Jane Wheelaghan

No - MEWS does not usually refer to row houses! A mews consists of small city houses in an alley behind large mansions, which were used in the 18th and 19th centuries for horse stables with servants living above. Mews are sometimes accessed through a high archway, originally tall enough for a coach and horses. Often with a cobbled road - picturesque - and although small, with no garden (or yard) usually very, very expensive because of their location. A row house is usually called a terraced house, or may be on a crescent, it the street is that shape.

The absolute and total best part of this crossword was - the lack of complaints, moans and protests about it. Thank goodness.

My first Tuesday with no help needed! This was easier than yesterday's for me. The pet food IAMS is available here and I just bought some. As a great fan of Renaissance and Baroque music, it was nice to see the theme instead of having to struggle with rappers. Very pleasing.

Such a nice crossword today! I'm glad I wasn't the only one who hadn't heard of SALMONBERRY. It's non-native and invasive in the UK. I got caught by the kerb/CURB issue, which held up COGSCI (itself quite tricky for me) and the clue reminded me of the Shel Silverstein poem: There is a place where the sidewalk ends And before the street begins. And there the grass grows soft and bright, And there the moon-bird rests from his flight To cool in the peppermint wind.

At first I thought I would never finish this one, but chipped away with trying vowels and guesses and hey presto it all came together. Working continuously, it took me 44 minutes. That's a good time for me, a non-American, who is unfamiliar with many terms and expressions,(NOME, KOOL AID, OHIO RIVER, OMAHA, ESPN RADIO, SAM, STANS) and who knows no popular culture (FIONA, YEUN), sport (EDWIN) or video games (MYST), although I did recall that last one once I had M. I think I did pretty well!

As a Scot I puzzled for a while over why 'whisky' didn't work for 58A. No-one orders a SCOTCH in Scotland. It's only ever whisky. I didn't even think of SCOTCH.

Thank you to everyone who tried, and tried! to answer my questions about clues yesterday. You are all so helpful, it’s heartwarming.

Quite hard for me today, but good clues. The TOILET LID went over my .... head. And catalogue. Must remember the meaning of LOT. If I know EDSEL, it must be really famous.

We had a discussion here a while ago about MEWS. In the UK row houses are called a terrace, and definitely not a MEWS. This was hard. Even when I revealed or looked up some clues I wasn't enlightened. You snap on DIAPERS? My babies' nappies used sticky tape, and before that - a large safety pin. PEEN, RED APPLE, HOGANS, GOOSES, POTOROO, the SHOE .... But that's fine - I'm glad others had the challenging Friday they expect.

Nice, only one reveal. like yesterday - the golf initials. Had to smile at 'reeks', reminded of the old name of my home town of Edinburgh (Ed-in-buh-ruh please) which was Auld Reekie, mainly because of the smoke from coal fires. Reeks was more associated with being smoky than stinky. London used to be called The Smoke. A good luck saying is "Lang may your lum reek" - long may your chimney smoke; it was also good luck to bring a lump of coal on your first visit to a house on New Year's Day, especially if you were the First Foot - the first to cross the threshold.

Congratulation on your crossword, and many more to come. I didn't know any of the names except IAGO and AVON but I accept that, as a non-US solver, it happens. Another Shakespeare link - I've always remembered SERE from Macbeth, where old age is "The sere and yellow leaf." NUDIEBAR - A club where men drink in the nude? Amazing.

I thought this might be a no-look-up no-reveal day but no, the Pete's got me. From last night's Burns Supper: Then let us pray, that come it may, (As come it will for a' that,) That Sense and Worth, o'er all the earth, Shall bear the gree, an a' that. (take the prize) For a' that, an a' that, It's comin' yet for a' that, That Man to Man, the world o'er Shall brothers be for a' that.

I fair flew through this one, quite a few familiar friends (CDS, DAB, UAE) and fortunately got the proper names with the crossers, except 1A - I looked up Astro but got a Korean band? I also had to get the 'seriously' clues mostly with the crossers! I don't really use those phrases. The Scots equivalent might be: "Aye, right" "That's nae real" Or even "You think I cam up the (river) Clyde oan a bicycle?"

Way-hay - I did all of this without any look-ups or reveals - a very rare gold star. The crossers were kind regarding the sport and the US term 'ATTA' although I'm used to Grammy/NANA now. How pleasant for me!

I'm amazed to find this crossword quite easy. I nearly got annoyed at more film stars, but there was GILL SCOTT-HERON, whose fabulous albums I bought in the 1970's, the beautiful LAUREN Bacall and easy for me EARLS and PEERAGE, BEERMAT, and I knew MAIN. I can't think of an equivalent for BOOBOO in BritEnglish, I know it from previous crosswords. (And from Yogi Bear.) And SHAG has another 'vulgar' meaning, nothing to do with haircuts. Why is kudos SNAPS? Never heard of Denny's or IHOP but have learned they are not in UK because people don't often eat pancakes for breakfast. Crêpes with strawberries and ice cream for dessert is fine. Gill Scott-Herron's father Gil Heron was a Jamaican professional footballer, and the first black player for Celtic football club in Glasgow in 1952.

I'm so glad to see all the positive comments today! I find it a little depressing when lots of people complain eg it's not "Thursday" enough. However, I couldn't solve some of this, too much really. The sport, the names, SCROD, CHOCULA, playing cards. I find some crosswords easier and some harder quite unconnected to the day of the week. I mostly enjoy them all.

Tougher than usual Monday for me. Recently I’ve been getting Mondays without any help. But SMASH MOUTH? Wow, I absolutely know I’ve never heard of them. I still don’t get GEST. TALIA, LOOIE not easy. And the blue book sounds most mysterious. Doing this crossword on Sunday evening for the first time, when I was going to try and finish Sunday’s. Too late now!

Not that easy but good fun. 'Black rectangle' gave me a shiver though - it reminded me that the judge in a murder trial would put a square of black cloth on his head before he pronounced the death penalty. It's in lots of old British films. Prefects, as noted already, are very common in British secondary schools; it's supposed to be an 'honour' for the oldest pupils to help police the younger pupils, and there can be a Head Girl and Head Boy. "As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; they kill us for their sport." is from King Lear.

My decades solving anagrams in British crosswords was to my advantage today - you just get a feel for it, even though famous people is my bête noir. I did know a few of the names, assumed SAL was a woman but found out it was SALvatore. BREWER and NAVE were good - I just wish more of the clues were like that, rather than just names and synonyms. Nice to see Pablo NERUDA get a mention, a favourite. I didn't find the crossword overall to be too difficult. Please, help me with NBA for 'heat setting'.

I really enjoyed this one. It seems to me that if the clues of a crossword aren't 'contrived' then .... they're not crossword clues. I find simple synonyms and general knowledge much more tedious. A clue surely should hint at, allude to, suggest, imply (there are more synonyms) the answer. Or ANS.

Well, I'm almost afraid to say that this was one of the fastest NYT crosswords I've ever done. I only had ONE to look up, and that was .... OMAHA. I should have waited, because I got the crossers later. I'm a little shocked at the ignorance of SEAMAS (SHAY-MUS) Heaney, and Mount ARARAT. Lots of clues I couldn't solve but I got everything with the crossers, eg wiith TEA- I thought it might be an M. I had the B missing from BIBB (not known) and Bateman (not known) but there are not a lot of choices of letter there).

Lovely crossword. Funny, clever theme. The NW was tricky for me; fortunately I knew BARMITZVAH other wise UTZ would have been impossible. GESUNDHEIT is not much used in UK; people used to say, 'Bless you' but not so much now. With two small grandsons it's usually "Don't use your sleeve!" For me, US English is inventive and ingenious, but HONEY DO .... Gruesome.

Pretty straightforward for me today. Unknown were only JOEY and SOSA and Charley, although I got them all on the crossers. I did happen to glance at the time and it was 16 minutes - a few months ago it would have been about an hour! ETUI is a favourite of The Guardian crossword for obscure words that are used a lot. It was like meeting an old friend.

How pleasant and refreshing to read so many positive and cheerful comments!

This was a great crossword, even better because quite a few people thought it was hard - and I didn't! This doesn't happen often, this may even be the first time. Even though I didn't know ERIC, IDA. OLETA or MOC, the revealer revealed and made it easier. It still took me 40 minutes, but that's usual.

A very mixed bag for me. GEAR TEETH, MOLAR, HIPPO, TEES and PRIMPS were excellent, I appreciate clues that are not just synonyms. The ELBOW, TERCELS, PONIED UP, ALPHABITS, GREEK ROW and the ARC were obscure to me. although I liked finding out about the sculpture, I'd like to see that, and I'm happy to learn about AGOUTIS. The idea that enjoying the great outdoors involves driving around in a huge vehicle seems odd to me.The more vehicles, the less 'great' is the outdoors. I've only seen LAB COATS that look like ... coats, not smocks. Quite the Saturday challenge.

One of the hardest I've tried and I'm glad to see that there are not dozens of posts claiming it was too, too easy. Paradoxically, I didn't think of face plant, it's not an expression I'm very familiar with, so FAKE wasn't hard. I didn't know quite a few. FLOTUS sounds vaguely unsavoury, like flotsam and detritus. And I would never put a petrol container in the boot of the car. I wondered about the media star ATSY MBOLL. I discovered that the BABY SHOWER is a newish trend in the UK, but not widespread, usually linked to an afternoon tea. When I was young, it was considered bad luck to buy a pram or cot, or too many baby clothes, before the baby was born. A sad reminder of the not so distant past. Despite the nods to the homeland, I found it quite 'American', as it should be, of course.

Now I know totally and completely and forever, what BAMA is. No need to include it again, I've got it! I barely needed to think twice during this entertaining and very agreeable crossword (I find my self drifting towards 'easy-breezy' and 'fun' but am resisting). Despite never have seen a RAGGEDY ANNE or an AMERICAN GIRL, never had a BARBIE (I had baby dollies) and my sons didn't want CABBAGE PATCH KIDS, it all came right easily. I couldn't understand at first why Mme didn't fit the Madam Doubtfire clue, but that was the book, and why armour didn't work. Excellent.

For huge props I was thinking of the stage - could that be castle walls (Macbeth? Hamlet? they have castles) a pirate ship? barricades à la Les Miz? I assume MAD RESPECT is a commonly used term? Apart from that, which I got with crossers, a very straightforward crossword; so I now have 2 Tuesdays clear, as well as 3 Mondays. That's after 18 months, so take heart all you new solvers, it gets easier, but it can take a while.

I feel moved to state again: I liked it, well done.

My first time spotting a rebus and inserting the rebus - for SATURNINE - no less. A word I've never used but somehow knew. I also somehow knew about KREBS, another word I've never used. Such a good crossword! Sending Thanksgiving wishes to my niece and her family in Elon, North Carolina. I hope one day to spend it with them.

It seems it is not possible for some people to enjoy a crossword for and in itself, regardless of the day of the week.

I can see what an excellent crossword this is, even though I couldn't do some of it. Interesting that quite a few people immediately thought of gambling at the word 'kitty' when I never would, and thought cat. A lot of comedy does not have a punch line, but I've not heard of ANTI COMEDY. Maybe 'alternative' comedy. TAX EXILE has been quite a common term in UK, some celebrities have avoided tax this way. It has been used as a plot point in mystery stories - when you had to be out of the country for the entire year to avoid the tax, but sneaked back for a day and were seen, and then blackmailed.

It's so good to read so many upbeat and positive comments today. Weirdly, I found some clues easier - eg HORSE RACE, but stumbled again over the names - all of them. Never heard of Jimmy Buffet, though I do know of Warren. (Parrotheads? Coral Reefer Band?) Bees' nest didn't work, and wasps' nest was too long .... At UK elections there are always cute photos in the papers of the dogs waiting outside polling stations ... so I thought dog not DEM! I echo the positive comments already posted.

Ooooh! This was a slog for me. Not because of the theme and clever work with words but everything else! A seasoning brand, a Missouri quarter, a bunch (forgot it means MANY in US), KIA, a stadium. Mount Rainier, AGIOand so on, and all the proper names apart from OTIS and PRAD A. I finished through crossers and guessing, going over and over as I got a letter here and these. BUT hooray! My first ever baseball clue solved with HOME RUN!

I’d never heard of ‘Elissa’ before, but today she’s been in the news all day!

To my surprise, even shock, I solved them all. It took me a while, I had to stop to remember eg Hoover's name and WALZ; I'd read an article about slang going out of date and it mentioned 'fleek'! US slang is usually my bête noir, unless from 1970's. When I visited California in 1975 'rad' was the very latest slang. I hardly ever get the theme, but here the 2nd BED really helped me solve a clue. I watch foreign language films so DUBBED was obvious, although I much prefer sub-titles. Excellent start to the week for me.

I found that the longs weren't too difficult, but the bits of slang - oh dear - both clue and solution - not easy. I didn't know of SNAP or CRUD in slang, or the names. The DITS reminded me of my Dad, a wireless operator with the RAF in WW2. He taught us a few dits and dahs, and when I was very young, could still understand Morse code if it came up on the radio.