DF

@Milo Ummm. . . This required figuring things out, which is what makes something a puzzle. It’s the definition of what a puzzle is. Also: Thursday almost always has a twist, so if that bothers you, just skip Thursdays.

@Steve That is the appropriate spelling of the style it refers to.

@Wayne Johnson I’m tempted to write “Sir, this is a Wendy’s.” It’s a puzzle. If you are looking for meaning, I suggest you read Victor Frankel.

@michael mccann Fuzzy Wuzzy. But I suspect that 99.99 percent of the folks who remember that tongue twisting rhyme from childhood have no clue as to its Kipling origins. I certainly didn’t until a few minutes ago. At some point, if something has lost all obvious connection to it’s possibly racist, imperialistic, sexist, etc origins and has transformed in the minds of most people into something far more innocent, should we perhaps not let it go?

@Mark C Oh for Pete’s sake. I don’t even like football and I knew that the dominant teams in the 70s were the Dolphins, the Cowboys and the Steelers. (Cowboys is not enough letters and Dolphins didn’t match any of the crosses.) It’s called general cultural literacy. Crosswords reward big vocabularies and punning capacity but they also reward general knowledge. Football dynasties are not by any definition obscure knowledge—at least not in the U.S.

@Jon Now that’s the spirit!

@Cloudy Rockwell I don’t understand the proper names complaint. Crossword puzzles have always rewarded general knowledge not just having a voluminous vocabulary.

@Ed Only a Minnesotan can get away with that comment.

@Matt For Black hair (meaning the hair on Black peoples’ heads) “natural” means any style that does not require harsh, burning often carcinogenic chemicals (i. e. straighteners) and/or heat and that is also “protective,” meaning that style will not damage the hair, dry it out or cause breakage. In the last two decades, the right of Black people—especially girls and women—to wear these natural styles, which often do require work and great skill, at work and in school, has become an actual civil right protected by legislation in several states. Locs, because they do not require heat or harsh straighteners or cause breakage are indeed considered a natural, protective style.

@Chris In these parts, it’s a pep band if the members don’t march on the field, but just play in the stands. When the same students perform on stage, they become a concert band. Whether the school in question has a pep band or marching band typically depends on the school’s size, funding (marching band is way more expensive) and local traditions. Signed, former band mom.

@john ezra I actually LOL’d. Very clever.

@Nancy It’s a day when people wear green so why would you capitalize it? And if St. Patrick isn’t the star of St. Patrick’s Day, who is? I thought that was a brilliant clue.

@Flamingo In print? On your phone? If the latter, it’s easy to enlarge using your thumb and index finger.

@Brian For me, that happens often.

@Barry Ancona Oh Barry, you are the best. And I mean this sincerely.

@Charles Peterson I see the difference. And agree completely.

@Alexia Actually if we make the safe and reasonable assumption that it is the dissatisfied who are most likely to bother to leave a comment, I think it is fair to say that more than half of the players found this puzzle at least satisfactory.

@D Esoteric? NFL teams? ABBA songs? Tom Hanks? Big sandwiches? What qualifies as common knowledge in your book?

@Dave You aren’t the only one.

@Bob T. A lot maybe but based on some of today’s comments, not enough.

@Mike R It’s a McDonald’s dessert. Something like an ice cream sundae, I think. Oreo is in the puzzle all the time—probably because it’s got three vowels and one of the most commonly occurring consonants in English.

@Oscar Pansy Arepa has been in the puzzle before

@David Downey Well, if you don’t find puzzlement amusing, why do you do puzzles?

@Dan A comprehensive world history textbook today might begin with a discussion of the theories of the formation of the universe and the origins of humans so the use of “eon” in that context is not completely far-fetched.

@The X-Phile Well played sir!

@Chris Me too.

@Lynn They don’t sell that at Market Basket? Color me surprised. My local MB has a great Latin American food selection.