Russell

I lucked out because 1A was a total gimme for me. Got it in about two seconds. If you’re not familiar with GRANDMA MOSES you should check her out. She was self taught and didn’t start painting until late in life. Her paintings of the Hudson Valley capture something that even the best trained artists can’t. Loved STONEHENGE as well.

Excellent Thursday solve. I got “Back in Black” fairly early and had fun figuring out what it meant to the construction of the puzzle. As soon as I realized “back” worked in four directions, I had a huge smile on my face. Bravo!

Really enjoyed this one. Great theme and rewarding to solve. Well done!

Excellent debut! I am beyond impressed. As a 45 year old solver who has merely pondered what it would be like to construct, I can hardly believe anyone so young could pull this off. As others have said, crosswords are a balm for dark times for many of us in this community, and I can totally relate to the constructor notes. Keep it up so we can all have more wonderful crosswords when we need them most.

Wonderful puzzle and I love the openness in the constructor notes and the heartfelt sentiments in the comments. It’s a reminder to me of how much crosswords bring to my life. They can give me energy as well as calm me down. They give me a sense of accomplishment and bring little moments of joy to my day. Thank you for this puzzle and thank all the constructors for gifting us crosswords each and every day!