MP Rogers

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant! I love those puzzles where I have no idea what I am doing, walk through the entire grid desperately hoping for something to stick, and the closest that I could come was BRAS for Generals and such -- not exactly a confidence builder. But bit by bit, square by square, the crossword yielded its secrets. Now, the only question is, what's Dan going to do for an encore?

Just wondering if the hordes who have been lambasting Joel Fagliano for several weeks now are going to inundate this column with praise for editing what is, undoubtedly, a pitch-perfect Saturday crossword. I am *not* holding my breath 😉, but for the record, this was an awesome bit of cruciverbalistic magic, and Joel definitely deserves some of the credit, along with Rich Norris for his 188th (!!!) NYTimes puzzle.

Now *that*'s a Saturday crossword!

And tomorrow's NYTimes headline? 500,000 people just learned the correct spelling of WHACAMOLE" 😉

Of all the days to work 118A, KIDNAP, into the grid!!

I cannot even *imagine* the brainpower required to construct a crossword as sophisticated as this. What I particularly enjoyed was that, after getting the grid filled in, I had a mistake but the *theme* saved the day. I went around, lock by lock, and in the bottom left, I had JAM, meaning that 103A would, upon rotation, become LOAJ. A quick JAM to DAM, and JACKPOT! I love it when a plan comes together, and I love Dr. Schlossberg's puzzles, can't wait for the next one!

Between THATSIMPOSSIBLE, ITTAKESAVILLAGE, HITTINGADEADEND, and WHATDIDITELLYOU, I got the distinct impression that the constructor was trying to tell me to hang it up. Well, the joke's on her, and the joy's in me, because I managed to persevere, so GEEWHIZ! ... and thanks for an awesome crossword, katie.

I think we should take a moment to reflect on the unsung heroes of the electronic version of this crossword -- the programmers, who I am sure over the years have responded more than once with, "wait, you want it to do what??". In this case, I would guess that until ... today, they have *always* worked on the assumption that the puzzle must be filled in to be correct. But Hanh and Joel switched the rules, and they responded. Bravo, unsung heroes (not to take away from the sung ones, the aforementioned Hanh and Joel).

I'd like to apologize to the good people of Myanmar for believing — for far too long — that they were big exporters of RABIES. Sorry!

I'd like to slightly amend 59A: It's hard to say ... and even harder to spell 😀 But one thing that's not at all difficult to say, this was a terrific Tuesday crossword! Thanks, Christina, Scott (and Will, let's not forget Will).

Hmmm, what's that whooshing sound I hear? That's the sound of my ego, slowly deflating, punctured by, of course Sam Ezersky's marvelous creation. RIP, streak, we hardly knew ya'.

What I am I thankful for on Thanksgiving eve? First, the countless constructors who labor so hard on our behalf to make picture-perfect puzzles like this one, and b) the NYTimes Crossword folks who do such a *fabulous* job of taking good crosswords and making them into epics. Happy Thanksgiving!

I believe that the world needs a word to describe that feeling of euphoria that arises from filling out the Sunday NYTimes crossword, and upon entering a letter in the very last open square, getting the happy music immediately. Since I don't believe that such a word exists, I would like to propose FILLINBLISS to describe that sensation. Thanks to Miranda (and admittedly, a whole lot of luck), I experienced FILLINBLISS today, and the afterglow will hopefully keep me warm as I head outside to do battle with snow drifts.

The *perfect* Saturday crossword, and now I have my research lined up for the rest of the weekend: check out ORESTEIA (which I initially thought was an ingredient in fat-free potato chips), OMOO (following yesterday's COWSHED, nice one, Will!), to say nothing of MYRNA and ZADIE and ELFHATS (???). Thanks, Michael, and I can't wait for your next oeuvre!

Oh, glorious! An epically hard puzzle that songs will be sung about (sample verse: OMG, OMG, OMG this is hard!!). As you can tell, Blake Slonecker's definitely going in my "Big Book of Cruciverbalists to Love and Fear (Mainly Love)". There were virtually no gimmes in today's grid: every single letter felt like a small victory, and every single answer a cause for celebration. I had to hide the clock at about the 1:30 mark because it was most definitely mocking me -- kudos to the software engineers for making it morph into Miss Minutes 😀 I was going to list a few of my favorite clues, but I realize that that would involve simply repeating the *entire* puzzle. So let me just say that THEREARENOWORDS for how happy I am that Blake was able to put together such a stellar piece of work (oh, and lest we forget, Joel did a fine job of editing!).

That was ... AWESOME!!!! I started solving this last night, and got the entire grid filled out after some indeterminate amount of time (after about 1.5 hours I usually turn the timer off, so I can pretend that I'm a fast solver). My motto is never surrender at night, because I don't know, then, what I will know in the morning. Turns out that a HOTECOOK is not a thing (but last night, I'd convinced myself that a HOTE COOK might be an expert in HAUTE CUISINE). Similarly, BOPTHING sounded like it might be a demerit, PONIES might have to git along (didn't Matt Dillon always say "git" to his horse?), and PIABUS was either a show stopper or a Peoria transit vehicle. In the morning, after a few neural miracles, that music *never* sounded so sweet. Thank you so much, Mr. Walden, for making my Friday, Saturday, and, to be honest, the entire weekend!

OK, what have you done with the *real* Sam Ezersky? 😀 Don't get me wrong, this was not easy *at all*: but I didn't have to desperately scour the grid for anything to answer. The clues were brilliant, though; this made for a perfect Saturday puzzle. Thank you Sam (for this and for doing the Spelling Bee too, of course).

Booyah, this was one STERN but highly satisfying Saturday crossword! Many times I thought I could hear the Grim Reaper of 27A coming after my streak — it was a near thing. My bane, almost, was my addiction to the 1960s Batman TV series: did anyone else have HOLYMOLEY for 69A? I was willing to rationalize away TOROL and DEETY for a very long time before I finally recognized the error of my ways. My hat is off to Fritz for this splendid puzzle, and I am looking forward to his next Saturday Streak Smasher (can I trademark that??) sometime soon.

If anyone needs me, I will be spending the next few hours just staring contentedly at the completed crossword, and savoring the dopamine high generated by one of the finest AHA! moments that I've seen in a crossword grid in a long time. Thank you, Rachel and Adam!!!

I adore crosswords that keep me on the edge of my seat -- will I be able to solve it? or will my streak go up in flames? -- but end up being (just, barely) solvable. Then, I get to spend 30 minutes looking up facts, listening to music, etc., to get the 411 on what I didn't know. That combination of challenge and learning is just perfect, and never gets old. Thanks, Byron, for a perfect Saturday! [P.S. Our daily, ad-free, chuckle-rich podcast, Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword, is still going strong, and we love new listeners!]

Just imagining Will's instructions, soliciting today's puzzle: "OK, Sam, I'd like you to write a tough Wednesday crossword" 😀

Today's to-do list: 1. Admire the finished puzzle ✅ 2. Boast about today's finished puzzle ✅ 3. Wander about, looking to find someone else to boast about today's finished puzzle to 🔲 4. Praise the author of today's *amazing, amazing, amazing* Saturday crossword ✅ 5. Record a podcast about it 🔲 😉

Oh, MYSTARS!! On the first pass, I had IDES, and no IDEA as to how I was going to get through this crossword. I was gratified to *double* my solving rate on the second pass, confidently putting in 25A, PUNNY, and 47A, BAE: the only fly in the ointment was that they were both *wrong*. On pass number three, for variety's sake I put in an answer that I was certain was wrong, 12A, IBM, aaaaaand it turned out to be correct. I'll spare you an enumeration of passes 4 through, probably, 85, but I loved every one of them. Thank you, Mr. Johnson, for an abfab, epic, (almost) impossible Saturday battle.

You know those bar fights where everyone keeps whacking each other with their hats? CAPBATTLES? That's gotta be a thing, somewhere ... just not in today's grid 😀 Thanks for the fun crossword, Kareem!

Since I am temporarily on the west coast, I had the decided privilege of being able to start the crossword 2 hours earlier than usual -- but, alas, I could have used one more hour ...maybe I need to start solving in Hawaii? 😀 Anyhoo, all of the grid was fabulous, but that bottom right corner ... ahh, that was just a *masterclass* in deception, every clue more fiendish than the last. I doff my hat to you, Mr. Ezersky, thank you so much for what you do!

Whenever I see the name Brandon Koppy, I feel the urge to give my neurons a little pep talk, words along the lines of, c'mon, it's *only* Brandon Koppy, how hard can it be? Put your backs into it! At which point, after just pausing briefly to point out that they don't have backs, they're neurons, they go into a sullen sulk and I have to rely on my cerebellum to do the heavy lifting, which is why it's taking so long for me to get to the point ... ... namely that this was a fabulous crossword, with several nicely laid traps that I walked *right* into, Roadrunner-style. For instance, I was absolutely, 100% certain that 29A, Big orbiter, was SPACEX, until ... it wasn't (but what an awesome clue for PLANET). I felt slightly less sure, but still quite confident, about 25A, ROSETEA, but eventually cooled on the TEA and bed, er, bet, on ROSEBED instead. And then there was the west-central region of the grid, OIL-vey! 🙄 In short, a great crossword, I can't wait to see Brandon's next effort. P.S. Our podcast, Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword, is still going strong, still ad-free and chuckle-rich, so feel free to check it out wherever you get your podcasts.

Oh, great, now my calendar's broken 😀 Nice crossword!

This was definitely a FUNRUN, just on this side (I'm pointing to the left, for those of you not watching me write this, which I hope is everybody) of impossible. Last night, in fact, it was most assuredly on the *other* side. The northwest was empty except for AGATHA (although I've been listening to Stephen Fry's magnificent reading of A Study in Scarlet, so AGATHA had to battle ARTHUR for a bit). It was HUM that gave her the edge. What gave me the edge was a good night's sleep, after which the answer came to me ... literally: 6D went from A--WE- to ANSWER. Then --G-LA-DCOW morphed to HIGHLANDCOW and ----MSEH to TECUMSEH. After just one minor skirmish with 27 down, I was able to send one more small royalty payment to the musician who composed the happy music for the NYTimes crossword. P.S. Our daily podcast, Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword is still going strong. It's short, fun, ad-free, and you can find it wherever you get your podcasts, or at jamcr.buzzsprout.com.

I find it ironic that the biggest gateway to the northwest corner was 32A, EASYMAN, because I found that portion of the grid to be by far the most challenging. I eventually settled on 1A, Evidence of hunger, PANGS, although I entertained GROWL, GAUNT, and, in an act of desperation, MEWLS. I thought that 5D, D.L., represented a driver's license, so I had STATE there, which meshed with 14A, Benefit, ASSET. And, of course, I'd settled on 17A, Felt hat, BERET. I was also inordinately proud of 25A, Fit for a queen?, SNUG. In short, I'd made just about *every* possible mistake that could be made in that corner. But then, just when all looked bleak, I killed off the BERET, which allowed 4D, Taunt, GIBE, to replace my earlier choice of GEER, inspired by the meme, "I don't often spell JEER, but when I do, I do it wrong 😀". Then, a herd (?) of NARWHALS swam into the center, a DERBY popped up at a jaunty angle. Eventually (in the AM, after a good night's sleep) all the rest of the pieces fell into place -- including the absolutely awesomely named game of PADIDDLE (which I intend to play as soon as I learn the rules. I'm hoping canoeing and riddles play a role). Anyways, this was a *splendid* Saturday, thanks, Jess (and Joel!!) P.S.: our daily podcast, Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword, is, as always, fun, free, ad-free, we cordially invite you to have a listen!

It seems to me like TOS the Voice of the Lobster would be an excellent title for a Lewis Carroll poem; that, and the fact that EROS just had, had I say, to be the answer to 16A (until it wasn't), goes a long way to explaining my embarrassingly long solve time.

It would've been the icing on the cake if at the end of the day, instead of the usual happy music, we had DO RE MI FA SO LA TI DO. But that doesn't detract from a great puzzle, kudos, Mike!

I loved this crossword, and I loved the picture that Caitlin chosen for the column, but I think she forgot the labels: an arrow pointing to the guy with the cigarette, labeled "You", and another to the kid with the arrow, labeled "Brendan". 😀 😀

I don't know how many people are familiar with Bob and Ray, but they were comedians from the last century who perfected deadpan when Stephen Wright was still in diapers. I highly recommend them (all 3, tbh) when you need a respite from today's news. Anyway, Bob and Ray had a routine about PUTTEES that I found quite helpful when attempting to solve today's absolutely fabulous crossword: <a href="https://bit.ly/3LWbTZ1" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/3LWbTZ1</a>. On another note, our short, free, ad-free, family-friendly and we like to think hilarious in a Bob-and-Ray-sense podcast, Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword, is still going strong: it's available wherever you get your podcasts.

Memo to self, CHIANTIS has not just one, but two I's. I had it as CHIANTES, making 9D, SCUSE, but there's really no 'SCUSE for that 😉 Speaking of I's, or rather eyes, is there anyway that the NYTimes could allow users to tweak the font colors? When a clue is highlighted, the result is light gray text on a light blue background, and I believe most accessibility experts would recommend a different color scheme.

Yup, there's the Saturday puzzle/epic struggle that I was looking for! In fact, this Saturday was *so* deviously sneaky that it showed up on *Sunday* (and for extra camouflage, packed on some extra squares). Nice job, Derrick, and, no, I don't need, nor want, those two hours (!) back 😀

Naticks to the left of them, naticks to the right of them, volleyed and thundered, but into the Valley of Dead Streaks road [sic] the 500 ... neurons, about as many as I could bring to bear on this puzzle last night. This morning, though, reinforcements arrived in large numbers to let me know that a chesterfield is not a BOAT, but a COAT; that a cassowary might not be two-RATTLED, but definitely two-WATTLED; that an operculum is not a LOD, but a LID; and so on and so forth! This was a *glorious* way to end my week / start my weekend, and I'd like to buy Byron Walden a pack of his favorite beverage as a thank you, but, since I don't know where to ship it, this post will have to do. Thanks, Byron (and Will!!) PS: Our podcast, Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword, is still going strong: it's a short, fun, ad-free, family friendly discussion of our TRAVAILS while solving the crossword, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Excellent!! That's the KAC I know and fear 😀 This made me fight tooth-and-nail for just about every single clue, except maybe for 31D, RAILCAR ... which turned out to be MARINAS so nvm. The rest of this weekend I will spend casually trying to inject the NYTimes crossword into casual conversation so i can boast about my ti... nope, can't do that either.😉

It would be awesome if comments allowed people to not just recommend, but both upvote or downvote, and, ideally, hide comments that received a particularly low score. That might help make the comment section a little toxic than it currently is. PS: On our daily, ad-free and amusement-rich podcast - Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword (available wherever you get your podcasts!) - my cohost and I *always* have something good to say about the best crosswords on the planet (which if that isn't trademarked, the NYTimes is welcome to it 😀).

[This is only marginally on topic, so, eds., feel free to delete.] Whilst solving this most excellent crossword, I was reminded (at 16D, to be specific, Works, works, works) of Back to the Future: The Musical. There is a song, It Works, sung by Doc Brown, that is absolutely fabulous. In the unlikely event you can't make it to the West End to see it, at least check out the soundtrack, definitely worth repeated listening.

Νομίζω ότι αυτό το σταυρόλεξο ήταν φανταστικό! Ευχαριστώ, Ντίλαν!

A chef's kiss of a crossword, IMHO.