Gig

@Andrzej My last Bottomless Brunch was about about 12 years ago, when my toddler showed up at a late Sunday breakfast sans diaper.

@PR Betz So says the arbiter of what’s going on in the minds of “most people”.

@Chris As an OG Star Wars nerd who got to see it in the theater when it launched ( I was 10), and also read the book (IKR?), I can assure you that THREEPIO is the legit, Lucas-approved spelling of that ‘droid’s nickname. Hey, I don’t get bent out of shape about the Pokémon characters or rapper names I don’t know. Peace!

Although .oat would be a great domain name for AGRARIAN sites!

@zhousephine I’m staying in your boxwoods until I get a hi-def shot of you rending your garments while Zhou gleefully dances around you. It’s not me. It’s what the people want.

@C. O'Connor Totally tubular! And, yeah- we kids will now get off your lawn. 🙂

@Hanson You’d prefer she be in DENIAL about DENALI?

@Dave S Same here. The [Dogs and cats] cross was just wicked.

@Rich in Atlanta I went to a zoo that had only one animal- a dog. It was a Shih Tzu.

@Andrzej That. Is. Hilarious. 😂

@Steve L And a comment with a smiley-face emoji tagged on the end means that the author is not being serious. This is also quite appropriate for a diversion called the NYT Xword comments section. But again, thanks for the education.

@Big0veralls Look up “saturnine” instead.

@Andrew Yet another reason I feel like Canadians are my people. 🙂 2D and 9D were stumpers for me, also. But once I hit the crosses, they were gettable. SLUR was like Saturday-level clueing, but I love those mis-directs. Even on a Wednesday. Kudos to you for not being all irate that it was the constructors’/editors’/somebody else’s fault for ending your streak. In this community, we seem to hear too often from the children crying “Not fair!” It’s a game, people. You don’t always win. Prepare to be humbled occasionally by your lack of not knowing everything. Or you haven’t yet mastered an ability to think outside the constructs of a devious clue. Stick with it, if your ego allows you. It’s worth it.

@REID Not to nitpick, but it’s Mel Blanc. 🙂

@TLC I imagine if you were a puzzle constructor (and you might be. I don’t know), I think you might look at those words as gift from the universe. I know I would. Especially after spending weeks or months trying to get this wriggly thing under control.

@ad absurdum P.S.- Come back next year to solve the puzzle after you’ve read all seven volumes and 3,407 pages. 🙂 There are worse ways to spend one’s time. Especially if you’re reading them with one or two of your offspring, snuggled together in bed.

@Oikofuge It’s nice to see love blossoming in the NYT X-word comments section.

@kilaueabart Stick around. It’ll probably show up four more times this year. Along with more OREO(S) than you thought you’d ever eat. And more EKEs than you’d ever care to meet. A slew of YETIs skating across the sleet. And EWEs? What’s the use?!? They sadlly hang their heads and bleat.

@Gig Although it IS Ash Wednesday today, so it almost makes one wonder… I don’t put much stock in religious symbolism, so I’m not too bent out of shape about it. But one could be pardoned for wondering why the editors don’t check their calendars more carefully. 🙂

@Mean Old Lady I feel ya on the Wicked subject. I read the book when it was generating so much buzz back in the late 90s. Totally did it out of FOMO. When I got to the end, I was like, “This is some Dutch Tulip Bulb Craze stuff here.” Terrible. And now we’re on to the Emperor’s New Clothes phase with the play and movie. Kind of makes sense with the mass delusion that’s going on in the political sphere in this country. Maybe chem-trails ARE a thing, after all. 😱😱😱

@tmillermsu Totally agree about the Natick. Esoteric to the third degree. I vaguely knew of Mr. Malek’s first name due to the buzz about his lead in the Queen biopic, but I thought it was ReMI. Crossing that vowel with someone even more obscure, well… But a fun puzzle, nonetheless.

@Sebastian Same here. Last clue to fall for me. Kept trying to figure out how dentists fit in with [co. badges].

@Michael Hendler Don’t feel bad. I’ve done 1,137 puzzles, my solve rate is 82.6% and my longest streak is 14 days. Assuming a reasonable life expectancy without dementia and continued “every now-and-then” solving, it might still be possible for me to achieve some rich experiences within this little corner of the InterWeb. 🙂

@lucky13 “Evade” is synonymous with “Skirt”, like “skirting the issue”. The clue is written in a small (or “mini”) font.

@HeathieJ “She’s got huuuuge… tracts of land!”

@CCNY 💡🔵🔵🌕 🔵🔵🔵🔵 Needed a hint to get going, but it fell pretty quickly after that. Not my favorite era of rock music, but I was in my mid to late twenties during this time and you couldn’t escape it. 🙂

@Steve L Given that the constructor said in her notes that the grid art was intentional, I’d say my noticing the symbols is not that “extreme”. Thanks for teaching me a new word, though.

@Mike Your pun is very apropos to yesterday’s Strands puzzle.

@Selective Walrus Allow us to bask in the glory of your magnificence, if it pleases you, o mighty one! Ye who hath smote/smited/smitten all manner of such cremulousness in the legubrious worlds of the crepuscular lexicography! Fill our flasks with thine noble wisdom! We doth beseech thee! Verily and forsooth!

@Wark Same here. I was like “Never seen that one.” Googled it and got a response from Wiktionary (?!?) that it’s someone or something that sends a message. Ooooookaaaaaay…

@Drew Then it might’ve been clued as [Vengeful movement taken when suffering from a lower intestinal disorder]. Thanks for the laugh! 😂

@Steve L Australia would like a word… <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Bradman" target="_blank">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Bradman</a>

@Gig Fact-checking myself: The puzzle was on the first day of Hannukah, 2022.