Down_Home

I'm an old retired fart and could care less what day of the week it is. I work these puzzles strictly for the enjoyment of them and have no idea what my personal best is. Being noncompetitive by nature, I don't really understand the urge to finish a puzzle as fast as possible – it's a pastime to enjoy over coffee and maybe learn a thing or two in the process.

I've constructed a whole bunch of puzzles. None have been published because they all stink. Turns out, it's easy to make a puzzle – if I can do it, you can do it. But to make a puzzle like this takes that special something that few constructors have. I don't know what it is but by golly Randolph, you sure have it by the bucketful. Mindbogglingly well done.

I can't believe how much work must have gone into this puzzle. The four words in each of the five circles that made sense with the circle colors was genius. Hats off to Paolo Pasco – excellent job!

I'm tellin ya, the ingenuity of some of these constructors just boggles my mind. Admittedly, there's not much up there to boggle some days, but this puzzle just makes me sit back and wonder how they do it. Terrific job Jeremy.

Nine proper nouns, some of them crossing. This puzzle was no fun.

Absofreekinlutely mind boggling how folks like Adam and Rebecca can come up with stuff like this! Great job you guys 👍

FEH? Meh...

Too easy, too hard, never heard of so-and-so, should have been spelled with a B, naticks everywhere. Excellent representation of the breadth of the solving community today. I liked this one a lot – good job, Alex.

Holy cow, you really gotta have thick skin to submit yourself to the comments when submitting a puzzle these days 😲

People frequently grouse about odd or uncommon words and names in these puzzles. And sometimes they can seem pretty contrived. But I've tried (and failed) to put together even a simple crossword puzzle, and there are times when, instead of blowing up a whole section of it, you're stuck with some klutzy fill. Try it sometime and you'll appreciate what a constructor goes through.

I don't know where else to put it so I'll just drop it here: I'm really starting to like the new pips game.

This one took me way longer than usual and I enjoyed every single minute of it. This Kugelman fella has a true gift for constructing and I'm always happy to see his name in the lineup. Very very well done 👍

I don't know about you guys and gals, but I had huge fun with this one. Good job Ginny!

This one just wasn't that much fun for me. With words like EPT, ZARFS, HAGEL, NUUK, WHOTEL, and FEUDISTS (FEUDISTS? Really?), I just had a hard time getting interested. I generally try not to look stuff up and rely instead on crosses, but I just wasn't getting the help I needed here. I do like a good tough Saturday though, and this one did have some real bell-ringers.

Boy, the rabbit holes you end up going down some days! TIL that the # sign has a name: octothorpe. Who knew!?

Honestly, I am in awe of puzzles like this. The excellent theme answers and the way they were clued is just amazingly creative. And that's just the themers; the rest of the fill is loads of fun and frequently head scratching. Great job Jill and Michelle – ya done good!

I know it's early, but I can't imagine a way that this puzzle doesn't end up being the Puzzle of the Year.

I. Cant. Even....... These two constructors have assembled what may be the finest puzzle I've ever seen. The first trick, words ending without their T, wasn't good enough for these two. Nooo, they shot for the moon and made the (otherwise "unclued)") words make sense too. Early, I know, but easily PotY material here. Terrific job you two 👍👍👍

HOLY MOLEY!!! I'm a little slow sometimes. Everybody's commenting on the anagrams and I'm thinking yeah, that word sounds familiar. Then it dawned on me that the two answers had all the same letters! Looks like it's gonna be a DUH kind of day 🥴

Puzzles like this are jaw-droppingly clever and huge fun. Thanks Gene!

Robyn, I'm not a speed solver. I do these things purely for pleasure, and this one hit the sweet spot. Thanks for a really good Friday outing.

Today I learned BILL and COO. Today I will forget BILL and... and... what was it again🤔

Poison classification: HAIRMETAL. Clue of the year!!!

I wonder if I'll live long enough to see a rebus puzzle without all the hateful comments. It ain't lookin good so far...

I had NOUHEARDMERIGHT for way too long.

In case my first really stupid comment shows up, I'm here to apologize for my BONECHILLING lack of imagination. I completely missed the most spectacular piece of construction I've ever seen. I got so hung up on what a stupid word BONEC was that I didn't see the HILL for the snow (awful idiom attempt). Great job guys – breathtakingly creative!

Oddly difficult today. I just wasn't on the right wavelength, I guess. Even a Monday can throw you a curve from time to time.

I LOVE rebuses and I cannot lie! They bring a ray of sunshine into my life.

I really wanted it to be saucepan and had no idea what a scir was 😕

I solve for pleasure, not to guess the theme (which usually goes over my head anyway until I read the comments). And I certainly don't do these things to see how fast I can get to the end. A crossword puzzle is a pleasant diversion, and I like to savor it and marvel at the skill that went into creating it. Great job guys 👍

Lots of hate here for BLEH. Sometimes a constructor has to settle for a marginal word to avoid blowing up and reworking a whole sector of a puzzle, which can be a huge time suck. Constructing/editing is not as easy as some folks think it is.

Really liked this puzzle a lot. But I gotta tell ya, if EBOY is a thing, it shouldn't be.

I liked this puzzle, as I do most NYT puzzles. A favorite? No. But to me, an xword is a pastime, not a great teaching aid or quest for the perfect clue with the perfect answer. I often wonder why people bother to keep solving when they so clearly are so often not happy with the frequent wordplay, goofy fill, tortured definitions, Americanese etc and then come here to complain, somehow thinking that's going to change something to suit them better. Baffling...

Anybody else come up with ASSOFSTEEL? Just me?

I am absolutely in awe over this puzzle. The ability to stack even two fifteen letter fills is incredibly hard, but three sets of three! A spectacular achievement, Scott!

Imagine starting off your day with not one, not two, but EIGHT elegant and elegantly placed rebuses! Holy cow, this is gonna be a swell day -- thanks you guys!

This puzzle worked really well. Great job on the grid and especially the rebuses. Thanks Gia!

Thanks Deb, and congratulations. As I've found, retirement rocks! The pay ain't so hot, but everything else is really really good.

Hoooweeee, THAT was a Saturday that WAS a Saturday! Practically scratched myself bald on some of the clues. This here puzzle is a work of art and an example to aspire to. Terrific job Fritz!

Yeah, SISI and ORRIS were pretty much out of my league 🧐

I've been constructing puzzles for a while now and sadly remain unpublished. And after doing today's, I don't see any likelihood of that ever changing -- I can't come anywhere near the talent it takes to pull something like this off. My hat's off to Kareem.