Fredegunde

All too often, these very gimmicky puzzles strike me as giving more joy to the creator than the solver. But not here. At least for me, there joy is for both. Well done.

I always hoped that "gruntled" might one day turn into a real word. It seems to have such wonderful potential.

I dislike rebuses -- and trick puzzles in general. Every Wednesday night at 10 when the Thursday puzzle drops I think "Oh dear, I'm not going to like this". But being a glutton for punishment (and for pizza), I always give it a try and often end up tearing my hair or uttering words unsuitable for polite company (and for emus). So much to my surprise, I quite enjoyed today's puzzle. For me, the pattern actually made it flow rather than hindered solving

Sam, I can think of a most serious arcade. Victorian London offered fancy shopping arcades. One that remains and is of overwhelming poshness is Burlington Arcade off Piccadilly <a href="https://www.burlingtonarcade.com" target="_blank">https://www.burlingtonarcade.com</a>/ . Does it offer amusements? Well, maybe if your pocketbook is up to it.

I blame the cat. When in doubt, it's always good to blame the cat. (And sometimes she actually did it.)

Sometimes my mind gets hold of a wrong answer and won't let go. Today it was 26D “Moi? Never!” I couldn't get rid of “jamais” although it obviously wouldn't work. I felt like one of Cinderella's step-sisters trying to get the glass slipper to fit.