KK
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Not my favorite for a Tuesday. Theme made no sense, and too much reliance on trivia/names.
Goal Day for me! 366 day streak, meaning a full year including Leap Day! đ
Sloppy clueing. E.g., âMy heavensâ for âI DECLAREâ and âJeez Louiseâ for âAW COME ONâ, crossing each other? And so so many obscure proper names. One of the worst puzzles in memory.
Alas, one of my least favorite Saturdays in a long time.
Should we call this a âHidden RE-busâ?
The TAJ right on top of AGRA was delicious!
So, I have worked out how to solve these types of obscure proper noun heavy puzzles. Just go ahead and look up a couple of them, when you are stuck. Makes it go a lot faster, with less frustration.
I miss the moderating hand of Will Shortz.
This one was âjust rightâ for me. Not easy breezy, but not full of trivia I am forced to look up, either. Clever theme, totally solvable with no lookups, just a little perseverance! Well done!
Some clever, and some very sloppy clueing. I miss Will Shortz.
I donât know enough Italian or German for that clue. I guessed it may be HIS. Unfortunately SOPPED worked just as well for the across (as in âcleaned upâ the drippings on a plate with bread). Oh wellâŚ
Loved the puzzle. Not a big fan of LITCHI as a variant spelling of lychee (as it is usually spelled), but I suppose itâs valid.
Had to look up too many things. Not my favorite Saturday, but looks like others enjoyed it.
I guess the message is âget done solvinâ and get started lovinââ?
Quick, fun solve. I didnât catch on to the Homonym Hominem thing until I came here, but it was fun anyway.
It was a bit odd that 78D and 100A lit up together (on the iPad app), as if one was clued off the other, when they were not. Perhaps they were initially co-clued, but did not survive Shortz?
For me, it was the easiest Saturdays ever, but only because some wild guesses turned out to be correct! Very enjoyable, though.
24D/39A was a natick for me. Several letters could fit the common letter if you know neither name.
I found the 1D/51D pair to be unfair clueing.
Wow. Totally enjoyed this one. Very cleverly done!
One of the best Saturdays in recent memory! Nice work Kunal!
Are they confusing parasailing with hang gliding? At least around where I live, hang gliding is a hilly terrain sport, not a seashore oneâŚ
So wanted HARM POET there! (MIXED METAPHOR)
The theme is a bit forced. Not my fave.
We have 3 crossing proper nouns that (to me) are obscure. I guessed 96a to be ROSALIND Lupton. With that, REEL Kassis for 87d and PSI as a school name acronym (something something Institute?) for 91d seemed totally reasonable. So, does this qualify as a proper Natick?
A welcome respite after Fridayâs hash of a puzzle! (Apologies to those who loved the Friday puzzle, I am definitely not a fan of that mystery 13 series with âtoo cleverâ clues).
Loved the meta-theme that included the clues as well! Nicely done.
Meh. Sorry, but donât know any of the mentioned books or the author. So, had to slog my way through the crosses, which were easy enough, and thus completed the puzzle. But canât say I enjoyed it.
Never heard of a rookie being referred to as a rook. Not a fair clue.
Never heard of the Trinita whatever. But, the crosses were easy enough to make it a fair Wednesday puzzle for me!
Solved with no assistance! It seemed almost impossible, especially with all the unknown trivia entries, but the spanner guesses, they fell into place. Never have seen HAVOC used as a transitive verb, but the dictionary says it can be, so I guess it is fair.
Somehow, I can never say Aaron Burr, without adding âSirâ
Wow, that was hard! Had to do some âresearchâ on a couple of the trivia names, but oh well, got it done.
@NQL STRING as in Guitar String is a wire, maybe?
@Claire in the meantime, the younger people are left to wonder what Palm Pilots are đ
Canât say it was my favorite. Theme was easy enough, but then there were too many proper name trivia questions. Became a slog.
Not a fan of âmassiveâ applied to ICE PALACE, with a seating capacity of ~12,000, when the other SKA Arena in the same city has a seating capacity of ~22,000.
Liked the theme. However, AMSCRAY was terrible. Maybe they used that word in his home. Not mine! Some puzzle setters sometimes fail to realize every one didnât grow up in their home! The editor should have ixnayed that!
The delight at realizing there were digits was mitigated by the overuse of proper names. Really hate playing Trivial Pursuits in crosswords.
Very clever idea! Well executed too. Congrats!
Obviously, these puzzles are meant for a different level of player. I should just stop attempting them. Too frustrating.
It was not necessary to have us fill out the Tâs, especially since it is not clear which Tâs are filled or not visually. Good puzzle, but tech fail.
Had NO idea on the obscure trivia item on 40A. To me, SCARFING seemed like a fine answer to 37D. Maybe âARCIEâ could be a name? I call âNATICKâ đ¤Ł
Very nice puzzle! Got to tell the constructor about this game, though: <a href="https://strongholdgames.com/our-games/diamonds" target="_blank">https://strongholdgames.com/our-games/diamonds</a>/ :)
It was very enjoyable. However, crossing the proper name ALY (donât know her) with the non-word YOINK was not too KOSHER, I FEAR.
NOTV was a bit of a stretch. Very outdated.
Super fun Friday puzzle! Thank you Evan and Joel!