ani

@Dante Not at all. Firstly, we are here at The New York Times. Any non-American doing the puzzle shows at least some interest in the ongoings and culture history of the country. And in general an intellectual. Also educated. Also has general knowledge. Further, the 250th anniversary of USA is news in Europe and other parts of the world. Any news piece, especially NYT, along with the significance of the date is providing some background basic knowledge to what exactly is being celebrated. Technically it was a difficult puzzle but not more than it was to any US American.

@ani Add to that: The World Cup going on in the States, there is double coverage on all of this. I am just hoping that France gets to play on 14th of July.

@SP Born and raised in Istanbul, thank you for seeing it, like I did the moment I read the clue.

I like putting letters in boxes. I like the black and white checker pattern. (When I do collages, I use them in my compositions, both for the graphic beauty and for the enigmatic side it adds to the piece.) Doing all this in a demanding space like the New York Times is a pleasure - with the system in place (with themes, difficulty grades, etc). I first did crosswords when I was around 11, when my father explained to me, how it worked. That was in Istanbul. Years later I got to learn about the NYT puzzles, when I lived in the States and my roommate had the subscription and was doing it every day. On paper. She introduced me to everything about it, also to the pen or pencil discussion etc… (This was 2003-2004) Now, for two years almost I am doing the online version almost daily (which was not the case before), with great pleasure. I hardly ever finish it (except once or twice a week), and days after I go back and look over it again and fill in a word or two. It relaxes my mind and I love the Wordplay column, too - of which I always make use (maybe once or twice in these two and a half years that I did not need it). I would still love to do it on paper, though and when recently I found the paper in my public library, first thing I did was to sit down and do the crossword. The comment section, I skim through. It gives me social media vibes which I don’t like. But here I am.

@joel88s But… A teen idol may be teen oneself. And is in many cases. So the clue holds in more than one sense even.

@Red Carpet For the puzzle of the day, you can go to the sections in the NYT app and have the wordplay on a separate screen. But, yes, for the puzzles of another day, you are kind of stuck with the i tab on the games app - unless you do a deep search in the paper app, which has its own glitches.

@Andrzej No matter what Polish call it, Wiener or Frankfurter remains strictly technically a sausage. Respective to one’s taste not as good as the home made one or saucisse boucher made by your butcher but it remains a sausage which simply is the name of the preparation. I can go and add soudjouk or figatelli to the list as a delice, but I can’t claim it is something utterly different. So, sausage link is very appropriate, all the more so as the Wiener or Frankfurter used in Hot Dogs mostly come in pairs at least (if not longer) which need to be cut at their link to be enjoyed in singles. I suggest Sacherwürstel in Vienna (anywhere in the city, does not have to be in the namesake hotel) or with Gulasch in any Kaffeehaus. They always come in pairs. Also any Würstelstand : from Frankfurter to Käsekrainer…

@Heidi coffee, cigarettes and a cat on the lap… morning radio in the background… 🖤

@Heidi and some black chocolate

@Fzgx Same here. I thought it was the heat. But then again, I realised, no other app was closing.

@Marshall Walthew Whoaaa!!!!

@Steve L Because I had not heard of the island 🏝️ I looked it up on the Maps app on my iPad with “Nauru“. Seems like they have not updated it either.

@Andrzej That’s a shame because it had a European theme and a playful revealer literally across the puzzle.

@MB Once I go through the puzzle by myself, that takes couple of rounds and a round with auto-check - I go to wordplay and move a word at a time. Yes, it contains help, explanations, etymology and free to use. As it’s mentioned regularly by the columnists there everyone their own way.

@Striker Elaborate!

@GB There was already so much Austria in this puzzle, they thought maybe and cut at the wrong place.

@Weak We all know why you started to come here every day. (And I just realised we can’t use any emojis here…)

So, you are just randomly talking about Polish sausage variations without making a point? Or talking about anything Polish is your point.