Shauron

I was surprised by the negative comments because I loved this puzzle! Usually my husband and I are in synch with the ethos of this group. As we do the puzzle we chuckle about what our friends online will have to say. We don't need to say anything because others say it well. A couple of answers here weren't great - agree with the comments about "tauten" and "ice rain" - but "all in all" I give a "nod to" Mr. Williams for this one!

Not to sound too much like a golden ager, but this harkens back to the days when a Saturday puzzle at the NYT was a Saturday puzzle at the NYT. For the past months i(years?) t's felt like too many puzzles have been trying to be too clever, or cutesy, or trying to fit square pegs into round holes, or be crazy hard on a Monday but easy as pie on a Friday... This was the most enjoyable puzzle my husband and I have done for a long time - not easy, and not perfect, but perfect for what it was supposed to be. I hope it signals an intentional shift on the part of the editors to get back to what established the NYT as the crossword gold standard. Thank you!

Glad others like this. Cute enough in retrospect, but in my view the juice was not worth the squeeze on this one.

This is my favorite puzzle of the year, perhaps ever! Not only a wonderfully layered puzzle, but I've always been partial to the Ides of March. And I love Caesar salads. And I appreciated so many of the other bread cubes sprinkled throughout the grid. I don't know if the editors have been making a dedicated effort, but over the past few weeks the puzzles have seemed to be trending back toward what I'd always felt was special about the NYT. Increasing difficulty over the course of the week, most difficult on Saturdays (I loved the past two weeks), and a fun, challenging, clever puzzle to sink one's teeth into with a cup of coffee on a Sunday morning. If this was intentional, then thank you!! You are achieving your aim, and I am very grateful. If not, then I hope you will review the past couple of weeks and, well, keep doing that. Miranda, thank you for a truly delightful puzzle. You made my week!

I haven't previously commented but every day read what folks say and love the back and forth, comradery, and community. I had to write today because of the juxtaposition of this puzzle (which was absolutely delightful and one of my all time favorites) and last Sunday's (which was the opposite, to say the least - I'm trying to be diplomatic here. Okay, I'll just say it because it still rankles - it was truly the worst and I still can't believe it got by the editors). I agree with what so many have already said: This epitomizes what a Saturday puzzle should be. "Shifty little sucker" and "It's a little shady" should be memorialized. They put a smile on my face and a lilt in my step. Thank you Barb and Lewis!

We had a hard time getting around "orbed" and were a teensy bit annoyed by the extra "T", but otherwise an excellent puzzle.

People writing about the relative ease of puzzles are not just complaining. They are hoping that editors will finally hear what they have to say. Having done the NYT crosswords for decades, something has fundamentally changed over the past few years. There used to be a reliable progression of difficulty through Saturday, and certain gimmicks on certain days. Sunday was special - not necessarily the hardest puzzle of the week, but always challenging and with a clever theme. I would get a cup of coffee, settle in, and anticipate a cozy Sunday morning working on the crossword for an hour or so. This is not the case any more. Mondays can be Thursdays, Fridays can be Mondays, etc. There is no anticipation of increasing difficulty, and Sundays can just be "meh," buzzed through in a few minutes (like today). I do not write this to extol my puzzle-solving skills (which are not great), or demean others. But there is no sense that the NYT Crossword is actually a thing any more. It's just another puzzle to take or leave. And it's not about the puzzle writers, to whom I am grateful. It's about the editing. There are ways to determine relative difficulty (accounting for potential biases, cultural differences, etc.). There are ways to gauge clues and answers. The question is whether the NYT has intentionally shifted to a different type of crossword. If so, please just tell us. If not, please finally hear what we are trying to say and edit. Thanks for considering.

Cute, but not a Sunday. More like what used to be a Tuesday or Wednesday, expanded for a larger grid. I've been doing a lot of the archives, and historically - until pretty recently - there was a clear progression: Tuesdays were actually a bit tough. Wednesdays were actually challenging. Thursdays were difficult with a rebus. Fridays were generally punny with white space. Saturdays were a lot of white space and hard. Sundays were the challenging and clever pieces de la resistance that I waited for all week and could settle down with a cuppa and pore over for a good hour. It was such a treat! Over the past few years everything has blended into a mishmash of cutesy pieces that may be randomly challenging but otherwise have no rhyme nor reason. It is neither disrespectful nor condescending to call this out. It is reality. What's frustrating is that comments in this context are too often taken as personal criticisms of the puzzle author or solvers, rather than what they actually are - constructive feedback and a desperate plea for the editors. Just maybe, some day, a new editor will actually take the time to go back and try a Tuesday or Wednesday crossword circa 2019, review the history, and think to themselves "Wow! I get it!" And bring back the real NYT crossword.

This puzzle was uninspiring for a Sunday. Pretty easy, even not knowing anything about Friends. For fans I imagine it was cute, but I'm not sure the cute factor compensates for the meh factor. I don't mean to insult Friends fans or anyone else (we're all sensitive these days), but in my view, having a theme is necessary but not sufficient to warrant publication in the Sunday NYT.

This was my favorite Wednesday in a while! Oh wait...

Puzzle was okay, but two things stuck in my craw: 1. Corner piece as "staple" - I suppose I get it, it just felt off. 2. "Frog sticks" as french fries - seems offensive on its face, even if one isn't the language police. And is this really on menus? Maybe it exists, but with so many other ways to clue, why choose one that's going to potentially offend? Still did the crossword and still enjoyed it, but with a slight sense of "meh"

A perfect puzzle in my view. My criteria: (1) Rebus on a Thursday that was not just a slog, and not too difficult, but tricky and kinda fun and tying into a larger theme; (2) challenging but not overwhelming; and (3) ties into a major historical event for us Yanks (recognizing that 250 is just a fraction of history for the rest of the world's countries). Thank you!

I'm all for difficult puzzles. In fact, on a Saturday, I expect white space and obscurity. But this puzzle was just tortured for torture's sake. The beauty of "escargot" did not make up for the annoyance factor of the NW corner.

More like a Tuesday. But cute and fun.

Perhaps the earlier comments helped resolve the bugs for us solvers on the West Coast, because I solved it on my laptop without even realizing there was a glitch. Or perhaps I just totally missed the meta-theme-graphic-pattern that accompanied the puzzle, wouldn't be the first time... Thanks to those who paved the way by doing the puzzle and reporting the layout issues! I loved this puzzle, thought there were some tricky but fair and fun clues (yes, "bar menu"), and it was challenging in just the right way. A perfect Tuesday. Thank you, Bob!

Finally! Perfect Friday! Thank you!

The "foregone" was a cute rebus. But there were no other ties to otherwise random clues. It was a matter of doing the crosses, knowing there were four letters somewhere added to the clue's answer, then just slogging through figuring out words or phrases that somehow met those criteria. Doable but bleah. If the broader answers including the four missing letters somehow tied into a bigger theme - now THAT would have something!

It's interesting reading the comments, because I felt this was a Tuesday on a Sunday. Fun but meh. Those are gonna exist. I was grateful for yesterday's Saturday on a Saturday, however!

Tuesday. On a Sunday.