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.

Regarding the Midi. Using the answer in the clue is, imho, shoddy. Regarding the Sunday, pretty sure the Lion Tamer is not the one jumping through hoops.

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.

A quibble about 23 across, as a sourdough starter does not have added YEAST. It’s flour and water, and the yeast is naturally occurring, from the flour. If you add baker’s yeast, it will dominate the levain, and kill the natural yeast, leaving a bland but usable starter. Have seen some odd ideas, like adding apple peels or other fruits the start of the levain, to add more natural yeast. But flour and water have always worked, back to antiquity.

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.

Dunno why you reordered the games in the app, but was willing to roll with it. But the crossword crashed out the whole game app several times, so I’ll mention that. Shoddy work. Not sure why anything is above the Crosswords, but I could understand Wordle being up there. But Connections? Does that have more players than the Crosswords? I would guess not. Spelling Bee has a lot more players based on the forums. Connections isn’t even a NYT original or big purchase. It’s a rip of a British game show.

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.

Pleasant puzzle, not too tough, but long (appropriately for the theme) so a good Sunday. One quibble for the folks who make it work online. The instructions for the paper version have you trace from A to T and back to A. The animation starts at T, which seems like they didn’t follow the instructions. Still, fun but they get it docked half a star.

Have to say, the Volume Control Devices? clue, even after reading the explanation, is more from a cryptic crossword than a straight one like the NYT. But that’s just me, a grumpy old.

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.

I solved it but I don’t get 57 down. MEAT is the answer for Centeal point?

I guess the spelling of 26 down is the US spelling, but ending with an E is closer to the Yiddish/Jewish spelling. Imagine my surprise when I completed it in 5 minutes, and had to find the error, crossing with NYT Crosswords’ favorite Irish songstress. But maybe the shikse should lay off the Yiddishisms if they’re going to spell them wrong.