" target="_blank">https://poets.org/text/brief-guide-nuyorican-poetry</a>

@dutchiris Solving crosswords at 91: Now, there's something I can aspire to. Happy birthday today, and to all the ones yet to come!

@Esther Lee I love that you bring in your kids to solve together! And you're not stupid. Crossword themes run the gamut from the facepalm-ingly obvious to the impossibly subtle, and I'd say this one leans heavily toward the latter category. Also, solving crossword puzzles is just an exercise in thinking differently about language; it's not a measure of intelligence. We all get stumped now and again — I'd say that's more than half the fun.

@Keith See? They're not so evil! (Rebus enforcers are watching me as I type)

@Bill Maybe I'm "shredded" in the sense that, after any attempt at intense physical exercise, I feel as though I have been put through a tree incinerator. On the bright side: Now I'm mulch!

@Andrew The mythology lightbulb went on moments after publication. how fitting -- it was *I* who couldn't see what this entry was subtly referring to 🤦‍♀️

@MRR You know, this is what I get for being 5'3 — automatically regarding "I can't see!" as a reference to someone short standing behind someone tall. 😮‍💨 Oof, my pride

@Lewis So glad to see your name and to know you’re safe and well!

@Wark I hope you stick around a while! Your Canadian kindness may just rub off on others (said my naive Canadian optimism).

@Craig Ditto. I spent all that time learning "pistil," and now discover there's another obscure flower term to remember?

@Golfsan And did only seeing "ups" get me "down"? Not a bit, either!

@DH I am ashamed to say that I snort-laughed at this

@Andrzej Somm people, eh?

@Ed Welp, there go my assumptions. You guessed right: I was mostly a city kid, and thus unaware this program existed in Canada, too — 4sHame!

@APNerd OMG I didn't realize the double meaning of [Dramatic salsa move] until you pointed it out! BRILLIANT!

@John Appleseed For once, one of my presumptions pays off!

@Mary Bono I like the idea that this crossing suggests there are other scientists with the same name. (Or could the alt spelling be one of Neil’s secrET ALIAses?)

@Nancy ah yes, the TEXT BOG… when I am bogged down by unread messages.

@JD As a big fan of cows I would happily attend Cowic-Con, please let me know when it is happening

@Katie Brilliant idea for a list! I'd add: - e-commerce sites Ebay and Etsy - variant spellings of "uie" and "uey" for a U-Turn

@Bill As I see it this confirms that your first word was, in fact, “supernovae.” Thank you for corralling these stats!! I was so busy being indignant I did not consider that it might actually be more popular (in the very, very limited contexts in which it’s used) 🫨

@Bruce et al., No need to refer to them as such! The clue refers to the [blocks] that appear IN a drinking [glass], i.e. ICE CUBES

@Ken I am sincerely eager to learn how you got there from here.

@Coffee please Come back and comment again soon! We have fun here :)

@Heidi Hear, hear!!

@Matt R. Blasph-emu-s!

@CCNY Aw, thank you! Excited to serve 🫡

@A.B. Hey, good for you! Difficulty is subjective, and don't let anyone tell you different. You can scroll through the comments on most any column and see two people having the opposite experience on a puzzle. Onward, to more Fridays!

@Norwood This reversal is brilliant. Genuinely.

@Rachel R. This explains why I was unfamiliar — I'm definitely more of a cottons and linens girl.

@Joseph If I ever feel that the prize has been awarded to the wrong person, I will use this word.

@Nik I love this!! Onward!

@Once a Marine I've been considering REBA, but I don't know whether Ms. McEntire likes crosswords enough to tolerate the confusion.

@Suzanne Bee Welcome to my nightmare. I am constantly being thwarted by UEY vs. UIE, AAH vs. AHH, the ITSY/EENY/TINY triptych and will never know whether I am supposed to eat a KEBAB or a KABOB. At least we stay on our toes, eh?

@Scott SANDAL SCANDAL is brilliant!

@Bill I’m astounded. Thank YOU for adding such a — ahem — spread of historical detail. I’ll be bringing up the margarine mishegaas at my next dinner party.

@Steve Defense Against the Ark Darts: You never know when Noah's going to shoot.