Occupied
DC
DC
@Charles respectfully disagree. It's supposed to be a puzzle, not a word filling exercise.
Really enjoyed this one; it was on my wavelength. AGOUTIS made me think of my dad, a lifelong crossworder. I didn't take it up seriously (sort of) until after he was gone. AGOUTIS and other South American mammal crosswordese was the sort of trivia he loved, back before Google made random facts accessible. Miss you Dad!
@Eva H. Respectfully, I suggest that you get a new hobby.
Puzzles, and constructor notes, like yesterday's and today's are what keep me coming back for more. Bravo! And brava! As the case may be.
Am I the first to comment on the lovely column? I thought Sean's description of the multiple entryways to solving was quite Poe-etic. And true to my experience.
@grif you're welcome! (haters gotta hate)
Loved it! So many aha moments, and a great theme. Plus the grandfather grandson collaboration; it doesn't get better than that.
Lovely crunchy Thursday. Thanks Kareem!
@Your Fired congratulations on the accomplishment!
@Barry Ancona another millennium!
Lovely Saturday outing. Peace y'all!
Loved the constructor notes! Thank you.
I'm puzzled (see what I did there) about the photo at the top of the column. What does a bird in an apparently trash strewn lot have to do with this puzzle?
@Sarah yes answers are allowed in the comments, not to mention in the column you click through to get to them.
@Eric those are called misdirects and are there by design.
It's been a while since I had to come back to a Sunday puzzle as many times as I had to for this one. Very clever gimmick, tricky clues, no junk fill. Thanks for the workout.
@MC it's a mondegreen! One of the best things I've learned from the nyt xword community. <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondegreen" target="_blank">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondegreen</a>
@ad absurdum my dad (who taught me to love crossword puzzles) also sweetly and gradually lost his memory, except for bawdy ditties from the previous century. One of his favorites: roll me over, in the clover, roll me over lay, me down and do it again.
@Mike R quite possibly so.
@Barry Ancona I found it to be a perfectly cromulent Friday puzzle.
Great misdirects! Really enjoyed this one, especially after I found my mistake.
Great Saturday workout! Happy to have gotten through it with only one lookup. I'm seeing less emu food these days, and have successfully posted some short comments. Has the algorithm changed?
@Pudly this makes my day, Thanks!
@SP my experience exactly.
@Grant Samaria is an ancient Biblical region. But Samaritans exist to this day. They are members of a sect of Judaism accepting only its own version of the Pentateuch. They have been dying out because of their strict purity laws, but recently Samaritan men have been allowed to marry women outside the community. Samaritan women who do so are ostracized.
@Jim like being able to roll your tongue!
@Barry Ancona respectfully disagree. I thought this was a perfect Thursday, especially when I realized the dark horse squares worked for both the across and down answers.
@Chris one solver's "frustrating region" is another's "ooh that's clever"!
@Brooks thank you thank you!
Great Friday puzzle. Thanks!
@Kitesurfer thank you thank you!
@HeathieJ lemon pound cake! I see you HeathieJ.
@lioncitysolver bwa ha ha
@Michael G I see what you did there!
Loved this one! Thanks to the constructors, editors too.
@Matthew comments like this one are what keep me coming back!
@VA that was my first guess!
@Cap’n Dan Mathews happy Thursday!
@Becca while eating oreos!
@Puzzlemucker thank you! The Anna Akhmatova was also lovely. Beauty will get us through.
@Mochi me too! Slowed me down a bit, but got there in the end.
@Marshall Walthew if you're a big Seven Samurai fan, you should read The Last Samurai. Mind blowing novel, for me anyway.
Pickleball! Pickleball! Pickleball! That is all.
@Megan so sorry for your loss!
@SP I was with you all the way on yesterday's puzzle, but I found this one clever and challenging. Plenty of blank space on the first pass, and misdirects that required correction. Satisfaction.
@Matt don't forget Bull Durham!
@Michael either that or your skill is improving! Or both, I suppose.