TLC

This puzzle became so tedious as my vision issues made it impossible to keep track of the cursor and highlighting across or down. Ohh, ahhh, rings, gee. Why couldn't they have filled in at the end of the puzzle like some of your other gimmicks do? And don't say print, the colors didn't print well and it looked like mud. Just. Do. The. Puzzle.

9A is just ridiculous. I grew up around Modesto. The clue is not a "modest home." It's a detached cottage on the grounds of a home and some of them are very very fancy. This smacks just a bit of cutsey-pie with a half teaspoon of shall we say "ethnic" assumptions about the population of Modesto. There is a well-known travel trailer of this name which would have been a much more useful and better clue. After the jokes at the expense of women this week (a group of us are still disgusted with "overflowing cups" and "eggs-terminators,") this one just threw off the entire solving experience. I'll slog through for my streak, but, Do Better, Editors . . .

Another "meh" twee "look at me, I'm clever" puzzle. I ignored the theme and solved my way into the nonsense answers.

I got it on the vertical crosses and still don't know what the theme is. I read wordplay and it came across like "take two letters from the first word and put them upside down on a purple pancake while wearing the second word as a hat." Another twee yawnfest trying to be clever for the sake of being clever.

Hey, everybody, look at me, I'm a crossword builder. 107 across is gsygobhrtdtbfftinr I'm hilarious because this is what you get when your fingers are one to the right on your keyboard (or something like that, it was painful to type)!!! I'm hilarious!!

Another twee tedious rebus that I have to slog through to keep my streak alive. As soon as I got to the "god as my witness . . . " actress clue, I knew it was time to pull up the solution and fill in the stupid squares so I could enjoy the rest of the puzzle. #yawn

It's Wednesday, not a day for this sort of twee tedium. Who approved this boring silliness?

I truly disliked every aspect of this puzzle. I did fine, below my average, but that's because I rushed through it to get it over with. A mishmash of outdated cutesy phrases. And, I know this is just me, but I am really tired of seeing women's bodies, bodily functions, and undergarments as clues. And this one was extra tacky because it was about young girls. Training? Like teaching them tricks? Yes, the phrase is still used, but it's outmoded and smarmily sexist. A girl either wears one or she doesn't. It doesn't "train" anything. At least it wasn't the usual "garbanza gigantic cup holding slingshots" that we usually see. Do better NYT. This was was just nose-wrinkling from start to finish.

Let's see, I've constructed my way into a corner . . . Hmmm, I KNOW! I'll just throw in a random overwrought "abbr" or "for short."

Not a bad puzzle for my at home day. I have just noticed that puzzles seem to be making a lot of jokes at women's expense. Jokes about sanitary products, tons of "spay" jokes (where is "sperm slayer"?), and the ever-popular bra jokes (yesterday's overflowing cups.) Why don't we have jokes about limpness (or not,) "length", neutering, vasectomies, etc? Is it just that anything that has to do with women, women's sexuality, women's bodies, and women's health is just funnier because it's "naughty?" And because everyone knows that "droopy" jokes just aren't funny, amirite? Is this the 1950s?

Ew, a weird rebus on a Sunday? No. Sunday is for esoteric vocabulary and clever wordplay, not cheap cheesy twee gimmicky tricks. #yawn

A bit on the twee side and too cute for its own good, but overall pretty easy, even with the tortured clues. The bolding was unnecessary, it made the clues harder to read, and we didn't need to be told OMGHERESTHETHEME!!!!! You can trust us that, we, indeed, "got it."

Needed more names, you know, because those are so much fun.

Another "whatevs" theme. I didn't "get" it until I read Wordplay and still don't care. I didn't need the theme to solve it. But, wow, so much "clever."

I muscled through this ridiculous mish-mash mess. And the 90s called and wants its exercise routine back. I think clues that are 30 years out of date are just adorbs when used to force the puzzle to work. I give this a 2/10 and five *yawns* up.

What a fun punny puzzle. Silly light clever wordplay without a lot of LOOK AT ME I MADE A PUZZLE tediousness.

I lost my 366-game streak while evacuating from Hurricane Milton. I've built it back to 5. Nice to see a Thursday that is a puzzle, rather than twee gimmicks.

Could this puzzle have been any more forced?

I'm still not sure what the theme of this mushed-up mess was, but I was able to get all the twee clues through the down fill-ins. I mean, whatevs . . . At least it wasn't some half-baked rebus.

Wonderful puzzle. Great set of stacks without having to torture clues into place or resort to twee gimmicks. Just me versus that big white wide-open spaces grid. And well under my average time. May I have another, please?

Nice little 46A for a Tuesday. Not my best time, but I am consistently bringing down my average.

I loved it. A nice solid challenge of vocabulary with a bit of wordplay without having to deal with the reverse linear present tense haiku woven rotating rebus pattern. In other words, it was challenging without being twee and oh-so-clever. Well done. (And, yes, I know, but strategies are different than tactics. Those words have taken on specialized and secondary meaning.)

I think I'm the only one who didn't jump at MARINARA. Actually, I was lucky and got the first two letters from the down clues. After that, there was no other choice. I do confess that I did have to google it to spell it correctly. A fun puzzle with just the right amount of mean to it without any gimmicks.

After having to grind through this mishmash twee, I SO FUNNY mess, the type that should be relegated to Thursday, I can say that I will never utter the phrase in 107-across again.

Oh look, how twee and "clever." What a tedious mess. But, LOOK, MULTIPLICATION, I so CLEVER!!!!!

I never did "catch on." I solve around all the *yawn* cleverness. I assumed all that word salad would matter to someone and I got my little completion fanfare music. A fun puzzle that lowered my time average.

KEMOSABE? REALLY? What's next? "Heap Big Spirit?" Really disappointed. And, yes, I know that a non-indigenous judge said it was perfectly fine. Okay, that makes it just fine. Just. Why?

So glad I could ignore the "theme" (whatevs) and just solve it.

Not too bad. Man, there are some words I would like to see retired. Any word having to do with lactation, human or animal, and women-specific garments or sexual hygiene (I notice there is subtle misogyny that anything having to do with women is fine, but, gee, men? do we ever see "jockitch or testicle?" nope). ANY. And any made-up word to make it fit like ohhs, ahhs, aha, ahas, ows, ohoh, etc. along with weird forced abbreviations. Anything that really hasn't been seen or done since the 90s (hatt__, for example) Puzzle themes seem to be more and more twee, without using fresh vocab.

MIA carries a lot more context and weight than "army absence." This clue was pretty tone deaf. How about ___ Farrow next time.

I didn't read wordplay, but condolences. And I am so glad I didn't need any of the "theme" to solve this puzzle. At least it wasn't an annoying rebus.

As a retired teacher, several leaped out at me. Despite my initial "oh my" at this for a Monday puzzle, I came close to my best. I'll call it a B+

Um, okay, whatevs. I solved this mess without any of the theme and was just glad it's over. Glad some of y'all enjoyed it. I got none of the twee coyness.

Any day without a rebus is all right by me. The card clues fell into place with a few downs to fill in. Lowered my average time, and that's always my goal. So, well done.

ECHOLOCATION was one of my first long fills. Other than an annoying typo (my keyboard is nearly shot and sometimes has a mind of its own), I came in well below my average. Solid Tuesday, just me and my vocabulary without having to rely on the theme at all.

Sort of "meh." I didn't read Wordplay first, but when I saw the diagram with the arrows, I knew there would be some twee trick. So, I ignored all the blank clues and just solved around it. In other words, an ordinary puzzle with some clues that tried wayyy too hard. Not the best, certainly not the worst Thursday has served up.

I love it when I can just do a Thursday puzzle without having any clue that there is a twee precious theme. Just straightforward solving.

So many names to look up got boring, but otherwise, not bad or fun. I just ignored 1A and filled it with the downs. The other 15s were a piece of cake. It was fun and any day without a rebus or some twee pattern is okay by me.

Nice Monday puzzle to reboot my brain. At 6:33, I came within 45 seconds of my best time.

There was a theme? oh, how, um, utterly, clever. Huh . . .okay.

NAIR and TIVO? The 90s called and they want their clues back.

Now this was more like a Monday than this Monday's mess. Straightforward vocabulary and no twee cloying "themey-theme." I was able to completely ignore this one as I concentrated on improving my time. Nearly 6 minutes below my average and only 45 seconds off my best.