Gary

@Dave: Wow! Well, besides that Mrs. Lincoln, how’d you like the play?

@Michael Shows how differently people respond to the same stimulus. I loved that combo! It had humor and cleverness for me. The fact that Arnold was cued as The Governator made use of the H instead of R a given for me and an evoked a chuckle. That the H fit into Heavies as well turned it into a full out laugh.

@Darren I’m guessing that you must’ve had a hard time with this one. Me too, but I hung in and after way beyond my average time I finally got it done without lookups and felt great about accomplishing that. As a result I really loved this puzzle! I guess beauty (or its inverse) really does lie in the eye of the beholder. Perhaps it would be more accurate if you just said it was beyond you and as a result you didn’t enjoy it.

@TJ I’m no pro. I started solving during the pandemic lockdown and have continued daily. It’s taken six years of solving including extra solving in the archive, but i can now solve puzzles throughout the entire week including this one without lookups. That took sustained effort and lots of errors and I’m still slow - today took 1:18:55 - but the feeling of accomplishment each “hard” day is much more rewarding than the easier ones. As a result, I look forward to late week puzzles and especially ones from the likes of Sam Ezersky.

@Michael. Different strokes for different folks. I really enjoyed this one and found it clever. As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

@CK As they say, YMMV. For me that would take much of the fun out of it.

@Suzie Lee Absolutely! That clue left me inwardly chuckling for a loooong time. Loved it.

@John. I think that’s age dependent. They were all gimmies for this 78 year old. Now if they were current pop folks…

@Eddie For those who require a bit more pretentiousness in their phraseology, may I offer: ‘I have, with deliberate intention and consummate skill, already accomplished this particular task.”

@Rick I’m afraid I’m not one, but thank you for a new rabbit hole to explore.

@Times Rita Thank you. I’m 79 and had forgotten this song. Omg how fitting once again!

@Cassandra As far as I can determine it is and it comes within 2.1 miles of the equator. I can’t find another country that comes closer without touching.

@Jess A little boring? It would be mind incredibly boring!

@Xword Junkie. Just 7 seconds under my Monday average makes it a true Monday puzzle to me. Most will have a few scattered words that need to be filled out by crosses. It’s just that the crosses will themselves be rather easy IMHO.

@Andrew “Hotel California”, the album, was released on December 8, 1976. The song itself was released as a single in 1977. The clue is asking for the year the album was released.

@Linda Jo Strands #465 “If you build it ...” 🔵🔵🟡🔵 🔵🔵 Had to resort to random word finding and then OMG and easy sailing.

@Leapfinger Some websites or social media posts humorously juxtapose religious phrases, such as “Ora pro nobis,” with photos of meerkats standing upright, parodying their posture as if they’re in prayer or supplication.

@J The puzzle author’s last name is Spooner.

Must feel good to know that you’re the only member of the platoon who’s marching in step.

@Selective Walrus At first I thought it would be extremely difficult, but ended up getting the gold star in 3/4 of my average Friday time. I think it was likely easier than a typical Friday as a result of several well known spanners that could be deduced with just a few crossers.

@Carolyn — My favorite AI says this about it: Why the Reference to Fax and Printer? • Fax: Represents sending or stating facts. • No printer: Implies there’s no extra step, no need to print out the facts—they’re already clear and undeniable.

@Dave K. Completely different to me. I thought bookends being plural meant book at both ends. Did the double word clue areas first and then found the revealer to be helpful with each theme entry. Guess it comes down to literal or figurative interpretation of bookends and given it’s a puzzle the figurative one worked out immediately with the first theme answer so…

@SP As a non- Jew, you’re right, I didn’t get it. However, I copied and pasted it into my AI that I subscribe to and ended up laughing out loud.

@Jenn I’m a fan too! I found this difficult but fair and very clever. For those who complain that chance and chants aren’t at all the same, the clue said phonetic. Nice to have a Thursday that took me longer than my average time.

@Jack They were frustrating for me too, but after I did finally get them and finished the puzzle, I checked my time and it was just slightly below my Tuesday average. So I guess their inclusion actually worked out for me as a typical Tuesday.

@Joan M Oh MAN did ya really have ta ask that?

@Eddie. Your grammar is slipping. Should’ve been: “This puzz done been too hard.”

@Jane Wheelaghan Debutants often come out at society balls.

@Coco Sending Congrats!

@Vaer If you haven’t watched the Taco version, though, you’re really missing a good one. (Thanks Caitlin, I had never seen it before and it definitely captured me.)

@Anna I subscribe to Perplexity as my AI. It definitely came up with Malta when I asked it after reading some of these comments. It also list its sources for you so you can double check it easily.

@Ms. Billie M. Spaight I’m awaiting official birth certificates for my mother and grandmother and then I will be applying for Canadian citizenship by descent and fairly soon should be able to say that too.