Josh

I was feeling a little salty over the WEND/READE crossing (as surely there’s Charles RiADE somewhere…), but then I heard what I’d been saying in my head, over and over, for the past 20 minutes. Let’s all say it together: No ICE No ICE No ICE No ICE No ICE A DROLL puzzle with NOTABLE timeliness. I am grateful for those themers, and for all the ways we can remove ICE from our grid.

Brilliant puzzle. It took me a minute to articulate the rule for those tricky clues, but then... pow! Such fun and so clever. ALSO: I really appreciate the constructor's backstage insights into the editorial process. It's always fascinating to see how, rather than sprouting fully formed, genius "stands on the shoulders" and coalesces among a field of creators. Thank you for the excellent puzzle, Jesse Goldberg & eds.!

In re:EXCONS…. I really prefer seeing person-first language. So system- or justice-impacted people. People who were formerly incarcerated. I work with people who have been to prison; they have worked hard to atone for their crimes, and they should be allowed to move forward without language that collars them as criminals. Imagine being identified by a term that reminds you, every day, of the worst thing you’ve ever done. And the trauma you endured because of what you did. I’m not saying this to complain—today’s puzzle was great! I’m saying it because I appreciate this community, I want to be genuine here, I find that language hurtful, and I’m probably not alone in that.

In re: 11D...my mom--for decades--begged my dad to teach her to play bridge, ostensibly so that they could have bridge nights with friends. Of course she could have learned on her own, too, but I don't think gaining knowledge was really her point in asking. And I'm not sure if my dad's reluctance to teach her was due to his impatience with her, with bridge, or with the idea of having bridge nights with friends. In any case, he never did teach her, she never learned, and now, over the past 18 months, they've both passed away. If they had any regrets, such a small thing was probably not among them, but I hope, as the years go by and my partner and I retire and have more leisure time (god willing), that we both say "yes" often.

Four thoughts: 1) Fun puzzle with a great ear for language. 2) This crossword may be the closest ALITO and OMAR ever get on anything. 3) TIL what WEASELWORDS are. Per m-w.com: Some people believe that weasels can suck the insides out of an egg without damaging the shell. An egg thus weasel-treated would look fine on the outside, but it would actually be empty and useless. 4) I am impressed by the m-w writer who turned the phrase “An egg thus weasel-treated” and would now like to read a short story or perhaps a villanelle with that title.

Fun Tuesday—fast but a little chewy in parts, and for me, the most challenging clues were held in check by accessible crosses. I really admire the editing and construction work that must go into something like that. Thank you for this fun diversion, Mr. Coulter & ed’s! While I’m here though, I’d like to also defend the use of this space to air less than positive feelings about other puzzles. Sunday’s, for instance, I thought was a bit dull compared to our usual fare. I don’t usually post my thoughts if a puzzle isn’t great, but in this case, the constructors were both veterans, what I was saying wasn’t mean-hearted, and I felt comfortable offering the critique. In response to a similar post from someone else, a commenter asked: if you’re not enjoying the puzzle, why don’t you just stop doing it (instead, I presume, of complaining about it)? This bothered me. I personally see puzzles as challenges, and I don’t like to turn away from a challenge once I’ve begun—even if the challenge is not as fun as I’d hoped it would be. Are enthusiastically engaged posts more fun to read? Sure! But—and I guess this is all I’m really saying here—there are better ways to respond to honest, if less entertaining, comments.

Monday was unusually clever, Tuesday found just the right degree of difficulty, Wednesday was a perfect paean to papas everywhere, and today was funny, a little crunchy, and fun throughout. I even shared a screenshot of P'S IN A POD with my spouse, who despite not being a puzzer always appreciates a good clue, especially when it's SET up as a DAD JOKE. Because work's been nuts this week, I haven't been coming here to sing the constructors' praises each day, but this has (IMHO, of course) been a fantastic week for crosswords. So thank you, Kevin Curry and (belatedly) Kareem Ayas, Chloe Revery, and Simeon Seigel--& eds. of course!--for these wonderful prework diversions.

Neither today’s puzzle nor yesterday’s featured a clever revealer. I don’t mind tricky—I like it, in fact—but I also like the punny entry that gives a hint and puts a bow on the whole thing. Wow. That sounds really whiney. And yet, it is how I feel.

Fun puzzle today, with a pleasant sense of humor. A good palate cleanser after yesterday’s mess. I enjoy asking my family for help on crosswords. Not only because my wife and daughter are better by magnitudes than me at pop culture, but because it’s a fun way to share my little hobby with them. I don’t go to the well too often, and I try to ask about clues they might be interested in. We have fun. Along these lines, when I end a streak, I feel no remorse. Streaks become tyrants, and I feel this about streak-culture in general (if that’s a thing). If it helps anyone enjoy puzzling, power to them. For me, a good streak too easily becomes one more project to maintain.

TIL a dogsbody is a gofer. Yesterday I learned a diktat is a fiat. This is a good run!

File this one under "inexplicably enjoyable." I wish I could quantify the elements of a puzzle I'm going to love--or the qualities that will make me feel like I've used my time poorly. This puzzle was difficult, filled with terms, trivia, and usages I've never seen before--BASH, SHILOH, PECOS, METIER, and ROSTRA (which I think maybe I have seen in another puzzle, but still), and devilish ambiguities like WILTS/meLTS or REPORTS/REPlayS. And, while I'm at it, CALABRIA, which I know as my grandmother's birthplace but not the namesake of a chili. Yet love it I did. So thank you, Daniel Grinberg & eds., for a very challenging and entirely (if mysteriously) enjoyable experience!

Working with incarcerated people as I do, I always cringe when words and clues related to our inhumane criminal justice system pop up here, especially when couched in humor, but this one--focused as it was on our least terrible prisons--didn't strike me as too thoughtless. And any puzzle with MANICPANIC, OPENLYGAY, and the devilishly clever clues for 26D and 35D (which it took me way too long to understand) couldn't be *bad*--even if it did force me to spell MATRYOSHKA. So thank you, Spencer Leach & eds., for a perfectly fun Saturday solve. S**** the haters, indeed!

My first themer was PENULTIMATEANTE, but never having heard the term "antepenultimate," the theme remained unclear to me for way too long, which made the rest of the puzzle quite the slog. One of these days, I'll learn to stop working at a puzzle when it starts feeling more like work than play.

TIL (I think) that when clued as valleys, even broad ones, the etymologically distinct vALES and DALES present a Loa/Kea situation.

Great Thursday! ALTHO I'd misread the revealer and thought it applied to four entries (rather than four *pairs*), I loved the theme once I got it. Also slowing me down? I really, really wanted Leer's madness to storm on the moors instead of the HEATH. I just love thinking about stormy moors, but I guess that's more Bronte than Shakespeare. Here's a bit of Leer's fury on the heath, though, should y'all enjoy it as much as me: You sulphurous and thought-executing fires, Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts, Singe my white head! And thou, all-shaking thunder, Smite flat the thick rotundity o' the world! Crack nature's moulds, an germens spill at once, That make ingrateful man! (Act III, not ACTIV, but still)

I love the way talented constructors sometimes include self-contained mini-puzzles in their grids. The SE today, for instance, had enough ambiguity to make it a puzzle, but not so much that it slowed down the solve. Like a well integrated mini. Thank you for the fun diversion, Hanh Huynh, and I too am glad the editors they kept your reference to Hervé--it made me smile.

Fun puz! Usually I low-key dread seeing Erik’s name in the by-line, but this one would’ve been a PR for me if not for NOd. (And that was just silly because “Do Ana” would make a terrible Disney-movie name.)

I did this puz last night, thinking it was Tuesday’s—whoops. I was going to post right then, to proclaim my love for this puzzle and to for once be in conversation with the first commenters (you know who you are!). But alas, it was late and my word-tap had run dry. Next time. Anyway: what a treat! A solitary rebus must be a hard sell, but in context it made sense—not that it didn’t take me a minute to catch on. I appreciated that the down and ACR cluing over the rebus were so accessible. And such an adorable set of constructor notes! My own daughter just left for college; I miss her all the time and can only hope that one day we will enjoy such a fun and productive relationship as Brad and Nicole Wiegmann clearly do. Well done, you two!

I’m so grateful for the column—as Caitlin suspected some of us might, I’d missed the second layer of ingenuity. Not only is the mechanism itself amazing (and even more so once i saw its full complexity), but I love that the revealer shows both layers depending on your emphasis—*SPIN* CLASSES, or SPIN *CLASSES*: adjective or imperative. Puzzles like this remind me of why I love crosswords. Thank you, Mr. Ayas, Caitlin, and editors!

So "Potter's area of expertise" might be the trickiest hidden-capital clue we've had in a while, but last week's "Big Apple Figure" (TIM COOK) had to be the trickiest hidden-lower-case clue I've ever seen.

The apex/axis cross that was actually NOON/ANNO was absolutely devilish. And brilliant. Fridays are now my happy place, and this was no exception. Particularly enjoyed 14D. Fun! Thank you, Rebecca Goldstein & eds.

Tough but rewarding. IOWEYOUONE in particular refused to look correct until I completed almost the last cross. So. Many. Vowels. Thank you for a pleasing diversion on a day when I desperately needed one.

At the gym last week? Me and my bros saw this one totally swole dude in the locker room & I was all, “look at that absolute UNIT”. …said no one ever.

My partner & I are loving the Tour this year, so this puzzle was a real treat. Too bad the constructor couldn't fit "gravel" in there somewhere! Not that I'm complaining--the 45-degree grade in the mountains was plenty entertaining, a VICIOUS CYCLE indeed. I also noticed the "SOLD/DYAD/TRIO" stack on the west side of the puzzle and wondered if SOLo plus the other two might have been part of Mr. Moore's original plan--maybe something about the numbers of riders in a very small breakaway? Either way, thanks, Mr. Moore & editors, for a wonderful ride.

Somehow I forgot it was Thursday, which led to a frustrating start. Once I remembered, all was good. Better than good, in fact--pretty great. I figured out the trick halfway through, and then felt like I was in a race with the constructor to tell the joke. On the downside.... I work with people who struggle with their mental health. And I grew up with people who struggled. So I felt disappointed to see CRAZIES and kooks here. It's in the language, I know, but the language can hurt. And I'm not saying that it shouldn't be allowed, or the editors did a bad job here. I'm just saying that for me, it kind of sucked to see that.

Ah, thank goodness for the commentariat. I was pretty annoyed with this one until I read other puzzlers' explanations: The theme clues are not homonyms as much as false sightings. The qualifying language in each theme clue and then the scare quotes around [sightings] in the revealer all point to it, but I didn't get it (at all) until I came here. Not sure if that makes the revealers insufficient, the puzzle extra clever, or me extra slow! Whichever way, this was for me a puzzle enjoyed primarily after the fact.

I had a very hard time figuring out how today’s puzzle worked. In the end, I loved it for that reason. Once a week, we get meta-puzzles: puzzles that require broadening your thinking to include the puzzle itself as well as its clues. I enjoy these intricate puzzles, and many others here do as well. When I read comments trashing the constructors or the Times for creating, editing, and publishing these puzzle-box challenges, I’m reminded of TripAdvisor reviews dismissing the Louvre for having too few vending machines, or panning Popeye’s for not offering more salads. They really just miss the point.

A true puzzle today, one which I very much enjoyed puzzling out. Thank you, Sara Muchnick & eds!

Fun puzzle. It brought memories of being 19 at Pat O'Brien's--finishing not one but two of their HURRICANEs and taking a third to go. Good Lord. If I tried that today, I would EXPEL my last breath (or wish that I had). Even then, true to the puzzle's theme, I was a DISASTER.

Fun puzzle today! I haven't PR'd a Monday in a year and a half or so, but I came very close today. I don't regret pausing to pet my cat (what monster would?), but had I not, this would've been the day.

Ha! super cute. I love an early-week themer where I can avoid the revealer until the end. It makes that final clue less revealer & more punchline—and this was a good one. Thanks, Mr. Margolis & eds.!

Like others here, I expected an Oregon Trail revealer, but i was so pleasantly surprised to see BEND. It’s such a beautiful town in a gorgeous region—I haven’t been there in years, but every time I get a Deschutes’ beers (which is every time I see one on offer), I’m flooded with pleasant memories. Also, I really enjoyed this puzzle! The bright fill and bent OREGONs made for a quick, fun solve. Thanks, Peter Gorman & ed’s.

‘Elluva good puzzle! I saw the revealer on a quick first pass, and then, scanning across and down the remaining entries for one and only one L, it played almost like a sudoku. So fun and different—kudos to the constructor and all involved!