K Barrett

@Shaunin the Lord of the Rings books there are creatures called Ents that are living, moving trees. They're a bit slow, but get there in the end... sorta like me solving a Sunday puzzle

@JBW mine was IKEA store. Sorta like those Allen wrenches that come in the pack.

@ESB when I got the O in 1D, I figured it had to be oreO. I mean, what else would you stockpile? :) Submitted 4/7 @07:31pm pdt - just tracking how long this'll take to show up.

@cal she was Agnes the bar girl, taking off her stockings with Butch Cassidy... til Sundance barges in, jumps over the bed and they see Sweetface point them out to the posse. Precipitating a short jump to their horses and a quick git away. A far cry from Young Frankenstein. RIP Cloris. Quite a career.

@Marcia Fidler like everyone else has said contact the nyt team at the email address at the top of the comments. They restored my streak when I missed solving by a 1-2 minutes because I was in the ER with a broken leg. (I'm now at 701 consecutive puzzles, so yay to us. It's my fun too)

Deb, I echo what Aradhana says. Without your columns I'd never have gotten over the intimidation of doing the NYT crossword puzzles. Thank you and looking forward to your next adventure.

@Adin I was just on the verge of thinking this puzzle was probably more fun to create than to solve when wham! Suddenly I got it. Yep. Fun trick.

@elizabeth and I was absolutely shocked (!) when VIGODA popped into my brain as the answer. At my age it's quite a relief when that happens. I almost felt like I should apply to MENSA.

@Joan and I didn't realize the L R blinking till I read the column. Then saw the post-production blinking. I dunno, I thought this was fun.

@Bob I thought the same thing. But maybe because The Big Easy is a nick name NOLA is too? Well. At least we got it.

@Deb Amlen tomorrow's your last day?

@Fact Boy I thought it was more nuanced than that. B-52s held at their fail-safe positions as insurance that "something didn't go wrong", like the Russians nuking the US. Our planes would be in postion to quickly exact retribution. So if they hit us, we'd hit them. Ditto submarines holding a position to nuke any transgressors. "A system or plan that comes into operation in the event of something going wrong or that is there to prevent such an occurrence. "the secondary safety system is indeed a fail-safe"

@Janis and big congrats to Mao Saigo, who I'm sure will be coming to a crossword puzzle soon!

@Andrzej you've probably heard David Sedaris talk about the Dutch version of Santa. <a href="https://youtu.be/hPfg20k5TE8?feature=shared" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/hPfg20k5TE8?feature=shared</a> He also talks about the times he worked at Macy's as one of Santa's elves. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/12/25/nx-s1-5214456/a-morning-edition-tradition-david-sedaris-santaland-diaries" target="_blank">https://www.npr.org/2024/12/25/nx-s1-5214456/a-morning-edition-tradition-david-sedaris-santaland-diaries</a> Now arentcha glad for the simple flying sled of your childhood? Lol!

@Leontion so he finally caved and let you major in French Poetry, and that has made all the difference, right? :)

@abelsey yeah, beep beep is how you show 'em that a Cadillac is not a car to scorn.

What he said!

@Jim Cohoon that got me too. google lens says: "Where Do I Sit? British comic actor Peter Cook (1937 - 1995) with actress Judy Huxtable, filming a scene for the television show 'Where Do I Sit?' at Black Park, Buckinghamshire, 21st January 1971. (Photo by Stan Meagher/Daily Express/Getty Images)"

@Mean Old Lady Frances Perkins should be on the 20 dollar bill.

@K Barrett oof, hit submit instead of cancel!

@Laura Stratton AI says its a typical pattern or practice, as in "he showed up late, as is his usual wont." Sounds like something Mr Darcy would say. 😊 Thanks for asking because I didn't notice it while doing the puzzle. I must have just been plugging in letters till the crosses made sense.

@Dan kinda showed me how much I depend on the two directions to solve a puzzle. I had to read the column. 😀

@john ezra well, it's the true zen of growing orchids. Evenly moist media. If you know you know.

@Miles Blanton well, me hearty, they're really more like guidelines!

@Isabeau my first guess was flat.

@Marshall Walthew I only thought of Art Tatum because I've reread the Harry Bosch books so often. Actually, I thought 'no way, they can't be talking about Art Tatum' because its not a name like Ella, Etta, Lil Nas, Ono, Eno or Bono. Will wonders never cease.