LeCheffre

Can we take a second to talk about today's Mini... I loved it. It's not often that a crossword makes me laugh, much less a mini. Well done, Mr. Fagliano.

Enjoyable Friday, 11:44, 7 minutes faster than average. Had a few where I went astray, but crossing told me where I went wrong. Nothing wrong with a slightly lighter lift on a Friday.

Had to come to complain that XMAS was last week, to get the clue was talking about presents, rather than the present.

Just a request that you stop posting the new puzzles at 6 pm CST. I was doing Saturday’s Sudoku, put it down, came back after six, and it was gone and replaced with Sundays. I had six more hours locally to do the Saturday puzzles before they disappeared. And now I have none for today. Not a problem for the crossword, Wordle or connections, but sudoku is actually my favorite puzzle.

I’m not a fan of tricksy Thursday, but this one I got from the theme clue and the line 4 one, which broke it wide for me. I do appreciate when a TT has a reward, like the reveal at solving. Print subscribers are out of luck, unless print tech has come a long way recently.

I got it, but I didn’t really get it until I read the column. Meh. Thursday stuff in a Sunday grid. Don’t like.

Enjoyable Sunday. Got off to a slow start, and was puzzled by the roundabouts, but built enough mental flexibility by embracing Tricksy Thursdays that I eventually got it. Had the wrong state for the Wisconsin neighbor, but the Obama family member fixed that. 75D was where I think I cracked the code based on the crosses at 88 and 95A. A nice half hour spent. Thank you.

Got this one without help, loved the picture clues, and as a frequently complainer about tricksy thursday, this one was fun. Not the first Thursday I've solved without any assistance, but very satisfying nonetheless.

Happy New Year to all the solvers. Used to hate Thursday, aka Tricksy Thursday, but apparently a middle aged dog can learn some tricks. Enjoyed this one, had no trouble with the rebus. Nice puzzle. Did the January bonus puzzle and felt old when the clue for the famous catchphrase was Steve Harvey and not Richard Dawson. Aging isn’t for the faint of heart.

Not generally a fan of tricksy Thursday, but got this one pretty quickly. 7 across led to solving that corner save the clues with circled squares. That led to the first eureka moment. The second was getting to the end, and it not solving, so I had to go back and rebus the circles. Not a heavy lift, ATC, and if it’s the worst thing that happens to me today, it’ll be a great day.

Nice debut. Completed in 9:51 with no hints. Didn’t even get the meaning of the gimmick until I had finished the puzzle. Figured out they were repeating patterns, which cracked everything else once I had the pattern. Bit too clever for me, but I usually struggle with Thursday.