Tim Sneath
Issaquah, WA
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Issaquah, WA
Was waiting for the fun twist or devious trick, but it never came. That’s OK, I suppose. You can’t catch someone out if they’re always on their guard. Thanks for another year of great crosswording fun. This was the year that I finally broke the 1000 day streak after blowing it at 921 days a few years ago when I forgot until a couple of minutes before midnight… onward to 1500 in 2026, I hope!
Ok, that is probably the most memorable puzzle of the last five years. Ingenious and fiendish. We will refer back to this one for years to come. What a clever idea!
Oh, I see it’s time for my regular momentary confusion about the difference between PROSTATE and PROSTRATE. An important distinction in churches and doctors’ offices…
Pleasantly surprised by the positivity in the comments. Was expecting this to be quite polarizing -- almost a Rorschach Test for those who love gimmicks and those who hate them :)
A masterpiece! Congratulations on a fantastic theme idea that was brilliantly executed. The GRIN spread across my face as I uncovered more and more layers. This is my favorite puzzle of the year thus far.
@Francis That's such a good explanation of the "fun" of a Thursday. If you come to it expecting merely a more difficult Wednesday, it's inevitable you'll be flummoxed. If you come at it expecting a double-puzzle that includes a bit of cryptology as well as traditional crossword solving, there's every opportunity you'll have a blast!
That was hilarious. I loved that you could leave the correct pencilled in entries “blank” and get credit for them in the app. Thanks for giving me a giggle as well as a fun diversion at the end of the day. Happy April Fools,
@bill Kids! Get off of my lawn! :) Given the reference to Clinton/Dole, I’m not sure what era you’re referring to when all was po-faced in the world of crosswords. I for one enjoy the trickery. Crosswords are puzzles and a little whimsy is great. But we all like different things. Hope another day is more to your liking!
What a feat of engineering! Impressive…
@Art Yeah, and have you noticed that if you sum up all the clue numbers, you get a total of 666? And the second set are grouped under DOWN, which is clearly a reference to Hell…. ;)
SKUAS are vicious and territorial birds! This clue reminded me of a walking vacation in the very remote Shetland Isles, far north of the Scottish mainland, where my wife and I were dive-bombed by skuas protecting their nest. In escaping them I fell into a peat bog and emerged with my pants soaked. I took the risk of completing our hike in just my underwear, since we’d not seen another soul. My wife is still traumatized on lots of levels!
What a lovely puzzle! So many interesting answers and fun clues, Smiled at the Q diagonal stack; enjoyed the low count of proper names, and the interesting trivia for those included; and nothing that felt forced. I AM SO THERE!
@Paul Szydlowski so glad I wasn’t the only one!
@Sarah I spent ten minutes stuck down exactly the same RABBIT HOLE, before realizing that the International Monetary Fund doesn't help with conception :)
@NYC Traveler Same here, found this a really good brain workout. IGOTTArun was my self-misdirect for 55A. Love a crossword that I feel proud of solving!
@James Your yuck might be someone else's yum, of course. Sorry you didn't like it -- your "slog" was my "fun challenge". At least it wasn't filled with proper nouns that you either know or you don't (mostly the latter for me!)
@Sue I don’t think that was true three years ago when I lost my original streak, but I’m glad there’s a little more tolerance now, particularly when I travel overseas and lose track of the time. I’ve had a few moments where I’ve been desperately trying to finish it or get service to download it, including memorably during an Arctic cruise when Starlink saved me near the North Pole!
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