Alex

Won land, Gold meddlers, Husky hellos, No time like the present, A zero is one, Bath seat, Portable retirement option, Where spirits are high, plus a couple of Central points and Parathas... There was a lot of truly inspired clueing in this one, every couple of minutes I had an "Oh that's great!" moment! Don't care what day it is, a great crossword is a great crossword. Top job Katie, thanks!

Here's a fun little thing about the 3-letter abbreviations for country names in the World Cup. When Sweden (SWE) and Denmark (DEN) play, the scorecard says: SWE - DEN The missing letters from each are: DEN - MARK

Loved this one! I adore that feeling of something being "off" at the beginning of a solve, where the straightforward is awry, and having to slowly work things out and into place... The double-rebus realisation was a wonderful gear change that added extra impetus and set the puzzle perfectly for the home stretch. An hour of crossword joy! Many thanks Michael!

Awesome puzzle, I loved noticing Coyote and the anvil! The 'HELP' sign was the icing on the cake 👌 Super job Daniel, thanks!

Excellent puzzle! The theme came slowly at first, then faster and faster - very satisfying to work out during the solve. I love that OXO was in there like a little bonus, as if there weren't already enough theme words! Many thanks!

Very nice Saturday puzzle. Thought I had absolutely no hope for the first 20 minutes or so, then the long entries started falling into place and it gradually rolled over and let me tickle its tummy. Finished almost exactly on my Saturday average time in the end. As others have commented, this has been a really good week of crosswords from the NYT. Thanks Sam, and I'm looking forward to a beauty of a Sunday!

The Sean Connery "quotes" were adorable, the double-o's in a seven were a clever little touch, and some bonus Bond sprinklings throughout - excellent puzzle! Some tricky fillers, but very gettable with crossers and the odd Google confirmation, as evidenced by my under-average time. Top debut crossword. Thanks Danny, shuper Shunday sholve!

Trying to come up with my own... This puzzle was the perfect amount of [Tr°uble] for me! (degree of difficulty)

There are four species of South American camelids, all of them utterly gorgeous animals. Llamas and alpacas are commonly domesticated, whereas guanacos and vicuñas are wild. That's them in order of size as well. I always like noticing a little Peruvian reference, thanks David!

Ouch. The fact that the themed entries all had 4-letter words elongated, so fitted fine as the normal phrase with 'long'... Plus no revealer or clue? Very devious indeed, and possibly illegal on a Wednesday - I'm consulting my lawyers. I spent 90% of the solve time in a state of confusion and distress, but when the penny dropped and everything fell into place it was one of the most satisfying endings to a crossword I can remember! Many thanks for a superb puzzle!

I liked the Orinoco trivia, I didn't know it was such a beast... However, to mention it even indirectly in the same breath as the Amazon is, quite frankly, an almost unforgivable insult. The Amazon has a higher discharge than the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th largest rivers COMBINED. Two of the Amazon's TRIBUTARIES would be in the top 6 largest rivers in the world by discharge if they were counted separately. The 10 biggest rivers in Peru, a nation on the Pacific ocean, all eventually flow into the ATLANTIC ocean via the Amazon. The Amazon is simply in a league of its own!

For some reason I'm extremely tickled by "Shaders of grey" - I let out an involuntary giggle when I got it, and I'm still giggling at it after finishing!

Very similar to how SMACKED can mean both "kissed" and "whacked", I happened to notice recently that TURN ON can mean both "arouse" and "attack". There was a Vox YT video with the fabulous title "Young men turn on Donald Trump", which was in fact about how that cohort of voters are abandoning their support for the president... Excellent puzzle today. Even though I don't know an awful lot about US history, I managed to get through this with plenty of elbow grease and patience. Very satisfied, thanks David!

Aww I now feel a bit disappointed that I raced through this one on New Year's Eve Eve, instead of savouring it on the proper day. Almost got my personal best for a Wednesday, so that's something nice. I hope everyone enjoys the last day of 2025, and here's to a wonderful 2026! Thanks Jeffrey!

I'm not usually too effusive, but I thought this was superb. The entries were rock solid, the clues were fresh, it wasn't too easy and wasn't annoying - I just really clicked with this puzzle and enjoyed solving it. Seasoned constructors don't make them as good. Adrianne is gonna be a star that much is obvious, thanks for the first of many!

I didn't expect the STEPMOM to be the most controversial aspect of this puzzle! The spelling doesn't change depending on where the stepmom is from, it changes depending on where the observer of the stepmom is from (ahem). As a Brit I'd call her a stepmum, like for me Central Park is in the centre not center of Manhattan, but I'd fully expect an NYT crossword to call her a stepmom. Fun puzzle, managed to finish with just a few look-ups of some of the more obscure Americanisms. Thanks Jacob!

Slow start, quick finish for this one. Someone cleverer than me could do a Mini version with... Mullet! (idea) Cricket! (neck) Bucket! (trend) Helmet! (ship) I loved the "Hatchet!" (evil plan) idea, shame it had to give way for the surprise party. Fun one, thanks Joel!

Tomorrow is going to be my "streak break" day, I've decided. No NYT games, let all the counters reset and ignore them in the future. I think the main reason is a comment someone made a few days ago lamenting that they used to do crosswords on paper and time wasn't a thing at all. So true, and made me think of the many fond memories of spending ages with a juicy newspaper crossword (some UK weekend cryptic) and a friend or family member, and just feeling joy. The NYT setup encourages short-term, individual satisfaction purely for daily engagement. Totally opposite to how it should be done. Streaks, timers, badges - be gone!!

I've previously expressed a dislike for multiple-word answers that aren't actual phrases, but are just words that are often said together by some people in some situations. "I MEAN YEAH" is definitely one of those. They're clearly a necessity coming from American puzzles having so few blocks, and needing repetitive 3-/4-letter words, wacky proper nouns, abbreviations & acronyms, incomplete phrases, and these non-phrasal groups of words just to be able to fill the grid. I'm getting used to it the more I do American puzzles though, and I wouldn't use the word "dislike" anymore. In fact I'd probably call these filler categories "quirky" or even "charming" now. I've learned a lot about music (REO Speedwagon, the CBGB Club, ETTA James...), sport (BAMA, NATS, RBI...), American geography, schools, politics, food and more! Nice puzzle today, lots of super clueing.

Fun puzzle, although the theme was indeed such a "slow-moving realization" that for me that realization in fact happened after finishing the crossword and reading the article. Thanks Adam!

Definitely one for the constructors rather than the solvers. NW was just impossible for me in the end - never heard of SCHMEARS, ELSTON, RAGGED EDGE, MUNSHI, BURN SAGE or SNEES. Got the rest with a lot of trial and error, but I personally found it just on the wrong side of the challenging/frustrating line. Thanks though Dan, certainly an impressive grid.

Good one! Took a few passes of the grid, several clues needed lots of crossing letters, a few "never heard of that" moments, plenty of replacing wrong first ideas... Exactly how it should be! Some more fun crash blossoms (from Mental Floss): "Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant" "Milk Drinkers Turn to Powder" "Chester Morrill, 92, Was FED Secretary" (obituary) "Jacksonville Pornography Free, Officials Say"

I enjoyed Sean McGowan's column, very interesting to learn about these "cheater squares". I don't usually read the column because I find that often it's just written from the POV of a regular solver: friendly and sympathetic, but ultimately not very illuminating. I'd much rather some expert or technical insights about things like grid design and other aspects of construction that I don't even know exist. I wouldn't have appreciated today's marvellously clean grid - quite a beauty in its elegant simplicity, even just aesthetically - if I hadn't read the column. Thanks Andrew and Sean!

I started this one angry and frustrated, not being able to get into it at all and not liking all the 4-letter plurals and identical college clues ... grrr ... But after a while things started falling into place, got some long answers and had some epiphanies ... ahhh ... Ended up loving it! Thanks!

I was looking at my stats literally yesterday (I've finished about 300 crosswords over the last year) and noticed that Thursday was the only day where my best time was quite close to my average time. Very consistently tricky between 35 - 38 minutes. Well, not anymore! I absolutely raced through this in under half my average Thursday time... I immediately guessed the thrust of the theme with the HAM/HARM and IDEA/IDEAL entries, and those L/R circles only sped up a super smooth solve of the filling words - sometimes you're just on the same wavelength as a puzzle and everything falls into place very satisfyingly. Thanks, Adam, next time make me a double-sized version for me please!

Aww nice to see a couple of Peruvian entries on Independence Day! ¡Felices Fiestas Patrias! Only last week I was in Ayacucho in the Andes here in Peru, where you can visit the site of the final battle that concreted Peru's (and basically South America's) independence. There's a super monument, great cuisine and lots else to see around the area - very much recommended! Easy 45min flight from Lima. Very nice puzzle, loved noticing all the "C" clues! Wasn't it mentioned a couple of days ago that there was a puzzle once where all the clues began with "T"? - I think I read about it in the comments on the recent one with black squares shaped like T's, with "Teetotaler" as an answer somewhere. Nice work, thanks Brian!

Pros: Not many American sports, actors, towns, colleges, brands etc - hurray! I got HAMM thanks to the Midi today, so that was a bonus, and guessed the Stax city with _EM____ filled in. The flowers were a nice addition. I'm like the columnist: not a particularly avid gardener/florist, but enough to get the entries without any trouble. Plenty of nice clues and fill apart from those too. Con: didn't really need the theme during the solve. As the columnist said it was more like a first-of-the-month one for me, just a normal xword with an unusual number of entries on a particular topic. I much prefer a theme you can really get into and make use of. Always nice to see my adopted country of Peru in here - we do get within just a few kms of the equator but not quite! The Putumayo river border with Colombia just bends away from it at the last moment. Northernmost coordinates are 0°02'19" South (!) 75°10'55" West. Overall an enjoyable puzzle, which is the main thing. Thanks James, and congrats on the debut!

I don't know why rebuses get so much hate, I like noticing that there's an extra bit of jiggery-pokery going on in a puzzle! I had RAGtAG at first as well, but quickly fixed. Thanks Ben & Zach!

Aww wow that was special. I spent a second trying to understand the theme at the end, assuming it was just a normal Monday today - I was very wrong! I don't often read the constructor notes to be honest, but after finishing this one I obviously had to. Sincerely powerful and heartwarming. Nice puzzle, too - I especially liked the geography crossers in the bottom right. As a huge countries and capitals nerd I always think there should be more geography in the NYT... Thanks Kenneth, all the best wishes to you and everyone you will inspire with this gem of a crossword!

Excellent puzzle, many thanks to Emily and Kunal! The themed entries were satisfying to work out with just a few crossing letters. Wonderfully clever clues and entries. My favourite Martin Van Buren fact: he was the first US president born in the United States of America

Had to come and say kudos for DIAPER - still giggling to myself about that one! [Bum wrap?] today and [Knight schtick?] (= "honor") yesterday are two kinda similar and truly superstar clues in my opinion! I went straight in with Lawson, easy-peasy for a Brit, and never got truly stuck in the grid. I had no idea about BANANA SEATS so was a bit bogged down in the SW corner for a while, but it never seemed impossible. Excellent puzzle, this is real professional standards! Many thanks Ryan!

Aw shucks, if that wasn't the most adorable little theme I ever...!

I really like a rebus crossword. From the first tingle of doubt and suspicion that something isn't quite right, to figuring out the remedy that makes everything fit into place, it's a lovely extra layer of puzzlement. I thought this was a great example of the genre - not so difficult, but perfect execution and satisfying right up to the end. Many thanks!

Lovely puzzle, great theme! I'm genuinely shocked by the negative reaction to the AI poem for EYES... People seem to miss that gen AI didn't write the clue, it wrote the silly little poem in the clue - AI wouldn't write a clue like that. I thought it was funny! Nice work, thanks Joe!

I don't care what day it is as long as it's a fun puzzle, which this very much was, but a Thursday that's "approachable enough for solvers who are still getting their Thursday sea legs" - isn't that a Wednesday? I've got a soft spot for a rebus (any puzzle that plays around with the letter entry to be honest) - I enjoyed this one as just a straight-up classic example of the genre. Plus a cute little visual element as well. Good to see CORONA clued as a beer, too. Like "musk" should be clued as a scent... Great job, thanks Joe!

Top notch Friday puzzle. I needed loads of crossers to get almost every answer, but gradually with trial & error and educated guesswork, they came. Had to really massage the long spanners to get them to reveal themselves, but again it was satisfying as they slowly stepped out from the shadows. Avoiding frustration and despair as square after square goes unfilled takes a lot of patience, but it really is worth it in the end! Thanks Kelly!

Great one, very clever and satisfying! I do always cringe a bit when I see N instead of Ñ in these crosswords. They're different letters that literally change the meaning of words when swapped. The funniest example is always when AÑO (year) is put as ANO (anus). The clue is usually something like "A year in Spain". In English it would be like saying CANNON and CANYON are the same word.

dAD JOKES was the first answer I put in, and it just silently and patiently lay in wait until the very end... I knew dATTED was dodgy, but it took me ages to see the right answer since I don't know much about either baseballs or eyelashes. BATTED was good though, so a satisfying finale and at least it wasn't a case of pouring through the whole grid looking for a typo. Nice puzzle, thanks Robert!

Sabotaged myself right from the start by entering "Debra" very confidently at 1 down. Then got distracted pondering that name as meaning the removal of an undergement. Things fell into place eventually though, and most of the rest of the puzzle went without too many hiccups. Fun one, no complaints, thanks!

My spirits dropped when I read 1A, but actually I had a lot of fun and obscure US sport trivia wasn't as prominent as I feared. Lovely little theme, I especially enjoyed that they were Down clues looking like needles pricking into a patient when you click on 27D :) Many thanks Jared, super puzzle!

Lomo saltado! It's an absolutely delicious example of "Chifa", Chinese-inspired Peruvian food: stir fried beef, potato, rice, tomato, onion and mild chili pepper with a meaty soy sauce jus. If any of you ever find yourselves in Lima, please go to "Isolina" restaurant in Barranco and order the lomo saltado, it will be the best decision you make for a long long time! Nice puzzle, thanks Adrian.