Matt M.

Why does the Puzzle Info section say "Each square in the shaded square is to be filled with a numerical digit"? Not only does it directly tell you that these answers include numbers, but it holds your hand by telling you the correct character set just in case you might try alpha chars first... Please - let the solver figure that out along the way! I understand that the NYT team wants to make these more accessible to a wider audience, but literally having the theme spoiled in the puzzle info is going too far. The time for a DAILY two-tiered difficulty system is long overdue. An admittedly average player like myself shouldn't be consistently finishing Saturdays and Sundays in less than 30 minutes. I don't think I'm the only person who gets relaxation and enjoyment from getting unstuck finally having that AHA theme-busting moment. There are also those users who appreciate the timed challenge aspect more. Let's have separate puzzles tailored for each group every day! Then there could be double the accepted submissions as well.