Zac

I’ll always prefer this definition of MOOT because it’s the one the Ents use in Entmoot. And, the trees don’t say anything unless it’s worth saying.

I thought I was going to have an OFF BY ONE ERROR here but it turned out DRUB is a word.

I had to deal with a hydrogen sulfide incident in the lab this week. Not fun. This puzzle, on the other hand, was exhilarating!

I spent way too long trying to make the Brewers clue about actual beer brewers; I am sure someone has used a bat as a mash paddle so I guess it could work both ways.

Great puzzle! Hopefully the oracle didn’t get lost and end up in DELHI instead of DELPHI.

I haven’t read the column in a little bit but I am glad I was able to see Deb’s final entry. Thanks for all the hints over the years. Also, that second E in VEGENAISE is irking me.

Airplane wing is also a good flap raiser that fits 34A. Wheels before STRAPS. And, NUNnery was definitely on my mind after the previous Shakespeare mention. And you know what had good SYNERGY, hobbits and ENTS.

I had BOSTON teaSICLE for a while, which was a fun response that seemed to fit with the themeless puns. I do wonder if there is some modern metaphorical tea we could throw in a harbor to complement the ICE out protests.

Even though I am not Gen Z, I was hoping POG would be the answer to 88D, especially with ESPORTS on the grid.

I thought there was an animal theme at first, not only making the squirrel misstep, but putting wildhorse for mustang. This puzzle definitely had a couple vibes.

I got so twisted up in the NE. Started with a great Dane, then a Swede for Nobel, crazily I had wild for the more common modern internet parlance, and with all those conflicts, of course I tried to back away by retreat. Fortunately, a POWERTIE made a good centerpiece to work outward from.

Nice one. I got stuck in a KENEL(s) thinking that it would be more explicitly plural despite knowing it was misspelled. A bad oMEN indeed.