Hello World
USA
Finished it but didn't feel any joy solving this puzzle, unfortunately. Well, there's always tomorrow.
The Simpson misdirect wrecked me, spent half my time in the NW because I held onto Maggie for way too long. Overall pretty standard Friday in terms of difficulty.
@MC I don't bother solving Sam E's puzzles anymore, I already know that I don't enjoy his cluing style. I feel like people should pay attention to who the constructor is and their cluing style, I'm willing to bet the vast majority of the angry commentators today wouldn't have bothered trying. Life is too short to slog though puzzles that you don't enjoy, just reveal the puzzle and move on. In other news, today was my fastest solve ever!!
@heironymous 11D: "Like the Roman Empire around 48 B.C."
Looks like lots of people are setting new PBs today, including me! Finally smashed through the 4 min barrier, which was one of my personal milestones this year. Slowly but surely making my way to a sub 2 min solve, might have to switch to desktop so I can type faster lol.
@HeathieJ Thank you for responding with kindness and sincerity instead of resorting to sarcasm and veiled insults. It's honestly exhausting to see the number of petty spats that spawn because people can't resist clapping back in the replies instead of moving on, so your comment was an unexpected gem. Going high when others go low isn't always easy but it makes this a better place and an overall more positive experience.
What a breezy Sunday, hit a new PB! Just tore through this puzzle until I hit a brick wall in the SW. I spent over 25% of my time just in that section because I didn't have any crossers, took me forever to get the answers. It's too bad, I was on pace for a sub 20 min solve, which is a personal milestone I've been trying to hit this year. Oh well, there's always next week.
I thought it was a pretty straightforward trick this week. I usually ignore the theme and solve the puzzles as themeless so it was nice to get the trick for once.
This one did not spark joy for me sadly, really not a fan of isolated mini-puzzles like the ones we got in the NW and SE. It feels like I'm slogging through several different puzzles instead of solving one cohesive puzzle. I think I'll have to skip puzzles from this constructor until they're done with their series and use a different grid geometry.
@Paul Yep, pretty much how I felt as an Asian. It's not really offensive but did rub me the wrong way. It's like a death by a thousand papercuts: each incident isn't a big deal but it adds up. What makes it worse is having to justify yourself time and time again because people (generally white Americans) don't understand what it's like to be a minority and just think you're are overreacting to a single event.
This week was all over the place in terms of difficulty: Tuesday felt like a Wednesday Wednesday felt like a Friday Thursday and Friday felt like an easy Wednesday Just an off-putting solving experience for me since I couldn't get into a good rhythm, hope next week is more consistent.
@Nancy J. Yeah, being kind to one another goes a long way. We can't control how other people act but we can control how we respond to them. The regulars here play a large role in shaping the community since people will follow their lead. If they're kindly responding to angry comments and being helpful, people will perceive this place as a friendly one and imitate them. If they're the ones who are snidely criticizing others and clapping back in the comments, people will perceive this place to be a toxic one and act accordingly.
This was a pretty easy puzzle for me, only a couple minutes off from my personal best. Panacea in the top left screwed me over so bad, still kinda salty about that one. A good chunk of the clues were clear to me so I had solid footholds everywhere. I ignored the theme for the most part and solved this as a themeless puzzle, relying on the crosses for the shaded cells. Does anyone else solve their puzzles this way? I prefer themeless puzzles so I usually don't invest time in understanding themes unless I get really stuck.
Oof, NW was absolutely brutal. Didn't know any of the proper nouns besides the LASTBATTLE and NSA, so I had almost no crosses to work with due to the segmented grid geometry. Overall, the puzzle was on the easier side but not a smooth solving experience. Felt like I had to do three separate puzzles which always takes me out of my flow state.
Guess I was on the same wavelength as the constructor today because I destroyed my old PB!
@Barry Ancona There's evidence the Moche were cultivating potatoes almost a 1000 years before the Inca. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305440318303327" target="_blank">https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305440318303327</a>
@HeathieJ Ditto, I absolutely tore through the puzzle and hit a brick wall in the SE, I spent more time there than solving the entire puzzle, haha. I did manage to set a new PB so it worked out in the end. Sometimes you're on the same wavelength as the constructor and the answers are obvious. Sometimes you aren't and you can't find a toe hold anywhere. I don't think it's unreasonable to struggle with a puzzle that doesn't click with you, I have a few constructors that are on my skip list because I don't enjoy their cluing. It's all relative in the end.
Overall pretty easy puzzle for a Friday IMO, I think I would've found this somewhat easy even for a Thursday. NE took about the same amount of time to finish the bottom third of the puzzle but it wasn't too bad. 11D was a big fail, didn't get the connection until I had most of the crossers.
@CalGal It looks like the comment was purged, thankfully. Big fan of "Lights" as well and Ellie Goulding's earlier work in general.
@Barry Ancona Why do you feel that it's OK to insult their intelligence? Why is it that whenever someone posts a negative comment about a puzzle, you go on the offensive and take them down? I get that bad takes are exhausting to read but that doesn't give you the right to bully people in the comments.
@Nancy J. These types of comments make me sad, since all it really does is further entrench people into separate camps. Sure complaints can be mean spirited and overwhelming at times but is mocking Thursday complainers really solving anything? Are you winning anyone over to trying out rebus puzzles by insulting them? If anything you're just proving to them that you *are* smug and elitist. It's not on you to convince others but contributing to the problem isn't helping either.
Breezed through most of the puzzle today, cluing was right up my alley. Just one of those days where I was able to enter a good flow state and solve. 26A was rough though, needed every single cross for that one lol
@M&M I think chalking up complaints as a skill issue is an unfair assumption to make. Sometimes people just don't find things interesting or enjoyable, it doesn't mean they're bad at it. That line of thinking is really off-putting and a reason why people choose to lurk instead of interacting with the community. Doesn't feel great when you don't like something and you're told it's because you're not a good enough solver. FWIW, I thought this was a pretty easy puzzle, still don't enjoy rebus though.
@Mr Dave I think it was pretty gentle rebus/trick today which is why there are less negative comments. I dislike rebus puzzles but I didn't mind it today, I think having the downs be proper nouns helped. Overall, it was a fun puzzle.
@Eric Hougland Thanks! I'm pretty close, in the low 20s now. I think I'll get there by the end of the year, fingers crossed!
@B I feel your pain. I've been trying to get my friends into crosswords for a while now and the random difficulty spikes on Mondays and Tuesdays are destroying them :(
@Caroline Kearney It got deleted but I was responding to a comment that insinuated the puzzle was beyond the commentator because they weren't smart enough.
@SP Amusing and thoughtful are subjective, IMO, but objectively it's well constructed and many people did enjoy it.
@Nancy J. There's no option to search for comments on the Android mobile app, at least I didn't see one.
@The X-Phile You're not the only one. Not a fan of grid designs with a bunch of isolated sections because it doesn't feel like a cohesive puzzle. I'm just solving a bunch of mini puzzles, which is tedious.
@SP I don't see how they're being a troll, it's a benign comment stating their displeasure at the puzzle. I don't understand why they need to justify their opinion, it's not like they were bashing the constructor or the puzzle, they just didn't like it. It feels like people here want answers so they can clap back at the commenter instead of hearing them out.
@The X-Phile They're probably getting flagged and deleted
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