Mark

Miserable, tough puzzle. For example, many, many smart phones vibrate when a text is received - IRRC, there are other options. Hence, "the sound of getting a TEXT" is hopelessly vague. About 45 minutes in, I leaned heavily on 'Wordtips".

Back breaker; e.g.: * Matches with forensics - "debate" * Pharyngeal woe - "strep" (Could the clue be more vague? Also, strep throat is a bit more than a "woe") * Spelling combinations? "covens" (WHAT?) * Folks who enjoy a well-aged beef? "feudists" (Again, WHAT? Are puzzle constructors allowed to make up words?) Once I hit 150 consecutive, I'm likely to pack it in. In way too many instances, clever or difficult is just - in a word - "precious". Yeesh.

As Steve L notes, "GAP is just a typical mall store, and ALDI is a moderately-sized limited-stock supermarket." It's impossible to note these establishments as "big box stores". Also, "black" and "Belgium" India pale ales are hopelessly obscure. An ale cannot be "black" and "pale" at the same time. Belgium ales rarely, if ever, feature a hoppy character (Piraat, maybe?) as they are known for exotic malts and flavors not entirely arising from the choice of hops. IPAs are best consumed fresh; many, many Belgium ales age beautifully.

Impossibly difficult, with several answers that skated past naive editors. In no universe does "Choking cause, with "the" translate to "YIPS". If - God forbid - you are at the absolute top of your game; with nary a trace of a "choke", you still can become possessed by a case of the yips. See 2nd baseman Steve Sax. From Google/AI: "...the yips"—is a psychological and neurological condition where a highly skilled athlete inexplicably loses the motor skills required to perform routine tasks." Also, in no conceivable way does "Brothers ___ (pop stars of the 1960s-80s)" translate to "GIBB". The Bee Gees are the Bee Gees, full stop. Whover approved this may as well have cited the "The Brothers Karamazov" - at least the answer would have been accessible. Not. fun. full. stop.

I worked in furniture manufacturing for almost 10 years. There is no woodworking machine formally known as a "shaper".

If the rigor of terminology for "Argon, krypton and xenon, informally" is "NOBLES" (a believable shorthand for "noble gases) how does the same level of rigor for "Chemical agent used to make frosted glass" apply to "ETCHANT"? Glass is commonly etched with hydrogen fluoride gas. Again, NY Times Crossword editors need to bounce such non sequiturs off of a science editor.

As noted below, Isn't REOIL something you would do when you RESEASON a pan? This clue, as well as the answer "BOP" for "Catchy tune" is beyond my comprehension. Finally, "Set of notes in a seventh chord" is a TETRAD? I've dabbled in acoustic and electric guitar and bass, and this one left me slack-jawed. How is this clue even fair when the Cambridge Dictionary defines tetrad as "a group of four cells produced during cell division."? This puzzle nearly made me give up the NYT Crossword. It took at least a dozen trips to "Wordtips" to keep me moving forward. Clever is one thing, but IMHO, this one was cruel.

Absurdly difficult, requiring countless lookups that made this more busywork than anything. As noted by another poster below, I had no time for video games - especially this one - as I was too busy earning a living. How could the editors allow a puzzle to be published that was so steeped in an adolescent/post adolescent game's lingo? Also, which included a term from thermodynamics that no one without a degree in engineering or physics might be familiar with? Ridiculous. If this is an attempt to lure in younger players, it's my guess that simply won't work, as I know just one solver under the age of 30.

I'm increasingly convinced the NYT Crossword clues are focused on "cuteness" and "cleverness" rather than the English language. With a passing knowledge of the "NATO alphabet" how does the following make a lick of sense? "G is represented in the NATO alphabet by Golf, and ambit is a synonym for scope or extent. The answer is GOLF RANGE." Are scope and extent really commonly recognized synonyms for "ambit"; a word not in everyday use? Further to this concept, Games writer Sean McGowan wrote the following near-apology with regards to "ALPHA MALE": "Likewise, [Agent] can be parsed as “A” and “gent.” Gent is a synonym for male, so the answer is ALPHA MALE. I didn’t catch this until after my solve, but it’s true that A is represented by “alfa,” not “alpha,” in the official NATO alphabet. That may raise some hackles, but I would argue this is a necessary trade-off for the puzzle to work, especially when you consider how limited the pool of potential theme answers must have been." I have a sinking feeling many "clues" are now AI generated and don't follow thought processes of reasonably intelligent persons. It would be unfortunate if players dropped off as regular participants due to clues arising from the tortured logic inherent to AI.

How is "exgi" even a word? More importantly how does “vet” (what I understand is to cull or selectively extract) a relevant clue? From Google/AI: Exegi is the first-person singular perfect active indicative form of the Latin verb exigō, meaning "I have exacted," "I have finished," or "I have driven out". I fully understand the concept of “poetic license” – poetry has a flow that makes such integrated "errors" pleasing to recognize. However, I now know there’s also a “puzzle constructor’s license”. Regardless, when a back-breaker like today’s puzzle contains an alternate? spelling of a somewhat obscure Latin term, it really takes the wind out of one’s sails.

"Diamond edges?" reveals "DEES"? How is this even a clue? I'm a very slow solver when compared to the statistics often cited here - far, far too prone to literal translations. I have a streak going, but it's becoming increasingly un-fun to soldier on. To those who solved this entire puzzle in less than 15 minutes. I salute you. It's inconceivable to me that's even a possibility.

Agonizingly difficult - too many times I had to resort to WordTips. BTW, "niter" is a red herring (clue: Component of fertilizer and gunpowder), inasmuch as it contains just some of the letters of the correct answer "nitrate". I suppose you have to accommodate the puzzle constructor's idioms. /rant over

AM/FM are "bands together"? The AM band is from 540–1700 kHz. The FM band is from 87.5 MHz to 108 MHz. They are separated by 85.8 MHz. Hardly "together". As a retired engineer, I find such wordplay bizarre and mostly inscrutable. It would be nice if the puzzle editor paid attention to the scientific basis of a clue. However as a relative "newby" to crossword solving, I suppose the "?" was the absolution. Just my $0.02 (2.00% of one American dollar).

If the clue is [Dutch city with a namesake jar] it's spelled Leyden and not Leiden. Also, if we are expected to honor scientific jargon, [Gene-activating substance] might be any number of molecules or proteins. From Google/AI: “Genes are activated when specialized proteins called transcription factors attach to specific DNA regions, unwinding the tight physical structure of the genetic material so that an enzyme named RNA polymerase can copy the gene into messenger RNA.” “Inducer” is a hopelessly vague answer - painfully similar-sounding to the now ubiquitous "influencer".

"Nerts" was hopelessly obscure. Had to go digging in the omniscient "clues" feature always online. Do you "solve" anything with repeated consultations to the above?

A chicken salad hoagie is not a chicken sandwich! That's all there is, with regards to "submarines". Someone has never been to SE Pennsylvania. Most importantly, a chicken salad hoagie IS NOT YELLOW. It's off white with red tomato slices, green lettuce; bits of chicken, and whatever color the roll might be. Nuff' said.

"Sage Oil" answers "'Essential' product used as an anti-acne treatment". What? How in the world is sage oil "essential" to acne treatment? NYT puzzle editors should verify such claims. The common treatment for stubborn acne is retinol or topical retinoids amongst other strategies. I could not find any reference that links sage oil to acne treatment, let alone as an "essential" component.

"Pool noodle"? What's that? Why not the proper Nerf noodle? I would not have guessed "pool noodle" in a zillion years...

The clue "Style with spotty coverage?" is hopelessly incorrect. The Pointillism technique affords continuous coverage of the canvas, If you accept the widely held definition of "spotty", there would be bare spots on the canvas or other medium. No formally recognized art - aside from, perhaps, Jackson Pollock's works - can be called "spotty". If you view Seurat's "Parade de cirque" (1889) you'll note absolute coverage of the canvas. There is positively no"spotty coverage" about Pointillism. I solve these puzzles because I have the time. Perhaps i'm simply incapable of getting the innumerable "inside jokes" and non sequiturs one must embrace to proceed long term. Yet I soldier on...

Who in the world is "Gael"; the answer to "Ancient Brit for whom a language was named"? An internet search turned up not a trace of the said individual "Gael". "Ancient Brit" connotes a single person, no? Or does this clue imply "an ancient British tribe" and the crossword constructor's license allow for such ambiguity? The only way Gaul became Gael was based on the crossing word.

At least the clue - or the answer - should remain in English. E.g.: the answer to the 15 across clue "Dios mío!" is correctly answered as "Aycaramba!". From Google/AI: "¡Ay, caramba!" is a Spanish exclamation used to express surprise, shock, excitement, or mild annoyance. It is similar to saying "Oh my gosh!", "Oh boy!", or "Good grief!" in English. Spanish clue "Dios mío!" leading to Spanish exclamation "Aycaramba". Really? Additionally, as Cheri point out below, confabulate does not mean “shoot the breeze”. Cheri quotes Merriam-Webster: “Confabulate is a fabulous word for making fantastic fabrications.” Two unforced errors, IMHO.

I wish I could say that "neobop" was an accessible word to a casual jazz fan (let alone to those not musically inclined), but I can't. Perhaps if I was Wynton Marsalis? Also, I can't figure out the relationship between "nests" and "sticky pads". On to the next one?

I'm no fan of this very "stretched out" use of rebuses. How does the following make any sense whatsoever? SAND(JAM)WICH TA(JAM)RT DOUG(JAM)HNUT (huh? I had to read the Gameplay explanation twice to understand the constructor's reasoning) If a correct answer resides solely in one's imagination and is not accessible in any non-Wordtips lookup - even using AI - solving becomes a chore.