Brian
Santa Fe
I really enjoyed this! Thought I was a bit slow but ended up just under my average. There was lots of switching back and forth between across and down clues until I had my foothold. Held on to MAGGIE way too long :). Some devious clueing there Dena!
Wow, I found the SE corner extremely challenging! Never went to law school so I’m not up on LSAT score ranges. Never consumed that particular “beer” from our friends at Anheuser-Busch. Was sure that STET was the signal of importance. Was convinced that “eleven in Las Vegas” had to be dice related, ala “snake eyes” and “boxcars”, but nothing was fitting. I thought my streak was going, going, gone. Finally remembered that Reese’s Puffs were a thing or I might have been here all night. 692 and counting!
@Aria I think it’s pretty common to see clues involving HRH/HMS where the solution can either be “his” or “her” and you have to rely on crosses to get it.
Count me as another one who really enjoyed this puzzle! Very fun when everything clicked. I also admired how the NE clues read as actual words even when they were switched - impressive construction! Thank you Ella for a fun puzzle 🙏
@Fredegunde I will always treasure this classic usage from P.G. Wodehouse in The Code of the Woosters: “ I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled.”
@Tom S. 🤷 I certainly knew SULA - it’s Toni Morrison for goodness’s sake! She’s not obscure in my house, and that particular book is pretty common in crosswords. Never heard of NELLA Larsen before but happy to add her to my reading list!
Caitlin, excellent video choice 👏. Mitchell and Webb are just the best! Puzzle was enjoyable as well - nice work Emily and Kunal!
A record Sunday for me as well. I don’t know where Andy Dufresne was stored in my brain given that I haven’t seen the movie since it came out!
@Kyla 🫡 reporting for duty! loved it too 😁
@RichardZ as a physicist I wouldn’t have minded that, but I was also happy to get rewarded for all those hours of watching “Shake It Up” with my daughter 🤣
@Elyse G if the dictionary definition of an axel as “a jump with one (or more) and a half turns in the air” is correct, then I think it is in fact a spin, out on the ice. 😁
@Sonja ha! wait, does this mean that Netflix and chilling doesn’t involve watching TV? I am scandalized 😁
@Vaer HEY BATTER BATTER couldn’t be more American if it tried 😁 PSAT is also American AFAIK “Buzzer beater” feels pretty US-centric as well. I am consistently impressed with international solvers who make it through these puzzles. I think it’s pretty easy to take for granted how much American culture and knowledge is baked into them!
@Steven M. Congrats! That seems fast. My streak is longer than that but my time on this one was quite a lot slower than yours! Somehow I convinced myself that the circled letters were repeated in each row, and it took me a while to unwind that assumption. Fun puzzle overall, I thought it was a good challenge!
@JLP had the same reaction but I guess it could have been either <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nena_(band" target="_blank">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nena_(band</a>)
@Steven M. a new Sunday best for me as well (14:24). I think there may be a few of us with PRs today 😁. I agree with you that the trick didn’t need to be spelled out so explicitly!
@Laura Stratton no lookups here, either. 5 minutes over my average and it definitely felt trickier than usual! But like everyone says, you don’t need to the answers to every clue straightaway. Sometimes you make a reasonable guess for a clue (I thought ISLAM might be a word on the Saudi flag) and then you realize it’s holding you back in other ways. But the fun for me is is learning the things I don’t know, like TALLCHIEF!
@Lauchlin UVEA has to be one of the most classic crossword answers, right up there with OTT. If you haven’t heard of it before now, you’re sure to see it many times in the future 😁
@John Carson that was a fun one. The first word I found didn’t help me much, but the second one set me on the path. Strands #339 “What's your reaction?” 🔵🔵🟡🔵 🔵🔵🔵🔵
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