essay

NYC

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essayNYCOct 23, 2026, 3:41 PM2026-10-23neutral85%

@Billy it's a Friday, you should expect clues to be tricky.

18 recommendations

essayNYCOct 18, 2025, 8:52 PM2025-10-18negative87%

Too clever for its own good, resulting in a not fun puzzle. Major eye rolling throughout.

17 recommendations

essayNYCJan 16, 2026, 5:21 PM2026-01-16negative65%

This was TOUGH!!!!

16 recommendations

essayNYCAug 21, 2026, 3:47 PM2026-08-21negative80%

Could not get on the same wavelength as the constructor at all. This was a battle from the very start to the bitter bitter end.

13 recommendations1 replies

essayNYCJan 24, 2026, 7:45 PM2026-01-24positive97%

This was so tough!! What a thrill!!!!

12 recommendations

essayNYCDec 11, 2025, 3:25 PM2025-12-11positive97%

YAY AN EASY THURSDAY THAT MADE ME CHUCKLE

11 recommendations

essayNYCMay 8, 2026, 5:06 PM2026-05-08negative86%

Absolutely brutal!

10 recommendations1 replies

essayNYCJul 3, 2026, 7:18 PM2026-07-03negative55%

An uphill battle the whole way through

10 recommendations

essayNYCJan 25, 2026, 5:31 PM2026-01-25positive98%

Truly fabulous puzzle even if it includes my forever nemesis TEC!!!!!!!

9 recommendations

essayNYCJul 17, 2026, 6:45 PM2026-07-17positive99%

Outrageously impressive, wow! Learned a lot, too.

9 recommendations

essayNYCAug 2, 2026, 4:30 PM2026-08-02positive99%

This was really excellent!! Looking forward to seeing more from them.

9 recommendations

essayNYCFeb 26, 2026, 3:06 PM2026-02-26positive97%

By gum what a workout!!!!!!!!

8 recommendations

essayNYCMar 21, 2026, 2:26 PM2026-03-21positive84%

Huge ego boost, felt impenetrable at first and then somehow I found myself nearly done — and then a PR!

8 recommendations

essayNYCApr 6, 2026, 1:54 PM2026-04-06positive98%

A bit chewy for a Monday!! Really enjoyed this one.

8 recommendations

essayNYCAug 1, 2026, 5:35 PM2026-08-01positive51%

Holy heck that was absolutely grueling. Can't believe I managed to get as many as I did without lookups!!!

8 recommendations

essayNYCSep 18, 2025, 4:15 PM2025-09-18positive91%

I held on to ADAM for 52A for way too long even as I kept thinking "PLASTIC would he good for 37D" and "APCLASS is perfect for 39D!" When I finally let it go, the relief of seeing LAP was so, so sweet. Great puzzle!!

7 recommendations

essayNYCDec 7, 2025, 6:18 PM2025-12-07positive98%

Really brilliant. Best puzzle in a while!

7 recommendations

essayNYCFeb 13, 2026, 4:30 PM2026-02-13positive98%

This was so, so, so, so good. Wow! A real stumper at first and then slowly it clicked into place. I'm awed by Evan's genius!!!! Wow! First fave of the year for sure.

7 recommendations1 replies

essayNYCJun 14, 2026, 8:55 PM2026-06-14positive99%

Really enjoyed this one! Clever theme with entries that solve cleanly and lots of appropriately chewy Sunday fill. Yay!

7 recommendations

essayNYCJul 31, 2026, 4:06 PM2026-07-31positive99%

This was such a fun puzzle!!!!!!!

7 recommendations

essayNYCOct 23, 2026, 3:43 PM2026-10-23positive98%

This was superb, indeed. One of the best of the year. Bravo, Katie!!

7 recommendations

essayNYCOct 16, 2025, 1:27 PM2025-10-16positive97%

This was great! Had my brows furrowed for the first 12 mins or so, trying frantically to understand a rebus that would fit BENICETO and OFFICEHOURS and SLICER. Such a fun theme and very very clever. Never heard of WEND before but now I do!

6 recommendations

essayNYCOct 31, 2025, 5:16 PM2025-10-31positive98%

This was a lot of fun! Stumped me plenty, which led to a lot of ooh-ing and aah-ing once I figured out how to read the clues. Looking forward to more puzzles from this constructor!

6 recommendations

essayNYCDec 4, 2025, 5:30 PM2025-12-04negative88%

Kind of limp. I'll add my name to the list of those who found the whole theme unsatisfying. Finished and left feeling like, "what was the point?"

6 recommendations1 replies

essayNYCDec 13, 2025, 6:30 PM2025-12-13positive96%

Bravo to the constructors. Very difficult and smartly done!!

6 recommendations

essayNYCJan 9, 2026, 4:42 PM2026-01-09neutral51%

Honestly kind of a grind for me!!!!

6 recommendations

essayNYCJan 17, 2026, 3:20 PM2026-01-17positive94%

An absolute grind to the end!

6 recommendations

essayNYCFeb 7, 2026, 6:22 PM2026-02-07positive79%

Absolutely brutal. Fabulous puzzle!

6 recommendations

essayNYCMar 7, 2026, 6:36 PM2026-03-07negative93%

Absolutely effin brutal. Finally the last letter of 1D, only to get the dreaded "not quite done!" dialog and having no clue how I'd be able to tell what was wrong or a typo. It was then I learned it's INTEMPO, not oN. Woof.

6 recommendations

essayNYCMay 24, 2026, 7:08 PM2026-05-24positive99%

Bravo bravo bravo!!! Chewy but a lot of fun -- and entirely solvable without having to look anything up. What a delight treat. More, please!!!!!!

6 recommendations

essayNew YorkAug 26, 2025, 2:14 PM2025-08-26positive96%

@Sarah quite literally just texted my friends exactly this and then opened up the comments to this up top! Glad I'm not the only one :')

5 recommendations

essayNYCOct 5, 2025, 10:08 PM2025-10-05negative92%

I couldn't even muster up the energy to be happy about finishing this one. Boo.

5 recommendations

essayNYCOct 12, 2025, 7:40 PM2025-10-12negative70%

This was tough!!!!!!! I did like the theme but frankly the "measurements" aspect in the non-thematic clues felt really random and I kept wondering why they weren't more directly related to the ONCE answers. Way too much going on for a lizard brain like me!

5 recommendations

essayNYCDec 20, 2025, 5:55 PM2025-12-20positive60%

This was so hard WOW!!!!

5 recommendations

essayNYCFeb 18, 2026, 2:09 PM2026-02-18positive98%

Very clever! A truly great puzzle. Bravo!!!

5 recommendations

essayNYCMar 27, 2026, 6:23 PM2026-03-27positive91%

A real workout!!!!!

5 recommendations

essayNYCJul 4, 2026, 6:33 PM2026-07-04positive83%

I have no idea how I solved that in 9 mins under my average...but me and my brain are definitely rejoicing after the last two days of sheer impenetrability!!!!!!!

5 recommendations1 replies

essayNYCJul 19, 2026, 1:42 PM2026-07-19neutral48%

Without the Christina Aguilera clue, I may have never figured this one out!

5 recommendations1 replies

essayNYCAug 9, 2026, 5:35 PM2026-08-09positive98%

Absolutely impressive and an absolute delight to finish!!!!

5 recommendations

essayNYCDec 14, 2025, 7:59 PM2025-12-14positive96%

Rollicking, rip-roaring fun!!!!!

4 recommendations

essayNYCDec 21, 2025, 11:23 PM2025-12-21positive97%

Ho-ly! That was a battle from the beginning to the end! Remarkable.

4 recommendations

essayNYCDec 29, 2025, 8:13 PM2025-12-29positive99%

I love an zippy easy Monday, thank you Chase!!!!!!

4 recommendations

essayNYCJan 22, 2026, 4:12 PM2026-01-22negative89%

Too clever for its own good. Hated 1D, 6D, 20A, 21D, 29D. 39D and 19D were just plain bad. Hope Mr. DiPietro's future attempts, should he continue being published here, go through more edits.

4 recommendations3 replies

essayNYCJan 29, 2026, 4:25 PM2026-01-29negative93%

My only complaint is 13D -- can't imagine a scenario where a thief would call their score their SWAG????

4 recommendations4 replies

essayNYCFeb 28, 2026, 2:43 PM2026-02-28positive98%

A good workout for me! Really solid clueing and a satisfying solve.

4 recommendations

essayNYCApr 2, 2026, 3:29 PM2026-04-02positive97%

Fine, I guess. Glad others seem to have enjoyed it. Welcome, Sean!

4 recommendations

essayNYCJul 1, 2026, 1:50 PM2026-07-01neutral54%

To quote Thor (2011): "ANOTHER!"

4 recommendations

essayNYCJul 12, 2026, 3:39 PM2026-07-12positive99%

Clean and entertaining, indeed! This was a lot of fun. :-)

4 recommendations

essayNYCAug 5, 2026, 3:49 PM2026-08-05negative93%

This one was just plain mean 😭

4 recommendations

essayNYCOct 22, 2026, 4:07 PM2026-10-22negative81%

This one almost reduced me to tears.

4 recommendations1 replies