Laura V
Reykjavik
64
Comments
0.434
Avg Sentiment
33
Positive
24
Neutral
7
Negative
Reykjavik
Elegant puzzle. Mind you I had the auto check on, but in my book that's not cheating, it's learning :D
As many others are commenting, I went from complete confusion until it suddenly clicked. Then it was super easy to finish! Some say too easy, but I enjoyed the contrast.
@E G Did you know that the puzzles get harder as the week progresses? In addition, Thursdays always has some extra trickery going on. I suggest concentrating on Monday-Wednesday for a while and you'll start to get the hang of it!
What does it mean that I had quite a few across answers filled in before I realized the clues should be read backwards? I saw the thing about shifting gears so I didn't question the wonky wording. Of course it got much easier when I actually got the revealer! Fun puzzle :D
Aw, IMSAD about the poor PARIAH who never gets invited to any parties :D
I liked it! At first I thought it was going to be tough, but figuring out the theme helped me make some headway and I finished below my average. I'm puzzled as to why Tender bend-er is hyphenated. Wouldn't bender also make sense?
Ooooo! I did the thing where I got stuck so I went and took a shower and did the dishes, then came back and started seeing things! That totally works. Also, does anyone else besides me have trouble sometimes "seeing" the down answers? When that happens I type out what I have with underlines for spaces and often I'll suddenly see what should go there. Works at least half the time.
Glad to know I'm not the only one humbled by this puzzle. This one tried to kick me back to Wed-Thurs where I belong lol. Not complaining though, it wouldn't be fun anymore if I were already at the top of Saturday solving. Eventually finished, autocheck on, no look ups but lots of guesses!
Another fun rebus puzzle! It's all in the revealer - 3 squares AND 3 foods are packed with jam...I don't see the problem :)
Nice workout for me. I didn't know that about Enron - funny!
Yay I did it (finally!) I even said out loud at one point, all I can think of is cease fire or cease and desist and those don't fit. Lol, fun puzzle!
@Liana In the same puzzle as ICBMS/MCA!
I like a Thursday puzzle where when I figure out the theme it helps me to fill in the rest of the theme clues. When I finally figured out this theme, my first thought was that it wasn't going to help me at all - but then it actually did! Oh yeah, I did turn on auto check pretty early on...
@lucky13 In a highway service station Over the month of June Was a photograph of the earth Taken coming back from the moon And you couldn't see a city On that marbled bowling ball Or a forest or a highway Or me here least of all ā Joni Mitchell, Refuge of the Roads
I did well on the bottom two thirds, but the top third did me in. I learned two cool words though (epicene and epistolary) so it's all good.
You weren't kidding with all kidding aside! Between FLAY, HATE, SATAN, DRACO, BRUISE, ROAST - I was getting scared :D Also ECIG and HAVANA made this one smokey puzzle. Add me to the list of those who got stuck on Tuesday, but no HATE, when I finally finished, the funny theme and a learning a new word (venal) made this puzzle quite worthwhile!
I loved it! The shaded squares definitely sped things along, but that was fine for me.
At first pass I got nowhere, but I'm past the point of giving up too soon. I kept plugging away and when I figured out the theme (before figuring out the theme clue) it became really fun!
I don't believe I've ever had fish n chips served with tartar sauce, but I do remember school lunches serving tartar sauce with fish sticks - which is what I had there until I turned on auto check. Yes, it was hard, but I'm just glad to read that others found it hard too and I'm not just losing my mind!
Loved it! Oh it was hard, and I had to find 5 of the 6 hidden letters to finally get the theme, but so satisfying when I finally got it. I did look up Erykah after struggling in that area, oh well.
@Sean The visual cue was the italicized clues - sometimes they don't even give you that!
Hehehe that was funny, thanks! :D
@Tay I can't even read the clues that quickly - congrats! :D
@Crevecoeur Have you tried turning on the autocheck instead of using reveal? That's what I do when I'm not making any progress (as was the case today). You can then remove any mistakes and start making guesses and see right away if they are correct. I was able to finish that way! Some may call that cheating, but if you're still having fun, who cares? I agree some of the clues were brilliant.
@Wendy P But not sure why the emphasis was necessary.
@Asher B. It tells me something - to skip that one until I figure out what's going on! Which is fun for me. But I respect your right to not like it.
I like it! Some people fill in the downs to help get the across themes, but I had to fill in the across answers (after figuring out the theme) to help me get some of the the downs!
Fun puzzle. I usually struggle with Saturdays, but this one was a great example of a puzzle with lots of things I didn't know (or think I knew) that I was able to parse out. Got stuck in the northwest corner though. Having Trade and Enter for 1 and 3 down tripped me up for a long while. Finally decided to look up ORLON, and then I was on my way again. I'm surprised I've never heard of LABNEH - but will try making some soon!
@NanuNanu Same regarding HOUR. My first thought for 1A was music. Didn't click until I got soda from the crosses. And I grew up calling it pop!
@Wendy P Forever with emphasis on the second syllable.
@Vaer Cool! JUG didn't immediately come to mind (kept thinking washboard won't fit!) but I have heard of it.
@K W And Garbanzo just seems wrong for hummus!
@Jane Wheelaghan I signed up for wood shop in high school and found out that girls weren't allowed (this was 1960-70). I'll show them though, in November I'm going to evening classes in woodworking! Never too late.
@Paul M 3 mins below my average. Either I'm improving or I'm just good at bending the truth!
I started late last night, got stuck and went to bed, filled in what I could this morning, made breakfast, then was able to finally finish without look ups! Took me a minute, but very satisfying!
@Tara I just posted a similar comment - I should have read yours first!
@Steve L Thanks for posting that, I thought I was losing my mind!
@Xword Junkie In my head I was pronouncing it ick now and actually took out fly for a moment until I got it :D
@ad absurdum Super distracting! I hope it doesn't stay.
@Dan Collins I think he did look it up - I did too. I learned that the spelling was changed from lead to lede in the 1970s so it wouldn't be confused with the lead (metal) used in typesetting.
@Cyndie I just watched a couple of clips on youtube of people supposedly pronouncing Mary/marry/merry 3 different ways and I still can't hear it!
@Marlene I had about 3 different spellings there until I finally realized I'd better work on the crosses!
@Jane Wheelaghan oops, I meant 1969-70. I wasn't in high school an entire decade!
@Andrzej Also, how in the world did David Kwong construct this - oh yeah, he's a magician!
I've also never heard this.
I also got stuck for a while with navy and norms - what a mess!
@Darren I stared at DEICES for the longest time wondering what in the world is this word I've never heard of. It wasn't until I had 3 of the 4 letters in SALT that I realized it was DE-ICE. D'oh!
@ElBee It helped me that I was just looking at those in a store yesterday!
@Melody Same, but I giggled so much I don't care! :D
@Darren Same! Some marketing genius must've said, let's never call it taffy and no one will know.