Raj T
New England
Puzzle was a slog and FEMININE SIDE pretty much unforgivable. Yuck.
I got this done without getting the theme. Did not really enjoy it; I think this puzzle maybe was fun for those who got it right away. To me this fell into the category of "needlessly complicated." If the theme is going to be super tricky, then maybe cut back on the ridiculousness of some of the clues. Or maybe there needs to be a new category of trickiness. Thursdays are for weekday-level trickiness, then make Saturday the super absurd tricky level, and I'll skip those.
@Acolinkirk Thank you for this fun Sunday!! Impressive debut to say the least. As the kids say, "no notes."
@Tim V. "I'm not a fan of getting the right word, then having to wrong it with a weird trick. Meh." Exactly what I was thinking.
Greatly enjoyed this puzzle. Clever, fun, a great way to spend some time on a snowy day. One quibble: I have played, reffed, and watched soccer for decades. I have never heard the showing of a red card as a "DQ." It's just not referred to that way. It's called being sent off, ejected, benched, etc., but not disqualified. "DQED" should have been clued with something from track and field. It's simply not a term used in soccer.
This was a quick one for me but I admire it so much. Very very clever, funny, enjoyable all around.
A question about 24D. I always assumed that if there is no abbreviation in the clue, then there isn't one in the answer. That made BISMARCKND really challenging. But then again, Bismarck ND always and forever will remind me of a classic Simpsons exchange. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkyTiT2rYgI" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkyTiT2rYgI</a>
Clearly I'm in the minority but I really disliked this puzzle. Just found a lot of the clues very tiresome and many very easy. Hoping for a better Thursday next Thursday.
Wow. This was great. Really hard, and enjoyable.
Very fun. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Enjoyed the puzzle but the whole 'is-it-a-rebus-or-not' was extremely irritating. Like getting a lousy dessert at an otherwise good restaurant, left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
@Jim If it's just you then where does that leave me?? I feel the same. I would have used the descriptors "convoluted," "uninteresting," and "overwrought" as well.
@Mean Old Lady Living in a deep blue area and trust me, we are also devastated and although not lonely, I've noticed many of us are keeping more to ourselves this week. It's a difficult time. Just trying to enjoy the little things in life, like today's puzzle and comments, and taking courage from all those who came before us and endured worse.
@Geoffrey King Those of us in New England were shouting out the UConn Huskies though
@Karl M Same. I remember this word because my grandmother, ardent crossword enthusiast, taught it to me many decades ago. Never once heard it used in actual conversation!
@IL I agree, once I got the theme I started to wonder if we were being trolled. Seems like a lousy theme for a March puzzle.
@Grant Currently I have two fratty boys in college although neither is an actual brother (yet). They definitely refer to both the organization and location as FRATs.
This one was challenging for me but very fun.
Terrific puzzle. Somehow felt difficult and challenging, but didn't take an inordinate amount of time.
Thought this was fun. Surprised so many people didn't.
Wow. Found this difficult but very impressive.
Agree with many others here. Some of the clues seemed poorly chosen. I love a challenge but this one was just not for me.
Delightful
@LordBottletop I just complained about DQED in a comment. It was not clued properly.
@Carrie Yeah I guess we're in the minority but I was looking forward all day at work to the Sunday puzzle and this was a massive disappointment. I don't really understand how hiding random words makes it a "theme."A lot of lame clues, not worth the time.
Enjoyed this puzzle. But I really dislike when clues unrelated to the theme are clued with a question mark.
@Kate I knew today's storm was someone's fault, now I know who to blame!! Leave those stakes in until May 1 from now on please.
@Garden lady I couldn't figure that out either. In Nascar they wave a white flag at the start of the last lap. But a bell lap is from track so I guess maybe if you're running a track meet during a Nascar race?
@maddie mini magic Yes, we expect trickery and fun. But missing letters where there is no place to put them or keep track of them is pretty frustrating. Which leads to not much fun. I mean I got all the clues but still felt like it was unpleasant because I couldn't track all the missing letters.
27D stumped me because we call them POTS. I couldn't figure out what they were asking for!
@retired, with cats My feelings exactly!!
@Chris LOL Literally came here to say exactly that
Very fun puzzle. Can't wait for the next one!
Got a big kick out of this. But can someone explain 30D to me? I cannot figure out the link between "Go pit-a-pat" and RACE.
This was a lot of fun. Maybe a bit easy for Tuesday but the reveal at the end was fantastic. Thank you!
@Johanna Agree. That was a big problem for me trying to solve this.
@Francis I had same thing happen on Wordle. Very tiresome!
@CHC AVL It certainly should have had a different clue. That one was the one egregious moment in an otherwise great puzzle.
@Bob Silverstein Same. Wasted a lot of time avoiding entering AESTX although that's what I kept coming up with. I kept trying to find a rebus that would fit the "mess with" part and later realized the answer didn't have a rebus this time. I found that whole corner irritating.
@N I thought there was something weird about that clue
What's a CSTORE?
I get that it's clever but it seemed a little much. Spent more time trying to decode the gimmick(s) than figuring out the clues.
@Cherry Can you explain the LIKE LIKED to me? I can't understand how "Really went for" clues to that answer.
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