James Jacobs

59 down should be SOL. It's Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do. That's a pretty major (excuse the pun) error.

I'm glad to see I am not the only one whose brain and sensibility does not line up with Sam Ezersky's. I'm not saying he's bad at his job, I'm just saying he does not give me a good time. When I finally have that aha moment and figure out one of his difficult clues, it brings me no joy, just a reminder that he's younger and cooler than me. It feels like work or an SAT question. Ezersky combines the worst traits of Eugene Maleska and the work supervisors twenty years my junior who constantly find ways to remind me that I'm a fossil lucky to still be employed.

Sam Ezersky and I do not inhabit the same wheelhouse. Our brains do not work the same or have the same associations. He includes words I consider dubious at best and the words he neglects are indicative of a young man who thinks what he doesn't know isn't worth knowing. I know I shouldn't get offended over puzzles but I detect an arrogance in him that I don't get from Will Shortz, who manages to be more playful, more elegant. and more inclusive. When I miss one of Shortz's clues it's actually fun to see how I failed and the twisted way his mind works, while it feels like Ezersky is smugly laughing at me for not being cool enough to get it. Weirdly his attitude is reminiscent of Eugene Maleska's. who was famously off-putting for his obscure vocabulary and assumption of an elitist body of knowledge. Like Maleska, Ezersky seems more interested in asserting his authority - I'm the editor and you're not, deal with it - than in genuinely wanting to play with us the way Shortz manages to convey. I know that Ezersky wouldn't have his job at the paper if Shortz didn't have faith in him, but I wish Sam would learn not just the technical ropes from his mentor but his sense of humanity.

Love it! It had a Merl Reagle vibe - or should I say Merl Reagel?

Weirdly I wish this had been a little harder so I would have had to engage with the theme to finish the puzzle - but I guess it's no one's fault that April 1 is on a Monday this year.