Wayne Harrison
Brandon Canada
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Brandon Canada
Thank you for a wonderful puzzle! I found it tough (almost 20 minutes over my average) but that was due to all the wonderfully clever misdirects. I don’t think any of them were too obscure or otherwise unfair. I was almost ready to start using Google when I had less than a quarter of the grid filled but I chipped away and chipped away until it all came together. This is my favourite type of puzzle.
I’ve never heard of FAILLE and have never heard the expression WEIRD FLEX BUT OK, so I was totally stuck at the end. Otherwise I enjoyed the puzzle.
@alan That was a fun theme. It made clever use of the KIT/KAT pairing. I didn’t feel like I was being sold anything.
Today’s puzzle didn’t do it for me. Maybe I’m just not in the right frame of mind. I got it fine with no help but the theme seemed a bit so-so. CELL RECEPTION seemed like the theme answers were going to be some sort of pun but apart from the square/box/etc connection they were all just other gatherings. Anyway, it whiled away a few minutes and took my mind off my troubles, so thanks.
I’ve never heard of POLLO guisado or Zosia MAMET, so a ton made as much sense to me as ALOT. I guess the only thing that I can complain about is my own lack of knowledge.
@Barry Ancona Your point about modern butter making may be true but I still like the clue. It brings to mind the image of an old wooden butter churn.
I got stuck in the SW. I haven’t heard of REEM Kassis or ROSAMUND Lipton, and as a Canadian I always have trouble with US college sports teams. I had to look up the Nittany Lions. After that it all fell into place.
I was more than 2 minutes under my average time, so in that sense it was easy, but there were plenty of sneaky misdirects. I can’t remember the last time I had to change so many answers that I thought that I had correct.
@SC I agree. The marshmallow may catch fire but if your completed s’more catches fire you’re doing something very wrong.
@George My time was significantly longer than my average so ‘far too easy’ is just one person’s experience.
That was certainly one of the harder ones that I’ve solved unaided. Well over my average. But in the end, a satisfying puzzle.
In contrast to many of today’s solvers, I found this one to be a challenge. I was almost 29 minutes over my average time. Having said that, I found it to be a very enjoyable. Lots of good clues and misdirects and nothing that I would say is unfair. Good puzzle!
@Dave K. Maybe ALMOST everyone. I always heard it as BEEP BEEP.
Definitely a worthy Saturday. I have to admit I was defeated and had to consult Word Play for help. I put that down to the confluence of puzzle and solver and not the fault of either. Once I got a few helpers it all came together and was quite satisfying. No complaints from me.
I thought I was struggling but my time was 10 minutes less than my average. It was a fun puzzle with some great clues.
@Marshall I only remember it as ‘take ten’. ‘Take five’ sounds wrong to my ear. I found this one very tough. I was a full 35 minutes over my Saturday average and was almost ready to start using Google, but slowly but surely managed a clean solve. I’m glad I stuck to it and got a feeling of satisfaction.
Prince Valiant has the same number of letters as THE WIZARD OF ID.
@Adin That seems harsh.
A wonderful puzzle. Not overly difficult for a Sunday but very creative. I don’t know why, but I was never very fond of the Roadrunner cartoons. I much preferred the ones with dialogue. Now, looking back, I am more appreciative of their humour.
I went to bed last night with an almost empty grid and a sinking feeling that I would have to resort to Google and Wordplay to get me to the end, but we have a 2 1/2 hour drive and I got to work on the puzzle while my wife drove. Slowly, painfully it came together. I was about 9 minutes slower than my average but it felt like longer. Just like yesterday, I’m glad I stuck with it and was guilty of the sin of pride when I was done. (Just kidding. To misquote Gordon Gekko: pride is good.)
Interestingly there have been times where I have really struggled and yet I found that I was faster than my average but today, with a few exceptions, it seemed to go very smoothly and yet I was well over my average time.
@SP Thank you, I also totally missed the joke until I read your comment. Clever clue!
Fun puzzle. I was initially confused by GRAHjICDETAoL but once I got that sorted I was well below my Wednesday average. Thanks to the creators.
I thought the clue for 6A was a hint that the answer would start with a c. Once again I was wrong. I was about 2 minutes faster than my average Friday time, so, for my brain, it was a bit easy but not remarkably so.
@Spmm We love our tv over the fireplace. It’s quite comfortable to watch.
@Laura Not to be argumentative, but why is it offensive?
@SP It seems to me that you listed a lot of reasons to like this puzzle. I quite enjoyed it! The theme was clever. It wasn’t terribly difficult once I knew the second of each pair was an anagram. 10 minutes faster than my average but plenty of interesting fill.
@Anita Actually, American Automobile Association. (Otherwise the Canadian equivalent would be AAC, not CAA)
@SP I agree. I don’t see how that was a warning for nights.
@Andrew Interestingly, FASTANDFURRYOUS and steamboatwillie also have the same number of letters. I quickly caught on that it was about cartoon characters but I thought of the wrong ones first.
@ST Actually it is much simpler. A tshirt cannon is an item often seen at a sporting event. It fires rolled-up souvenir t shirts (tops) into the crowd. Thus it is a ‘top’ gun.
@Mandy Fehlbaum ?
@T Almost 8 minutes over my average, almost exactly my Saturday average. So not too easy for me. I really enjoyed it. Once I figured out the theme it helped me with a couple of answers. Or at least it helped me understand how the answers fit the clues.
I don’t know why, but this one just didn’t work for me. I usually enjoy the theme puzzles with clever twists but tonight not so much. I got about 90% done without solving the trick then had to use wordplay and a couple of Google look-ups to finish.
I just didn’t have the energy for the double revised. For the first time in years I just gave up my streak and used the reveal function.
@Francis Sorry, I went to Wikipedia for more info. I think I was better off before.
@Matt I see. I felt the breeze on my bald spot as that flew over my head. 🙂
@Robco We have a tv over our gas fireplace. It complies with the building code. There are definite regulations that have to be followed.
@aThat seems harsh. Maybe not the best clue of the week, but it works. btw, a Saturday pb!
@Dave Ditto for me. I could have run the alphabet but I googled ‘Wipeout’ instead.
@NYC Traveler I wasted time trying to figure out which answer was wrong.
11 seconds off my pb.
@Chris I was tempted to do something similar. I really thought I was defeated, but because I had the time to work on it at my leisure it slowly came together using guesses, crosses and multiple changes. I’m not saying one approach is better than the other but I am glad I stuck with it. You might have surprised yourself if you kept at it, and even if you didn’t finish you would probably have improved your skills.
Whatever happened to being able to just enter the first letter of a rebus?
@Robco That’s why it’s a ‘cross’ word. The crosses were all gettable.
I’m blanking. Why is 40a CUKE. I’m sure when I find out I will feel foolish.
@Patrick J. That was my last square. Somehow BMI was in the back of my mind and I lucked it out on my first try.
@Barry Ancona But I didn’t get the star until I went back and changed the 8 ‘p’ to ‘phi’s.