Bonnie Ann

I really enjoyed this puzzle. Loved the Here be dragons, and Come to a bad end, etc. All just barrels of fun. It took me an hour, which after reading all the much shorter times posted tonight, brought up a chuckle. I'm just so darn happy to solve one of these glorious things that an hour for a Saturday is a thrill for me. Some times a Saturday takes a few days at least. I've been doing crosswords for many years, and I love them. But I'm not fast and have been known to go down a rabbit hole or two when I find a word that fascinates me or one I want to know more about. So, if there are any newbies out there, don't be discouraged by the quick players and the wunderkinds, this is a game for us slow poke, plod alongs as well. I'm almost 80 and have been cross wording for decades and still having fun. It's not a competition, thank goodness. It's a wonderful opportunity to keep learning, have a laugh or two, and to appreciate all the brilliant minds that construct these marvels. Y'all have a great Labor Day week end. ✌️

Such a fun puzzle! Thank you Sam Corbin for helping with the questioning clues that Mr. Caprera so cleverly conjured. I got the hang of it and they were lots of fun to decode. Wednesday puzzles are my favorite. Like the Bears' Beds, Wednesday's are just right. Not too hard and not too soft. I had to get the Sound of Music locale from the crosses. and even then I tried really hard to squeeze Alps in there somehow. But the crosses spelled it out clearly. My kinda game. Amy a WWE champ? You bet! Can't wait for you to return with another one Mr. Caprera! Y'all have a great second half of the week and enjoy the 4th. We have a democracy to protect so eat lots of potato salad and watermelon. Don't scare the dogs, and be kind to one another. ✌️

Another wonderful Wednesday puzzle! Thank you so much for this lovely rebus. Decades ago local TV stations here would run local kid shows very early on week end mornings. I was a Girl Scout leader at the time and my Brownie troop and I were guests on a Texas guitar playing couple's Sunday morning kids show. For the life of me I cannot remember their names. Anyway. The Brownies and I sang and signed a song for the TV audience. The song was "Let there be peace on Earth and let it begin with me" We all learned to sign it as a troop project at the time. I had completely forgotten about it until solving this puzzle brought back the memory. So with a smile and wet eyes, I wanted to share the joy your puzzle brought me tonight. Kudos to Alex Eaton-Salders and NYTs staff. Cheers from Texas! We have emus here, too.

I love Wednesday puzzles. And this one is now my favorite. Thank you Matz Bothers for a fast fun fabulous puzzle that made me smile all the way through it. No look-ups needed. Very enjoyable and proof that an "easy" puzzle doesn't have to be boring or without great wordplay and tricky challenges. Nicely done! We're gonna have Saraha dust blowing our way and it'll be hot...over 100 hot here in Texas. But no matter because we are celebrating our own Simone Biles and her team for winning Gymnastics Gold tonight. Congratulations y'all! Cheers from Texas. Y'all stay cool and out of the Saraha dust.

Lovely puzzle Ms. Datta. The pictures were a nice change of pace for a Thursday. I never complain about a puzzle being too easy or too hard. Some folks just think differently, so each puzzle is a way to learn how another person perceives things. One of the reasons I enjoy crossword puzzles. The NYT never disappoints. Thank you.

I finished the Saturday and Sunday puzzles yesterday. I really enjoyed both. It occurred to me that while I perceived both as relatively hard, I enjoyed the challenge and felt so satisfied solving. Some puzzles that are just as "hard" aren't as satisfying. I've been thinking about that as I read the yeas and nays of the comments. The totality of our experience seems to determine how hard we perceive a puzzle. Those of us that are drawn to wanting to solve word puzzles are already a specific group who have an innate ability to understand and enjoy language. So why are some puzzles more satisfying than others? I don't know about other folks, but for me it's the images and experiences that the words in the puzzle conjure. It's the wit, humor and joy of the words and how they connect to the very personal mental library that they touch. Like opening a book. Just a little Sunday afternoon musings. I loved this Sunday puzzle. It brought up memories of being in the amusement park with my kids growing up. It was a joy to solve. Cheers from Texas. Have fun and stay safe and cool y'all.

Here late to balance out the "too easy for a Friday" comments. This one was hard for me. Harder than Thursday's. I'm not complaining. I did whine to the dogs a bit. They had nothing to offer when I wailed "slime trail, what the..." except a head tilt and a request for a treat. I left and came back, then was able to get in the groove. You are so right Deb, they are fun even when hard. Thanks NYT games.

I really enjoyed this Sunday puzzle. The painting theme was lovely. There was even an emu found crossing Peru under the near space of the Inca trails. I could picture all this under a beautiful starry night. Delightful. If I hadn't spent so much time searching for a typo (an itinerant "I " where an " a " should have been} my solve time would have been better. I also learned a new word, pawl. In any case, It was fun. Thank you NYT games and Michael Schlossberg for a wonderful puzzle.

Nice puzzle. I was stuck on the SW corner. So I took a break to read comments and maybe pick up a clue or two. Thanks to dutchiris's comment I realized I had all but 2 letters on 38D. {Granted } didn't make sense to me at first. Anyway, that fixed the other 2 words I had partially filled in correctly and that lovely chime rang and all was well with the world. The clues were well written and clever. I had fun. Thank you NYT. Cheers to Y'all, we will be buying batteries, Vienna sausage, and saltines for the hurricane remnants coming our way next week. We need the rain, not flooding and a power outage hopefully! Wish us luck!

Hi Y'all I'm with you Sam, Jesse Goldberg is a genius! I couldn't pick one of the fantastic missing letter clues that solve into an appropriate response if I tried. Like choosing a favorite child. They are all so very clever, wonderfully crafter and a joy to solve. I didn't take me long to figure out the missing letters I jumped around to find them, I enjoyed solving them that much! What a great Wednesday crossword! Thank you Jesse and NYT puzzle team.

I hate to admit it, this is one of those marvelous puzzles that is just way too young for me. I didn't know so many solves, I had to go to Deb's hints. It's a long list. BooBirds? Sinbin ( I actually guessed this one with crosses) Edgelord? I had no idea what a "low tie" was, and never heard of atted? It was really hard for me to finish. I did like the puzzle and had the SW corner and stacks done. Football and hockey references are lost on me. The jelloshots clue was over my head. I lie to myself and say I keep up, then the reality of knowing what a phone booth is and who sang the midnight sign-off on early tv (Kate Smith) but never hearing of an edge lord or boo birds brings my old self home.😂 It was fun to find out all these "new to me" things that I just missed on the other hand, Geez Laweez, I feel OLD tonight. Thank you Mr. Bratton for a clever puzzle, and thank you Deb for all the hints...I couldn't have finished without them. Cheers from Texas y'all. Looking forward to the weekend crosswords.

Thank you Mr. Vincent for a holiday themed puzzle. I really enjoyed the clever clues and, like Deb wrote, I had that endorphin rush when I heard the chime. I got hung up on a typo or would have finished sooner. I thought the wordplay was clever and playful. I'm holding onto my hat and getting ready to sing tomorrow. May you all have a wonderful and safe day. May the fourth be with you. Cheers.

What a great puzzle. I stayed up late to finish because I was enjoying it so much. I enlarged the print/grid so I wouldn't go blind trying to read the letter boxes. Once enlarged, it was easy to read. The different colors were clear. Joe Flagliano must be a genius. I'm so impressed with this creative and very lovely work of art. A gold medal achievement. Thank you for a delightful evening puzzling. Blue Bayou ear worm going on. I love the way Helen Ronstadt sang that lovely song. She died too young. G'night from Texas.

Mr. Shortz, may you heal well and have a speedy recovery! We miss you. RE: emus I am very fond of emus and have a friendly emu who lives in a small farm near my home. When he/she is not in the barn, but out and about, the dogs and I greet with a bark and wave to say hello. We are often graced with a long neck nod and a fluff of feathers. I notice references to emus in the comments. Is there a back story? I gather it has history. I would love to hear it. Thank you for a lovely Monday puzzle. Very nicely done.

Whew. This puzzle took me an hour over my average time. It really was a toughie. My delete button got a workout. I got Barbie right away, but had to get the core from crosses. It must mean "essence", I just never heard it used this way. The NW and SW corners were my boogaboos. Kiva was new to me. New words are fun. Like finding a little new shell on the beach. I'm just not good enough to get the really difficult wordplay right away. I have to think about it and try everything before something fits. But I'm getting better. I don't mind when folks complain about a puzzle, it's a great way to vent frustration. It's nice to find someone who agrees with your irritation online, that way you don't have to bore your family with it. And that's a plus. Cheers from Texas. Stay safe and cool y'all.

I did it! I figured out all of the rhyming/not homophone clues. It was like a puzzle within a puzzle. I say it every week, I love Wednesday puzzles. This one is definitely a favorite. Thank you Meghan Morris and NYT puzzle staff. I haven't read/listened to the article yet (I'm so tired), I came right here to celebrate my completing the puzzle and read comments first. Excellent construction, clear clues, no naticks, beautifully done. Yay! Cheers from Texas. Good news on the TV news tonight except for hurricane Debbie wreaking havoc up the east coast. Stay safe and dry crossword community. Turn around don't drown.

Thank you Tracy Gray for double the fun puzzle. I really enjoyed all the clues and solves, specially the Blackeyed PP's. I had a few look ups, I don't know sports folks names, but the rest just flowed. I had every letter except the "r" in tabouret/Ensor not knowing either one. The double y in the southeast corner was another fun one. After yesterday's extremely difficult puzzle (I was determined to finish and think I had to look up every other word...geez laweez someone is very smart and it's not me. Hopefully I'll retain some of what I learned for next time). Thanks again NYTs and cheering on Mr. Shortz in his recovery! Tomorrow is the big solar event here, so lots of extra excitement afoot. Have a great day all.

Thunderstorm and nervous little dogs woke me, so why not do the Wednesday puzzle. Lots of fun. I really enjoyed all the clever little broken spells. I learned of a giant hoax, a snakey baseball team, and an old secretary while the lightning lit the foyer and the thunder rolled. It was, after all, a dark and dreary night with all sorts of mischief afoot. The pups woofed in agreement. Time for all good souls to go back to sleep. Let the storm tomorrow keep. Find shelter from the storm, all Emus under April's spell. Keep safe. Stay well. Don't wander into harm.

Hi y'all I knew that this was a rebus and hand had to be it because getting caught red handed is the only way. I needed a little help, but finished the challenge handily. The rebuses were handled brilliantly by Mr. Young. Nice wordplay and lovely construction. On the one hand I find Thursday puzzles to be somewhat confusing at times, but then on the other hand they are usually more fun. I had fun tonight! Thank you Christopher Young and NYT game staff Deb Amien. Cheers from Texas. It was 102 here today. Thinking about our neighbors on the east coast and their Debbie situation. Been there. I'm so sorry. Summer's just heating up here. More storms brewing. Our biggest hits are usually in September. Teachers going back to school tomorrow, and kids next week. The kids will be wishing for a hurricane, the rest of us not so much. Turn around and don't drown. Stay safe, cool and dry.

Thank you for a lovely Puzzle Mr. Johnson. It was smoothly elegant, lively and remarkable made. You created what had to be difficult feel easy breezy. I haven't solved a puzzle so coherent (I couldn't think of another word to describe it) and well constructed in a long time. I enjoyed it. Looking forward to your next offering. Cheers.

Great fun puzzle! I got stuck on my hard headed insistence on "opera stage". When I gave up on it, everything in that northeast corner flowed. I enjoyed working this puzzle. It was at the just perfect level of difficulty for my current abilities. The puns and wordplay were in my wheelhouse, and the clues were solid! I've been working my way back over the last month from a grueling case of spring COVID. I got it before I could get the vaccine. I've been using the NYT word games as a gauge of my healing from the fatigue and brain fog. This puzzle was the first that I could stay with and solve evenly. Thank you NYTs for your wonderful games! At my age, these games are more than just fun for me, but a daily workout for my brain. As a lifelong scrabble and crossword lover, kudos for a lovely mix of different challenges. Thank you Robin Weintraup, great job.

I am not a constructor, nor do I know how to assess a good construction. What I do know is when a puzzle flows smoothly and is a pleasure to work no matter the difficulty. This was one of those delightful ones. I went back and looked at it following Debs advice and I noticed how beautifully compact it was. I can only begin to imagine how difficult it was to produce. I got hung up on solar...had cells, panels, then finally thanks to spoilers-- power. That helped me finish the puzzle. I hope everyone had a fun 4th. We have a few fireworks violators outside breaking the law in the middle of the night getting the neighborhood dogs to tattle on them. I think that ended the party. Good on the pups!

Whew! Definitely Saturday. I didn't know the word for the nesting dolls and needed Caitlin Lovinger's hints to finish Mr. Leach's wonderful puzzle. I enjoyed it, but my brain hurts. I started with "a narcissist" to get it to fit, but crosses nixed that one. The crosses were ok. The problem was finding a narcissistical word that started with a "g". Those two words were the only real worrisome and time consuming ones. The rest took thought, but were all words I knew, so I had memory to give me the advantage. So today I learned two new words. Thank you Mr. Leach and NYTs crossword puzzle staff. Cheers from Texas. My thoughts are with family I have in Upper New York State and all those other's in Debbie's path. Stay safe as much as you can. Turn around, don't drown.

Thoroughly enjoyed this delightful Wednesday puzzle. Great debut for Mr. Callaghan and Mr. Nediger. They work well together. I especially liked the numbered "steps". The clues were clever and consistent with the puzzles theme for the most part. Nicely done. Thank you NYT crossword team. Cheers from Texas under a hot sun and brighter than normal moon. G'night y'all!

Fun Tuesday puzzle. Learned a new word, 3D. It kept me all twisted up for while. A regional lacking on my part. I'm from the south and have never heard that word before. With my crosses it spelled out exactly what it was. imagine my surprise when it was correct. The rest of the puzzle was charming. Although, and this is just nitpicking on my part. Dropping an anchor isn't really 20Aing it. All part of that worrisome NW corner. To secure that boat, one might want to do both, drop anchor and 20A. If you are dropping the anchor, you're just dropping the anchor. To 20A it, you have to attach the boat to something. Like wrapping the line around a dock post on a pier. It can even be a buoy if you're away from the dock. Point being, these are two distinctive and separate actions. You can anchor a boat to something without dropping the anchor I suppose. But the clue was specific. Like I said nitpicking. 🤓 LOL. Hopefully all our SE coastal folks have anchored all their boats securely and are drying off tonight. Cheers from Texas, stay cool, dry and safe y'all. Turn around don't drown.

So many puns, so little time. Loved this one. I got all the theme entries and thoroughly enjoyed figuring them out. What a blast this puzzle was to play. Mr. Larson and Mr. Peterson created a witty and charming puzzle. I especially liked "Getting your goat" and "tackling dummies". Thank you gentlemen and the NYT crossword team. Cheers from Texas y'all.

Nice puzzle. Perfect for a lazy Sunday night. Interesting solve and clever clues. Mondays are always easier and more straightforward. This one had a little misdirection and longer solves which was lovely. A palate cleanser for the week. Crisp, clean, cool and satisfying. Looks like we dodged Beryl this time, but my relatives to the southeast of me will take the brunt. Flooding is a given these days in some parts of Texas. We'll keep in touch and make sure everyone is safe. Not our first rodeo. Cheers y'all from Texas.

I didn't know a pawpaw was spelled papaw. Unless you were referring to your grandpa. Hung me up for too long. I got every thing pretty easily and really liked the counting puns. I was trying so hard to make one-esed nicks, a thing. One-eyed jacks is so much better. LOL. Nice puzzle, thank you. I really liked this Wednesday puzzle.

I really liked this puzzle despite how long it took me to complete. I found a typo first and that didn't give me a winning chime. So went back to my most troublesome entry Virginia. I had Rama for Yama, and while it felt forced couldn't for the life of me figure it out. The wordplay was no help. It was the only clue that I didn't chuckle when I got it. All the others were marvelous! I enjoyed everything else about this beautiful construction. Kudos to Ginny Too for a brilliant debut. Thank you NYT for a lovely Sunday game.

About half way I thought, this is hard for a Monday. When I checked, it was the Tuesday Puzzle. So I finished it and went back and did the Monday. What happens when I do the puzzles late. I liked the Tuesday theme. Nice puzzles to get ready for the week. Kudos to the constructors and staff at NYT games. I appreciate all you do! Cheers from Texas. Our rain had stopped and the heat dome has settled over us again, so ugh. And no, one doesn't get used to it. Y'all stay cool.

Geez Laweez this was hard. I had the puzzle filled with everything but the "-"'s and could not figure out all the rebuses (I got Ik(ea)) even after completing the theme early on. The misspellings of okra and latinization of togas aside (I got those and gave the constructor a pass on that) this was too hard and confusing for me. Others may have reveled at the challenge. I usually do. Not this time. I didn't feel an aha moment or an exclamation of glee at the cleverness, I just felt tired. No offense to the very talented Mr. Seigel, this one wasn't for me. Cheers to everyone who had fun with it!

Wow! I started yesterday. In and out of rabbit holes, questioned my sanity at one point, refused to give up, used everything at my disposal to finish this one. And I did. Hard as nails, but satisfying. I had an 's' where a 'z' should be. I've never heard of so many of the clues. What kind of bar? I had a dozen filled in from my imagination. I had 'green' where fresh should be. I got that funding from the cross, still don't know what that means. En (what) to grain? I had an 'o' at the end. Made more sense to me with an 'o' even after I got it 'right'. I only know a few rappers, but I know presidents. Lots of look ups that didn't help at all, except maybe to eliminate. A lot of the fills just came from some untouched place in my brain that I rarely have to visit. I happy to be finished. A fierce Saturday puzzle under my belt. Well done Sam. Gotta go, I'm late to a spelling bee. Cheers from Texas y'all.

Great puzzle. Congratulations to Mr. Deshong and Mr. Seetharam for an excellent collaboration. Except for the very clever CUTANDPASTE, I filled in the middle with not too much trouble. I had no idea what a Purple hatted Nintendo is. One of two new words for me. So TIL WALUIGI and JAMAIS VU. I'm thrilled to know JAMAIS VU. WALUIGI not so much. I will probably not know the next Nintendo clue either. Fun clues. I had a good time tonight finishing up the puzzle. Thank you guys. Have a lovely week end y'all. Stay safe, cool, and hydrated. ✌️

I didn't get the countdown until I was almost finished the puzzle. Knowing where to place the two helped me finish that southeast corner. Lovely puzzle. I'm amazed at the talent constructers demonstrate with these wacky ones. Such smart folks! Thank you for the hard work.

One of those Saturday puzzles that looked impossible at the start, but when my guesses hit the mark and I finished the northwest corner faster than I anticipated, well it was" hold my sweet tea "n while I finish this puppy. It's true that my long term memory is better than my short term which gave me an advantage today. Place laugh emoji here...My favorite clue was "music style that means new trend". The Bossa Nova is playing in my head right now. New ear worm. Once I had the two esses from the cross, I had it... the music first, then the name. Very enjoyable evening. Thank you Johnson, Mussa and NYT for a great puzzle.

Lovely debut puzzle. (I wish I could do that). Once I got the correct Martin, the puzzle went down smoothly. All subjects I know well, card games, southern drinks, baby shower gifts and wonderful Marilyn Monroe films. Thank you Kelly Richardson for a fun puzzle that gave me a warm and cozy feeling, like a nice cup of chamomile. Cheers from Texas. Stay cool y'all!

Fun puzzle. My first "wormhole" construction. Less tricky than it seemed at first. But I'm easily frightened by unusual configurations in crosswords. Then it's like "that wasn't so bad" after the first fill in. I liked all the heavenly references winding up with Carl himself. Nicely done. Thank you NYTs and Kareem Ayas! Cheers from Texas. We're waiting for a "cool" front and some rain, in July no less! Grateful in advance for any respite from the hellscape of summer in Texas. Y'all stay cool and try not to get blown away!

Delicious! I don't know Nintendo, but I sure enjoyed finding all the animals! Great puzzle. Thank you Mr. Schreiber and NYT crossword team.

What a great debut Mr. Snitkin! I loved your clever and fun (punny and funny) puzzle. And that's what it's all about, eh? Thank you.

I had a great time today with this lovely, funny Saturday puzzle. I had to laugh at my enlightenment solve to "you kill me". When I went back to clean up that part of the puzzle....that can't be right, could it? So it was "Lee", not "lie" and that eponymous dish was a petri (I should have gotten that right away, but hunger had me thinking food}. I really enjoyed all the clues and had fun with the solves. They just killed me. I died laughing. Looking forward to the big Sunday puzzle. Thank you Mr. Rucks.

What a great puzzle! I was thrilled when I finished and was gifted with the visual surprise along with the winner winner tune. It took me forever to find my typo after correcting leaking/stinking realizing the edges were all 2 letter rebuses. I had CAR in my CA rebus for Carell. Bad on me. I'd miss my nose if it wasn't so close. My first impression was "whoa Nelly" ! But pizza just isn't mean enough to be scary. So accepted the challenge and game on! Loved doing it! Thank you NYT, and for the genius constructors Pasco and Sinclair! Loved your mustachios.

I'm happy to have finished this very nice Saturday puzzle. Grateful for the forum to wind down with the comments. Had a few lookups, I had Basque for Bilboa instead of Biscay. But found the corner not so bad once I corrected that. "The eye" totally baffled me and held me hostage in that NW corner trying to find my crossing mistake. Ironically, I just couldn't see it until I aha'd it. I had to correct many of my incorrect first fills. The wordplay was genius and above the norm. (Maybe not for a Saturday.) In any case I got baby boomer immediately. I learned about an Indigenous people I didn't know, and a philosophical question I couldn't answer, so it was a good day! Cheers from an oldie from Texas. Stay chilled y'all! We have emus in Texas. I wave at one on my way to the park with the pups. Just a little FYI