Julia
Upper Left USA
This was just not for me. No zest or sparkle, just frustration and indifference. I’m guessing this puzzle will get mixed reviews.
I’ve done 1800 NYT puzzles, and can honestly say I have never enjoyed a puzzle less than this one - and the poker one was pretty annoying! Just not for me at all- I hope others get more pleasure from this one than I did.
The only hold-up for me was confidently entering OXFORD COMMA, which is the only term I knew for this, and which fit until the crosses weren’t making sense. Also, I am on Team Comma.
This one is just not for me. I hate-solved it.
Definitely chuckled when I noticed the theme - really enjoyed this one. My kind of Thursday - clever without gimmicks and tricks, just stealthily witty.
This one was definitely not for me
Well that was annoying. No underlines for me, so I was just throwing guesses with no idea what was going on. Didn’t have a clue until I read the column AFTER I finished, as I do. Thursday puzzles are very tedious when the technology isn’t solid.
I solved in the app, and wasn’t able to find the equal sign on a keyboard. So I went to the NYT site and opened the puzzle there, and was able to get to a keyboard with an equal sign. (iPhone). Another tech glitch- so annoying
Didn’t spend a second trying to understand the theme before, during, or after. This was just a brute force solve.
Lots of swings and misses for me in the NW corner, but I finally cracked it. Great Saturday puzzle - crunchy and clever but not impossible.
@Joe I’m also baffled by omission of the Oxford comma- as you say, there is never a downside to using it.
I enjoyed this one! My first pass through the clues left me feeling less than confident that I would know any of answers and I had a mostly blank grid. With not too much work things started to fall into place and the answers bloomed- and turns out I wasn’t unfamiliar with any of the answers- the clues were just so clever- as they should be.
Sadly I didn’t enjoy this one bit. Played much like a Saturday for me - it was just not on my wavelength at all
Yeah no this wasn’t fun for me at all. I don’t do the crossword to get an extra game in the game.
@Helen I didn’t have to enter anything in those square in the NYT app on my iphone to get a completed puzzle
Take, as a pointer may be the cleverest clue I’ve ever seen. I thought this puzzle would defeat me, but I just kept hacking away. Lots od delightful wordplay here. And luckily I’m a Seahawks fan.
AOLER? Is this what we’ve come to?
@Julia Also I’m just so proud of myself for throwing SUNK COST FALLACY in there without even first checking to see if it would fit.
My neurodivergent brain has enough trouble remembering what day of the week it is without having a Thursday phzzle thrown at it on Tuesday. I lost a whole day for a while there.
If ypu like rebus puzzles, this was probably fun. I absolutely hate rebus puzzles, and most Thursday gimmicks. I kind of dread Thursday to be honest.
Really enjoyed this one- it was on my wavelength. My only slowdown was the southwest, but it resolved pretty quickly on my second pass. Some clever and fun misdirects here.
Although this was crunchy, it was totally on my wavelength. My parents swear we were at the Dock Ellis game.
Well that was delightful!
I enjoyed this one! Clever and fresh with a noticeable lack of junky fill.
@Barry Ancona Have you given any thought to retiring the emu schtick?
@Andrew Oh thanks for sharing your streak! Impressive! I’m at 1725, and back at 1,000 I had to email them because a software glitch interrupted mine and I was despondent. I know a lot of folks think it’s a silly thing to care about, but I asked my husband to include it in my epitaph (only half joking).
@Steve L puzzles with pictures as clues, rebuses, answers going in multiple directions- that’s what I meant by gimmicks. I just prefer a straightforward puzzle- I.e. Thursday is reliably my least favorite puzzle of the week. This one broke a rule, but was still straightfoward and a “normal” puzzle for me, while still being fresh and making me think.
I thoroughly enjoyed this solve! was on its wavelength from the start and was able to just woosh in those long answers. Great puzzle!
@Carlyn Sorry that happened to you - I was able to just type in a hyphen as if it were a letter (no rebus nonsense required)
I very much enjoyed this one. I was definitely on the same wavelength because the long answers came easily - like BRAFITTING! And ALONETIME - one of my favorite things! A very pleasant puzzle experience.
I live on an island and our medical emergency transportation to the mainland is either a helicopter or our FIRE BOAT. And I still had trouble with that one.
Enjoyed this one very much- a bit crunchy in the Northwest, and a few wrong initial write-ins, but managed to parse it all out eventually.
I thought the SW corner was going to end me, but I finally got it sorted out. Love an Agard puzzle!
@Natalia I love that here we can say “on Friday” when it’s Thursday but we all know what that means. I’ve been doing the puzzle every evening (as soon as it’s released) for more than four years but I still have to explain to my husband that it’s Friday in puzzle time even though it’s not Friday.
I loved this puzzle. Only one crunchy spot for me (Sec of War Root). Otherwise it was fun to work out the puns which, if I’m to be completely frank, I normally despise but genuinely enjoyed these.
Happy to be reminded of Midnight Cowboy and that wonderful ad lib.
Took me forever to figure out that I picked the wrong pooch
@Francis I thought she was CharlieXC or CharlieCX, butbthat got me close enough
Too much like a cryptic puzzle for my solving enjoyment
Very enjoyable puzzle with some fresh clues and fill, if a bit less challenging than an average Friday. Well done!
Well that was fast - no resistance at all. I was a little concerned when I saw the choppiness of the grid that it would be a festival of crosswordese.
@Dave S I agree - I had NOD and that was the error keeping me from getting the happy tune
@MEM The Hill is a reference to Capitol Hill, where Political Science probably comes in handy
@Barry Ancona This is the info I came here for!
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