David Blatt

I found several of the clues diabolically clever, and never would have imagined the puzzle came from one so young - or that his constructor’s note would make me cry. I’m constantly touched by the stories expressing how much the crossword community means to so many.

As I stare at my broken vacuum cleaner: Alas, poor Oreck

Just came to say a huge bravo to Jesse Guzman. I would not have guessed this was his first.

[Romeo Rip Juliet] Torn between two lovers

Puzzles like this remind me why I am in awe of constructors - to be able to do come up with fresh, clever themes that also can fit in a crossword grid. Truly a pleasure to solve.

Sorry, Victor, but I was definitely left marveling at how smart you are for constructing this puzzle. Nicely done!

Relatively easy to pick up on the theme and to solve, but what a spectacular debut construction feat. Bravo, Matthew Faiella.

Such a touching and powerful story. To be honest, before following this board, I never imagined the joy (and heartbreak) of crossword construction.

Brilliant construction and exactly the right degree of difficulty. The only thing I wish had been included would have been a clue solving to Natasha Lyonne, star of the wonderful steaming series (at least in Season 1) Russian Doll.

Between the rebus, which took me quite some time to fully figure out even once I knew it had to do with ‘long’, and the challenging puns Sam highlighted, this one took some extra time. But very satisfying.

Sam, what kind of Canadian only knows offside from soccer, eh? 2 minutes in the penalty box for lack of hockey knowledge for you!

So many fun word pairings, especially NONO and OKOK and HEADDANCE crossing Cherokee Nation. Also noticed AMPSUP and REV.

Am I the only person who saw the four circle letters in the first loop-de-loop and immediately thought “oh crap”?

Having just watched Amazon Prime’s excellent 4-part series Soul Power on the American Basketball Association, I initially had 72A as DrJ (though it turns out he was actually born in East Meadow, NY). Guess that would’ve been too much of a slam DUNK.

More than 50 years later, the TV commercial for the Spirograph is still lodged in my head: “I don’t (can’t?) believe it, I just don’t believe it The things you can draw (do?) with a Spirograph”

easily sailing until the southeast corner: RENFAIRE was nearly the death of me, mixing a tricky pun with an obscure phrase. And I’ve attended Renaissance Faires!

Nice shout out to the TORonto ARGONAUTS of the Canadian Football League

10 minutes faster than yesterday. Good time to remember not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Sorry to be a stickler, but while the column states that “Each theme clue, such as 24-Across [*Number of years between Summer Olympics], refers to a number”, that’s only the case for 2 of the themers- the others refer to a slash and an equal sign. Right?

Gotta say, things fell into place much more easily once I grudgingly gave up on 67A solving to CLUSTER_ ending in a rebus.