Nina

Today I completed my first official 7 day streak since starting doing NYT puzzles bit more than a year ago. I feel a bit emotional heh. I am proud of my progress, even if there’s been some sentiment in the past days’ comments that the puzzles seem easier this week. Not for me, I know I’ve been having to slug it out. Happy to also complete on a Sunday, it gives me an even greater sense of achievement. Today I took 92 minutes to finish. It is fitting that it includes a clue about my home country’s national dish, and one about GBBO, a guilty indulgence. It was a workout today and lots of tricky clues, you really had to be careful! Thanks Christina and Katie. I naturally gravitated to putting in the more common phrases first without the twist, then edited as I went along. Took the longest with the DO AS I SAY DOT AS I DO … the crosses had a few possible options that were eventually fixed (originally had SAY YES instead of SAY SOS, HIED not HIES, DIGS not DISS). Whew! Patience is a virtue, and always keep an open mind. ONWARD!

Enjoyed the puzzle, thank you Gary and Doug! It reminded me of my biggest faux pas during a job interview. It was the last one with the person currently in role I was interviewing for. Interview proper was done (thought I did ok), and we were just making small talk. Context : Anand had just moved to Singapore from India a few months before. Me : How do you like Singapore? Anand : It’s great! Me : It’s so clean and efficient right? You know what they say, Singapore is Asia for dummies! *pause* Me : Not that you are a dummy! *oops* Lol, I was so embarrassed. He just laughed, albeit a bit shocked. PS - I did get the job though! 😊 Happy Sunday all from Singapore, the little red dot.

Fun way to start a Monday. Congrats Jack on your NYT debut, and piloting the entry ISLAND HOP. Another fun way to spend the day, though I haven’t done it in Hawaii. Today I learned O NEG is the universal donor, always thought it was O POS (my type). Thanks for enlightening me. Let me take this opportunity to promote blood donation, a worthwhile endeavour if you are able.

This puzzle was a definite HELL YES for me. I don’t always figure out the revealer whilst solving, but it is really fun when I am able to use the theme to fill in the missing clues (especially the long ones). Theme is clever! The ones that didn’t make the cut are pretty good too. Nice Tuesday puzzle that took me a bit longer than usual, but just nice brain twisting. I also like when I learn something new, especially with English grammar and spelling (since I consider myself already quite ‘good’ at it). Didn’t know rigmarole can also be spelled as RIGAMAROLE. New knowledge for the day.

So clever. Thank you. I only got “W or D” when I read the article, thank goodness for WorDplay. ❤️

Happy new year, everyone! Life’s been a lot lately and I haven’t been solving as frequently. That said, one of my highlights last year was sharpening my crossword saw. Thanks to all puzzle creators, editors, writers and this community. PS - trying to get back into it this week and glad I got to finish this one even if I have never played the dreidel, nor heard of the related poem. 😊 favourites today : YELL, CAB, OBIT

Kudos Nathan on your debut! I enjoyed the puzzle very much. My favourites today were PRAISED, DANDY and EARL. But lots of clever clues, some I got because I have been solving for several months now, while other words were new to me like RHEA. Just a pleasing combination.

My favourite today : TORRID 🔥🔥🔥 Yes it was a fun puzzle, though only song I knew was Poker Face 😅🙏 I enjoyed having to go back and forth on a few answers, just to make everything fit

Love this puzzle so much, thank you Brandon! Particularly enjoy the ones with visual surprises, and I am lucky to have picked up on the theme early into the solve. Favourite clues were NAPES and REDSEA MARVIN was my favourite Looney Tune, and ALANIS’ Jagged Little Pill is one of my top albums of all time! So cool to find those in there too!

I have still been solving puzzles fairly regularly but life happens, and I don’t always have time to read Wordplay (or finish my comment, especially when there’s so much I want to say, usually a lot of gushing!) But this one I don’t want to miss commenting, even if the Friday puzzle has been published, and probably barely anyone will get to read it. It’s just TOO GOOD! And it’s an NYT Debut! I am floored. Congratulations Sara, on your maiden puzzle and your new baby! I enjoyed this very much. Like Deb, I got the Revealer and persisted thru the solve without mid-checks but still didn’t understand why the themes were such (until I read Wordplay). This is why reading Wordplay is essential LOL. But my mind got the workout it needed, and so much clever clue-ing! I also liked the clue pairs throughout the grid. Will try to comment again later with the clues I especially loved. Toughest clue for me was TO AT and SHORT I. I thought Head of lettuce was CFO because of Chief Food Officer lol. I still managed to write a long comment even if I have so much to do today. And yes, a lot of gushing. I told you. So well deserved tho. Happy Friday!

Kudos, Harry! What a way to start the year! Fun fun puzzle

Whew. Very sneaky, Kareem! Took longer than usual for a Monday, but enjoyed it nonetheless. Favourite today : LEVEE ! Love this song.

Enjoy the constructors’ back stories, thank you for sharing. Fun puzzle. Was stuck at CZAR/ZIP for a bit (originally put in HIP for oomph), this was tricky.

I enjoyed this so much, my fastest Thursday ever! It helped that I figured out the trick fairly early on via HEART TRANSPLANT, and the rest just flowed. Thanks Joe!

This puzzle was more challenging for me than the usual on Monday, as I’ve never encountered ESTOP and EIDER (duck) before, and I don’t play golf. But glad I persevered (shout out to the constructors!), fun special effects at the end.

Clever Wednesday puzzle. The clues were right up my alley (or AISLE?) I didn’t have to resort to Google at all. 😅 Which didn’t mean it was too easy. I still had to exercise my brain. My favourites today were : HIVE, EGG TIMERS, AISLED. Among the theme entries, my favorite is actually the one not mentioned on Wordplay: SPICE (D) RUM On that note, Cheers to you Victor! 🥃🥃 yes, I enjoyed the puzzle very much

Fun puzzle, thanks Jeremy! Especially loved the animation at the end too. I figured out only one stretch of O’s, was surprised at the TURN. 😊 Interesting to learn that Monday puzzles are actually harder to construct. The ROME in this puzzle made me nervous, having missed out on a 6day streak last week due to ROME being ROMA. *sigh* Favourite clue : CLOSET

Am on a streak but so busy this week that I haven’t been commenting. But today is a Saturday and solving this puzzle was so satisfying. Especially the long ones: ARE WE OKAY, STANDARDS, FLU SEASON, ELEARNING, WATERMARK, DEPRAVITY Agree with Deb on DON DRAPER, and I never even watched Max Men! Favorites today : NOVELTY, TARMAC, DWELL ON, BETHEL (though it took me a while, as I originally thought Carriers not BARRIERS) Kudos Evans!

Congrats on your debut, Dana! Quite fun for a basketball fan like me. And enjoyed reading about the double ways ‘quadruple doubles’ were employed in this puzzle!

This was such a fun solve, thank you Hanh! I especially like it when I get the theme early, and able to use that knowledge to get the remaining ones. I originally put in BEGINNER ENGLISH (which fit too), but obviously didn’t work at the crossings. Favourites today where the themed clues, MYRIAD, SHOPS.

I think I broke my record for the longest time it took me to solve a puzzle with no mid game checks, but it only made it all the more satisfying to see the gold star and her the music at the end. Thank you, Sam. Filling in the bottom right corner was especially satisfying. As words like ORANGUTAN and LOW INCOME practically floated up as you start filling in some of the crossing words. Past Wordplay tip about taking a break and doing something else when you hit a wall was especially useful today. I also give kudos to myself for persisting even if it was so tempting to give up. It’s my last weekend after 2 weeks off work, and I spent a good chunk of my day on this puzzle (when I had so many errands to do). I choose to think the subliminal messages I gained from solving this puzzle today will serve me well as I begin the new year. Cheers to all!🥂🥂 Favourites today : CASK, UTERUS.

I enjoyed this because I was able to complete the puzzle relatively quickly, for a Thursday, even if I totally didn’t understand the theme (until I read Wordplay). I was so inspired I bought the Crossword Constructors book! 🙈 Wish me luck! 🍀 Favorites today : ESP EPISODES ORGANIST OPINE SOO Thanks, Aidan and Jacob!

I don’t usually comment on the Mini,s but I thought it was especially cute today. 🙃. Good day to all! On to the crossword!

Thoroughly enjoyed this one, thank you Alice and Christina. So many possibilities that seemed to fit, but you have to go back and make it work. It was an exercise in persistence and patience. Favorite clues : OMELETTE, BIAS CUT, SURFEIT Enjoyed OH HELL NO, IN A GOOD WAY plus many others I echo all the tips from Deb, this is exactly how I approached this new hobby. I would also add reading Wordplay regularly, and periodically using the Check function when wading into the later week puzzles. It helps build the required logic in the brain, and eventually you gain confidence to not have to use them. Only then could I claim to have legitimate streaks lol. Previous ones were just practice! :)

Scrabble solver here (though it’s been awhile). And yes the puzzle was FUN FUN FUN Thank you!

Congratulations on your debut, Lindsay! I should check out that online construction course. Learned some new words today : ICHOR, GESTS, KEENS (to mean loudly laments) I was convinced the latter was the wrong word when I got the error message, but all the crossings worked. Thank goodness I eventually found it as I am working towards a Personal Best streak. The offender was SMUDGY (not SMUDGE). Whew! Favourite clue : EAR

Happy birthday Colin! Great puzzle, I had so many favorite clues and was smiling frequently as I filled in. MLike Deb I started out a bit slow but eventually hit my stride. Favourites today : AMEN LAUNDRY PRECISELY SAY CHEESE FIBS JERSEY SWAP GYMS CDS SNOWY SUCKS TO BE YOU FRESH FISTS 57A TARE was a bit puzzling tho, can someone explain? Initially thought it was TIED but didn’t work. TIA!

I absolutely loved the film Groundhog Day, as did my whole family. A classic. Of course I knew that ‘I’ve Got You Babe’ is the song that plays as his alarm everyday- but didn’t expect the repeat answer until a while later, so I left it blank for a bit. TIL that there’s a musical based on the film! Must see this too! How are US puzzles different from UK ones? Enjoyed this very much, thank you both!

Nice theme, clever clues which mostly made sense to me, but oof, this was tough. Had to do regular checks mid puzzle, just to finish it. Never encountered UPSA Daisy before though. We say oopsy.

LOVE !!! 💕💕💕😍😍😍

This was a highly enjoyable brain twister. Thanks Daniel. X marked the spot for me here. Fittingly, that was the last box I filled in. The top and left sections were most challenging for me. Thankfully, CEASE AND DESIST just came out of nowhere, I considered literalism at some point (didn’t fit), before I figured out that Spanish Miss is SRTA. But yes you can’t let the long clues overwhelm you - just try, try till you die lol! Eventually you figure out that it’s PORT (not pier) AUTHORITY, ELECTRA (not Oedipus) COMPLEX. I date myself by knowing immediately that it would either be PAULA (or Janet) with the hits record. Favourites today : ON A BREAK, WOMB, BOA, RENT MONEY.

Oof this was hard. 24 day streak broken. Resorted to a few mid solve checks to finish. It didn’t help that the bottom middle section was one of the last I got so Revealer wasn’t useful to me. Even clues outside of the theme were very challenging. But I learned a bunch of new things today. Favourites today : SLEIGH, DELETE

It was a nice, smooth solve. Thank you Jesse. The 200 eyes of the SEA SCALLOP threw me for a loop too. But good to learn something new today. May help me with BAR TRIVIA someday. Heh. Favourite clues : SPINS A YARN, PURR, ILL WAIT

Have been solving, but life’s been living, haven’t been able to read and comment on Wordplay. But today’s puzzle was special! So here I am! I always have a sense of trepidation solving Thursday puzzles, because I don’t know if there should be a rebus or some other twist. But I plodded along today. Revealer was especially tough to get as they were spread across multiple clues. But I eventually got CHANGES, then MONEY, then EVERY - solved a bit more, then it just clicked. I only got the ‘ALL’ part of the twist after reading the article. Very satisfying, thank you David. And 190 puzzles? I cannot even! 🙌🙌🙌

Thanks Sam for sharing the other half of the revealer. How clever, sorry you weren’t able to include Captain Ahab, Kilian. Next time! Favourites today : SPICE, TOMATILLO, NICE CATCH My 40th Monday in a row!

I have been solving but not commenting much - this puzzle was so good, I had to get on here. Very satisfying and clever, I especially love getting the spanner ones. I especially like the puzzles where you get vast majority of the entries just from the clueing. Too good. SRSLY.

Enjoyed this puzzle and happy I figured out the theme, though was stumped by the top left corner as I wasn’t familiar with the BORE REPEATING phrase. It also didn’t help that I thought it was Broccoli RAHB, not RABE. But all’s well that ends well! 😅 I cannot even imagine solving using pen & paper anymore. And today I was reminded of the option to play music at the end, after a successful solve. Apparently mine was unticked at some point. Thanks Sam! It’s so satisfying to hear it.

Enjoyed this puzzle (albeit I thought it was more challenging than the usual Tuesday puzzles), but more so after reading the article. So clever! Kudos to Freddie and also to Sam.

Found the puzzle quite tough. I got the revealer clue DOUBLE OR NOTHING pretty early on, but wasn’t able to use it to its full potential. I figured out bits of it (that the circles were obviously Rebuses with double letters, how DRIED (not just DRIPPED) would’ve worked for the clothesline clue), but didn’t get to follow through. After completing the puzzle and reading Wordplay, it all make sense. WHEW. How clever. Kudos to the Katz duo, what a fun thing to do together as a family! Favourite clue today : FAD

Thanks Sam and Alex. You both made me LOL with your article / notes. Alex especially, so on theme, loved it! Wanted to come up with an arboreal pun, but am sleepy (it’s nearly 1am here lol!) Figured out the theme which helped with the solve, some tricky clues in there, which I enjoyed Favourite clue: BEE Shouldn’t it be TIE(D) GAME though?

To answer your question Deb, for all puzzles I start by solving each clue as it comes. There are a few times when I have solved themed puzzles completely with no clue on the theme. Then I smile after reading Wordplay. But I will say it is so much more satisfying when I do get the theme, and am able to populate some letters or words based on what I figured out. Almost as satisfying as when the puzzle has special effects in the end. Heh.

Enjoyed this so much, because I got the theme whilst solving and there were special effects in the end! Thanks to the brothers, and congrats your debut! It was a tough but very satisfying solve. NW section was my favorite, middle was tough. Today I learned about FARRIERS for the first time. Favorite clues today : BRUNO CRIWD CRISPED ISOSCELES NO HELP BROOMS

Congrats Kevin on your debut, and your pun at the end! Enjoyed this very much, not just because of the graphic surprise to celebrate a successful completion, but my favourite puzzles usually have a food/drink theme. Am known to enjoy cocktails once in a while, though Negroni is my usual poison.

Clever clue-ing indeed. Thanks Hemant! Good fun! Need to start with CTRLALTDEL as a 3-fingered salute, c’mon now. It’s usually not a good sign when you have to resort to this command, but now I will smile a bit when I remember this clue. Love how puzzle is themeless to us, but on theme to you. As a fan of NBA basketball and GBBO, could apply to me too. Tho I only got CAGER after reading Wordplay. Easily got NIKES tho! Favourites : FEUDS, BAKE, I DO, SNIDE REMARKS, SCIENCE LAB I answer puzzles in order, generally start with Across but sometimes Downs. I don’t mind looking up clues, especially since I don’t live in NY or even US. Some clues are very local. Always learn something new tho. Thank you all who make this happen!

Congrats on the debut, Howard! My favourites today : BARBELLS, EMERGE, MOI.