Tim

To the crossword puzzle creators: First a huge thank you for sharing your creativity and making puzzles for us to solve. Regardless of ease or difficulty, I enjoy the solving process. I can either know, deduce, or research the answer. Second, never, ever apologize for having a clue and answer that another generation may not know. Period! Please note this Wayne Bergman. Happy midweek solving everyone.

Let’s be grateful for the time to escape the woes of the world and the tasks that await us. The time spent solving a puzzle should be joyous and potentially a learning one. Let’s celebrate the crossword creators, game editors and solvers.

Great, fun debut, Robert Corridan. Looking forward to seeing your grids appear again. L-O-L-A, Lola La-la-la-la Lola The Kinks Your ear worm for Monday.

Same Bat time… Same Bat channel! Kudos to the dynamic duo for this fun Monday grid.

Is it me or is Thursday’s grid easier than Wednesday’s? Perhaps I’ve had more coffee today, and all my synapses are properly functioning. Let’s hand it to Christopher Youngs for a fun solve. Onward!

This wasn’t my favorite, but I’m certain it will be for someone. I haven’t worked this hard on a Sunday puzzle for a long time. Kudos to the creators.

There must be a mind meld somewhere in the universe with Scott, Katie and me. The theme answers were among the first solved clues for me, and I chuckled (groaned?) aloud with each one, which resulted in raised eyebrows from my husband. This allowed me to breeze through the remainder of the grid. Thanks for a humor-filled Sunday morning!

Congratulations to Aiden on both your NYT crossword debut and HS graduation! Best wishes at Harvey Mudd. It must be more than coincidence that Harvey Mudd College has appeared in consecutive days, as a clue and now as a destination for Mr. Deshong. Things to ponder.

Congratulations to Luke K. Schreiber on both his NYT crossword debut and HS graduation. Looking forward to seeing your name again as a crossword creator!

My rebus button is fatigued! And yet, this was a fun-filled grid. Now I wish I had a slice of cold ‘za for breakfast.

Often I pay little attention to the black spaces, and today, I did the same until I pondered a clue’s answer. And voilá, I noticed the martini glass. Suddenly, the italicized glues fell into place as well as 3D and 10D. One may think that allowed for easy solving for the remainder of the puzzle, but no! Kevin Curry had some tricky clueing that took some time to decipher. Thanks for a fun Thursday puzzle. Now, I’m thirsty. 🍸

As a former Unix admin (decades ago now), I had the “aha” moment after completing about 50% of the puzzle. I smiled as I recalled using this punctuation in operating system commands to re-run the last command. My epiphany didn’t ease my solve, but it helped to better understand Damon Gulczynski’s grid. Kudos to Damon(bang).

Thanks Stacey Yaruss McCollough for witty Wednesday. I’m anticipating your next appearance in the NYT crossword arena.

The spanning, long lettered answers came to me quite quickly, but this didn’t help with the corners. The puzzle was challenging to complete. And, it was an educational experience.

Congratulations on your debut, Danna Rosenberg. Now I want a mile high lemon meringue pie.

My usual approach is a top-down solve. My first pass resulted in a mostly unsolved grid. Rethinking the clues, my solving was bottom to top with the NE corner taking some time to resolve. TGIF!

Whew! This solve took a bit longer than normal as I couldn’t find a decent pace and place to gain momentum. Little by little I was able to inch forward to completion. Happily, one of my first answers was CULTCLASSIC. Applause for the Warringtons. Looking forward to future challenges form this duo.

My thanks to Sid and appreciation for Marvin Gaye for assisting me in achieving my best time yet for a Sunday grid, under 32 minutes with zero lookups. Cheers!

TIL “science is like sex” as quoted from Feynman. You made my day, Robert S. Gard! :-D

Thanks Greg for putting “IT” into the clueing. “IT” was a fun puzzle. “IT” assisted me in achieving a new Wednesday personal best, 11:48. I did “IT”!

Congrats Chris on your NYT crossword debut! I enjoyed the spanning entries and overall solve. Looking forward to more from you.

Congrats on your debut, Tarun! Looking forward to seeing more grids from you.

I knew 10 answers on the first pass, that resulted in zero help with other clueing. Then it was off to do research for the remainder of the grid. Difficult? Yes. Worthy? Also, yes.

Congratulations on your debut, Jesse Guzman! At first, I thought, “what in tarnation!”, but I quickly realized the solving method required. I’m anticipating your upcoming grids.

Welcome, Owen! Congrats on your NYT crossword debut. I appreciate your comments in the “constructor notes”. I’m anticipating future puzzles from you.

Wow, just wow! Looking forward to seeing your puzzles appear here soon. Congratulations on your debut, Henry J!

I thoroughly enjoyed the clueing to Barnabas Collin’s and “Dark Shadows”. It brought back childhood memories of racing home after school to watch that spooky, mysterious series. 🦇

I’m clearly in the “I enjoyed this one” camp. Early in the solve, I determined letters were dropped. It was challenging and forced me to push through it. Just when I thought I had hit “bottom”, I managed to complete the grid.

Congratulations on your debut, Evan! This puzzle provided a wonderful set of challenges and misdirects. As a parent to pharmacists, a daughter and son-in-law, I have a whole new and different respect for your chosen profession. I smiled while reading your notes about enjoying your work, colleagues and patients. I’m sure your positive demeanor makes their lives better. I’m looking forward to seeing more of your puzzles.

I will miss your byline, Deb, here at NYT Games and your wit. Fully embrace all your new adventures and continue to learn in your retirement. Be well!

An unusually (for me) brisk completion and yet breezy Saturday clueing. I managed to finish in approximately half of my Saturday average time. Enjoy the weekend!

At first I was frustrated and then I eased into the wordplay. As I stand on your shoulders, let me hum a tune And consider if I should jump, As I watch the grains pass through a glass time piece Hoping it helps my annual payout. Cheers! Have a great Saturday!

Thanks to Daniel and Andrea for a peppy grid that resulted in a new Monday PR. It’s a wonderful way to start the week. Hooray!

Happy Friday! I’m guilty of being an avid participant in 49A, and with a good teammate or 2 (or 3), I can usually 54A. I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle, despite not following my hunches on a few clues. Cheers!

At first, I wondered if I was capable of solving this puzzle. And suddenly I found a path… SE by NE by NW and finally SW.

Welcome Jackson Matz! Thank you for a fun Friday fill. I discovered a few spanners early in the solve, but that didn’t help my overall completion time. However my time was 6 minutes faster than my slow average for Friday. TGIF

Thank you Mr. Johnson for a memorable puzzle and for your kind words regarding your friend, Alexandra. Friends must be cherished as they are often too few and gone too soon. It’s been an odd week with solving times. On Wednesday, my solve time was one minute slower than my average. Today, it was nine minutes faster than my average, only 25 seconds slower than my PB. Regardless, I’ll take it all as a win for keeping my brain nimble. Enjoy your Friday!

It’s a new PR for Sunday! Thanks for the ride, Jeff and Rich.

After reading Deb’s column, I, too, had a Doris Duh (um, Day) moment! Like Ginny Too, when living abroad, it’s amazing to learn how US holidays translate and how the local holidays are celebrated. Happy Thursday!