Michelle Botwinick

Enjoyable puzzle, but I had to check the day because it felt just a DRIB too hard for a Monday. To our guest columnist, Julia-I thoroughly enjoyed your comments! You held my interest to the final word. I'll look for your articles in The Cut from now on.

Good to see our old friend ERTE today after a long absence. I guess Cher, Enya, Rita Ora et al took a day off.

ARTUR vs Arthur Rubinstein led me down a rabbit hole to another 5-letter named Rubinstein pianist who happens to be from my home state - Beryl Rubinstein. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryl_Rubinstein" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryl_Rubinstein</a>

NW corner was the last to fall. I should have solved 20A sooner, considering my husband arm-wrestled EVEL in a bar in the 80's.

About 30 years ago, my husband and I walked into a record store (remember those?) in search of a CD of PORGY and Bess as a gift for my mother-in-law. The young employee asked if that was a release from a new indie band.

Nice puzzle to start the week. The yellow highlight at square 49 going down instead of across caused ATAD of confusion, easily overcome. On a side note, as the proud parent of a University of Miami graduate, I must state that every season is HURRICANESEASON.

My heart stopped for a moment when I opened the grid and saw all of the white. I chanted Deb Amlen's advice like a mantra-you just need one toehold to get started. Did better on the Downs than Acrosses. Filled from the bottom to the top. What an oddly satisfying puzzle!

SKA, OVA, ICEE, ARIAS. Where are the oreos?

Saturday puzzles usually mean several revisits throughout the day, a couple of "check puzzles" and a solve time over an hour. Today I finished in 17:42 over my morning coffee. Excuse me while I go buy a lottery ticket.

Initially I was underwhelmed due to the easy (for me) solve. But then I recognized the constructor's genius. Who looks at GOLDENRETRIEVER or POLTERGEIST and sees a backwards bird name? Ditto the other themed clues. Amazing!

Still working on the NW corner, but had to comment on 3D. All day I've been trying to "remember" Mr. Levy's first name. Finally had a Doh moment and realized the answer.

Just over an hour (with several revisits) to get the gold star and I learned a lot! ENHALO. POCO A POCO. CSPOT (vs Cnote). Travellers vs travelers (ONEL indeed). I loved the double "I" in 14D, and when I finally got IONE, I exclaimed "D'oh!" out loud.

Mazel tov, Yitzi, on your xword debut and a stunning puzzle! I misread Henry for George and was convinced that 21A started with VIII. I laughed out loud when I realized my error.

I loved reading all the comments today! I'll add my thumbs up. I smiled and chuckled often as I solved, appreciating the wit and originality of the clues. I don't often complete a Friday without hitting an impasse and needing to check my input, but I fought for a little over an hour and really feel like I earned today's gold star.

I am sadly lacking in knowledge of musical terms. That being said, I loved the puns! I usually solve in silence but just had to say the theme clues out loud so my ears could confirm what my brain was saying. My favorite clue was the misdirection of 62A. Not that kind of pupil! Now I've added IDLI to the list of crosswordese foods I need to seek out, joining naan, roti, poi, and pho.

Solved in under 15 minutes today. Either I'm getting really good at xwords or this was an easy Thursday. I hope the former. Some days, everything just clicks.

I usually solve a Monday puzzle with only 2 passes through the clues. Today took a bit longer and was surprisingly crunchy. Thanks to the constructor for the Zaboomafoo earworm. It was one of my son's favorite shows 25 years ago.

I've never solved a puzzle from the bottom up with the top left corner the last to fall, until today. Love the cluing on this one.

I never learned to ski, but family members are off to SkiBig3 this month, so I've been reading about bunny trails and black diamonds. It wasn't until after completing the grid that I noticed the HILLS of increasing difficulty and the symbols finally made sense. How often does the Aha! moment come after the solve?

Meaty puzzle. I made 2 passes through the clues until I had enough coverage to work on specific areas. Nice touch of nostalgia with the 2D clue for an xworder's favorite cookie. I'm noticing more slang conversational answers like 62A. Do these phrases tick me off? YESINDEEDY.

So many possibilities. Goop or GLOP? Kit or KAT? Laud or LORD? Major satisfaction when it all clicked for the gold star

Delightful Sunday morning puzzle! 74A was a facepalm moment- "Oh, not those kind of magazines". Likewise 89A with exits, 121A with bolts, and 46D with lab. I love the twisty clues. Thank you, Professor Donaldson and Go Panthers!