Brunsworks

I|d a great time with this puzzle. I just thought I'd s|re t|t.

What a great debut! I look forward to the next one.

Gimmicky. The format and the interface don't support this kind of space usage well at all, and puzzles like this are just dissatisfying.

Okay, that was funny.

I've tried this puzzle on Firefox. I've tried it on Brave. I've tried it on the iOS app (using IOS 26.3). I've tried it with the letters under the dancers. I've tried it without the letters under the dancers. I've tried it with Rebus. I've tried it without Rebus. I want my subscription fee back. This wasn't a puzzle. This was beta testing in production.

This was my kind of puzzle. It challenged, but it also gave me some laughs.

The answer for "Great service provider" is a little odd. I know them as a low-tier computer maker that occasionally has a reliable model, and their customer service has been spotty at best. The only other use of the word I've seen is for a genus of tree. Maybe that would be a better clue for this word.

I didn't love this one, not least because the clue for 13D feels grammatically incorrect to me, and that took me out of the grid for a bit. I strongly feel the clue should be "Lack of trouble." That would yield a noun, instead of the adjective suggested by the existing clue. That said, I didn't mind the four Qs in a diagonal row. That was fun. But the rest of this grid was just...okay to me.

This may well be my favorite Thursday puzzle so far! That said, as an improv performer, while the word that fits the space for 26A is technically correct for the clue (the best kind of correct), it's also more than a little reductive to me. Some [26A]s are improvised, it's true, but most are scripted. Plus, the vast majority of improv goes far beyond "[26A]s." When I think of "[26A]s," I think of cringey scenes put on by clueless corporate VPs, or clumsy mini-plays performed by kindergarteners. There's something else that comes to mind when I see the answer to 26A: Crossword space fillers. Crosswordese. I know deadlines are brutal, and that the rest of the puzzle was a brilliant execution of a fresh concept, but when I see an ESPY, an ICEE, an ALOE, an ORES, or a [26A], it still disappoints me.

This felt like a great idea for a properly implemented Rebus feature. It doesn't appear that there's any interest at NYT Games in building one that doesn't make this puzzle feel incredibly clumsy and dissatisfying for me. I'm sure others like it better, but to me, it's clever, but no fun at all. Also, as I should have been saying in the months since I first saw it...there's a yawning chasm of difference between honing and sharpening. Please use a different clue.

The day after one of my worst crossword experiences, Yitzi Snow delivers one of my favorites. The wordplay in the basic clues is solid and amusing, but the "rebus" (thankfully not using the execrable "Rebus" function became clear quickly, and was fun to play with. Somehow, after fighting with the February 25 puzzle for literal hours across three separate software platforms and two devices, I managed to maintain my streak. As long as there's a steady stream of puzzles like today's, I may even someday forgive the design department for yesterday's disaster.

I don't normally go in for gimmicks, I absolutely loved this one! Not using the rebus function made this a much more solidly crafted puzzle experience for me. I'd love to see similar overlap formatting in other crosswords, especially in place of rebuses, because rebuses, when they aren't gimmicky, still require a higher level of inference than I feel is appropriate for all but the most difficult Sunday puzzles.

That was a lot of fun, especially since the final bit worked on two levels. The constructor could have done more, but that would have risked being a hat on a hat.

I liked the theme, but I particularly enjoyed some of the wordplay in some of the regular clues. I could stand to see more "this and this, but not this," though, and less DRS and OWOW. Those always feel like placeholders to me.

Well done!

Is this a browser issue because of the exceptionally bad implementation of the Rebus system? I use Firefox. Should I load this on a Chromium browser? I avoid Chrome itself because it's determinedly anti-privacy in order to fit into Alphabet's business model. This puzzle would have been SOOOOOO good without the even-worse-than-usual Rebus.

That was a major challenge. Loved it!