BobSolo

@Petrol, Your comment is why this forum is worth reading after the puzzle has been completed! I really didn’t learn much from the puzzle today, but you filled that gap and I appreciate your effort to inform us.

@The X-Phile Changing o to U was my last letter. I knew that either Argos/Argus could be considered, so for me it was “Looie didn’t look right”. Louie, Louie brought music to my ears.

@Angela, Believe that is the correct interpretation.

@RL, Along with the other comments, know that sometimes, you’ll be on the same wavelength as the constructor and other times nothing will “click”. That’s normal, and can lead to difficulties completing the puzzles, …or to personal best times! Also, a suggestion might be to actually write in your best guess - for example on the 49D clue, you mentioned a few possibilities. Which do you think is the best? Actually put those letters in and see if it helps jog the brain on any across clues. Finally, walk away from the puzzle for an hour. You’d be surprised how many times you come back to it and fill in an answer you previously couldn’t “get”.

@John k., C’mon “boomer” (and I say that sympathetically, as I am a GB, grumpy boomer, as well), the Best Record (not best recording) award has been given since the Grammy Awards began in 1959. Congrats on becoming a grandfather!

@Mike, et al. I think you punsters are all wet.

@Andrzej, My scissors go “snicker snack”. Oh, wait. That’s my vorpal blade.

@Asher B. Loved your comments, in their entirety! ‘… when Ol’ Henri was still Duke.” Glad I didn’t have a mouthful of water (oh, wait, it’s after 1 pm here — wine!) Seriously guffawed on that one.

@E Sub in Roman numerals for the number that begins each theme answer, then read the answer phonetically. TWOCAPTAIN = IICAPTAIN => aye aye capitain, etc.

@Charles Peterson, 💯 agree. When I filled in Stolis, I was “ha ha yeah” as in hesitant agreement (ref. Recent Kuggelman puzzle). But then Pepsis? And Dews? (Didn’t have to be clued referencing “some yellow-green sodas”). Felt kinda like the puzzle could have been titled “Brought to you by….” Oreo, Ragu, and Edys failed to make the cut (this time).

@Helen Wright, Hear, hear! And go England!

@Cat Lady Margaret “Soylent Green is people!”

@Helen Wright, Festively hungover, I hope! (Since that was the only “positive” selection you provided.)

@Andrzej, But if you didn’t get it, wouldn’t it be a missed demeanor? (Sorry, Andrzej. I know you hate them, but I had to try!)

@dutchiris, Fantastic! Happy birthday! 🎉 🎂

@Bob Hmmm. I’m on the app, and I saw it the sensical way. Maybe a difference between iPhone and Android? Agree, it would have thrown me if it was presented differently, though the crossings and revealer helped by that point.

@Bill in Yokohama And of course, Velcro is a brand name and comes with a superscripted TM or ®️. (Similar to Kleenex brand or Band-Aid brand.). The common name for a Velcro-like closure is “hook-and-loop”. All of this because back when I was working, we needed a high-strength reusable packaging closure that could withstand literally tons of shearing force. Instead of Velcro (brand) or generic “hook-and-loop”, a “mushroomcap-and-loop” closure was used. Our lawyers (rightly) insisted that we not use the term Velcro, but our customers always referred to our “Velcro packaging”. (Geek-out, nerds!)

@Loopy, Nope, no wavelength synchronicity for me. More like ROUGEWAVE! Yesterday‘s for me was much easier. Regardless, HBD!

@SBK in TO, And for some it’s a political party.😳

@Lily You were not the only one. The L in SALTS was my last letter, immediately before the forehead slap.

@Cat Lady Margaret, When I was working, and before phones had the levels of security they do now, it was a common prank to commandeer a colleague’s phone and switch it to another language. If one were very mean, that language might use a non-Latin/Roman alphabet. Luckily, our pranksters were considerate enough to only change to alphabets they, themselves could fix. But talk about temporary chaos!

@D, Indeed, the misdirection and vagueness shows promise for future challenges.

@Barry Ancona, What, you’ve not heard of a bersonal pest?

@Jane Wheelaghan, Child-speak for water. My daughter said waya, but only when she wanted a water bottle, and then it was “waaaya bottle”. We still remind her of that occasionally.

@Niall I also had ROJa for a bit until solving for the tequila rounds. Obviously, my uni education paid off in solving that one 😉

@sotto voce Had this same thought until late in the solve. I think I saw the originals of one or two of these, but none of the sequels. So was quite a difficult start. Had to rely a lot on the crosses. Good challenge for me.

@Mike Odd you say that, but since yesterday, my iOS- based app text looks bigger! Maybe it’s a zero-sum situation! 🤓

@NYC Traveler And don’t forget, there’s been a Clemson and a Dabo and a “roll tide” as well. You may be onto something

@Nat K, Agree! I think it’s better to see a guess than try to visualize that same guess. Go ahead and put the letters in - changing it, erasing it, and occasionally confirming it (the most satisfying outcome) all work to get the brain thinking of alternatives that eventually will lead toward better solve times (if that’s your goal), or successful solves (which is everyone’s goal).

@Jane Wheelaghan, I looked it up, and apparently it’s been around (in the US) since the 1920s. According to the source, the slang comes from culinary: for example, you cream butter by beating or whipping it well.

@Joe, Puzzle symmetry and theme answer order (a set of 3 BEFOREs and 3 AFTERs) necessitated staggering the answers.

@Down_Home, Your 100% surety, is unfortunately 100% incorrect. The loonie is the “$1 coin, eh?” The $2 coin goes by a slightly different name (eh?).

@Andrzej, What a concept! (I won’t hold my breath)

@V Same here

@Petrol, Yes! “Short and sweet” clues rather than explanations, though I enjoyed “Nightmares for nannies”. To complete the list, Corked Yorks, or Faulty Fujis maybe? (Though not sure how prevalent our apple varietals are internationally.)

@Mean Old Lady I initially put in Tahiti, but the spanners corrected me once I had more downs. Once I was done and got the congrats message I had to look it up. Tuvalu has got to be at threat of succumbing to sea level rise! It looks like there’s hardly any land there now!

@essay, Always interesting what can be gimmes for some, and struggles for me. I’m never good at remembering titles to songs and their associated artists. If it isn’t Classic Rock, I’m probably not going to know it. This was the case for me with the Aguilera clue, but it was certainly gettable using the crosses. It also helped that by then I was fully aware of the theme, so needed little time to suss out RIGA. But still, that corner was the last section to fall for me.

@Francis, Farther and further, as well.

@dutchiris Well, I do now!

@Roger Some play guitar, others define the meaning of playing guitar, but this…? From a different GALAXY! (And then he threw the guitar over his back, as if to say “that one’s done - no notes left in it”) Made my morning.