VBDC

Definition of irony: when the fill that stumps you and ends up being the very last answer you get is “AHA moment.”

Did anyone else almost get stuck by filling in "crankcall" instead of PRANKCALL? The former was by far the more common term when I was growing up (1970s).

On the 15A controversy, this is what BMW itself says on their website: “Strictly speaking, it’s incorrect to talk about a “beamer car” (or “beemer car”). The correct term for a BMW automobile is “bimmer” – “beemer” and “beamer” actually only refer to a BMW motorcycle.” <a href="https://www.bmw.com/en/automotive-life/bimmer-beamer-nickname-origin.html" target="_blank">https://www.bmw.com/en/automotive-life/bimmer-beamer-nickname-origin.html</a> Glad I never knew that and filled in the “correct” answer right off. Ignorance is bliss!

I believe 56A is the most 1D clue/answer I’ve ever seen in the NYT.

A breeze, and thank goodness. I need more puzzles like these. Why? Because my wife and I share a NYT games account (me for the crossword, her for sudoku) — but she once, years ago, started a Monday crossword. (can recall why I wasn’t doing it), got halfway through, and then left the puzzle up. All day. Even after solving on many a Monday since, my Monday completion average is still…six hours. It’ll take many more Mondays like these to get me anywhere near to respectable average time. So thank you Mr. Adams!

Used LINE, got the “almost there” message, changed each LINE to ——, got the happy music. Easy mistake to make, but not that hard to correct, especially when 112A explained what to do. Not sure what all the fuss is about.

Fun Monday puzzle. But I do need to point out that every single genre-specific award “The Bear” has won — Emmy, Golden Globe, Critics Choice, even the NAACP Image Award — has been an award for comedy, not TVDRAMA.

That was quite the workout! Surprised I finished it under average, even more surprised I finished it without lookups. It was actually the center of the puzzle that bogged me down, which I think is what made it so tough. Still, impressive! Just one question: puzzle title not withstanding it was themeless, right? (And one quibble: no one in the history of idioms has ever sown a singular WILD OAT.)

Struggled in NW and never did understand the theme, but still finished under my Thursday average by a good bit. My only gripe — not exclusive to this puzzle — is that I’ve been gaming for years and called a noob many times, but have never seen NEWB except in a crossword. Seems a bit forced.

The thing that really bugs me about 11D is that Jack SOO was a terrific comic actor any we never see him as n the crossword anymore.

The construction here was impressive; I can't imagine the amount of work it took to come up with a set-up this clever. The clues for the four keys were definitely a worthy puzzle-within-a-puzzle, even if I got one only by accident (I took END OF THE ROAD to mean the end of the column that answer appeared in, which coincidentally was the right letter (E). But it seems that "Crossword Puzzle" is a closed economy; the more you put into "puzzle," the more you have to take away from "crossword." Fun, but too little of the word play I come for, especially on Sunday.

Fun puzzle! Got NW right away, but couldn’t make any sense out of the rolled up SAN DIEGO. But that was nothing compared to my bewilderment over the apparently correct IT RUST YOU. (Yes, I figured it out eventually.). Now, if I could just remember that nail polish brand from one puzzle to the next…

Well, I liked it! I'll admit the long answers scared me a bit, but I got the palindrome right out of the gate and then the Hepburn clue. Finished a little under average and in less time than it took me to get to the airport this morning (and my time would have been better if my driver hadn't been so interesting to talk to). Thanks!

Impressive, but blew out my average time by 50%; whether that was an inherent failing, the result of doing a rebus puzzle on my phone, or just that second whiskey sour at the airport bar, I take full responsibility. Great fun!

WAFFLE cakes instead oF MAKER EL dorado instead of CAMINO Save me A seat, not SPOT I don’t think I could have engaged in more self-sabotage in NE if I had tried. Thank goodness I’m old enough to remember Pauline KAEL! Tough but fun!

Fun puzzle! Took me waaay too long to work out the pattern on the long clues (getting the crosses for ROCK with / tripped the switch) then galloped home and beat my average by a few seconds. Well done!

Fun puzzle. Tumbled the theme early but didn’t really use it. Not upset that it was a breeze to solve (probably my second-fastest Sunday) but I confess I do look forward to sinking into the Sunday puzzle like a warm bath — and this was more of a quick shower. Still, clever even if it didn’t (ahem) tie me in knots.

Fun puzzle, breezy solve in 2/3 my average time. Tumbled the theme after Sierra Leone but got hung up in NE by going with “polar” instead of PANDA and knowing neither the 10D or 13D names. Gotta agree with others, though — GAZPACHO was a real stretch.