Peter

Darn near impossible, and not much fun. Don't mind a challenge, but telepathy was necessary on this one.

Well, it appears that I'm in good company today.

Not having three free hours today, I did a lot of web searches. This one was ridiculously hard, but I suppose the most elite solvers should get a treat every once in awhile on a Saturday.

Not a fan of this one. Obscure names, obtuse clueing. Certainly not a typical Wednesday for me.

There are gimmicks and then there are gimmicks. Too gimmicky for my brain today, more like a mental root canal.

Toughest puzzle in a long while for me. Multiple obscure words/clues.

I owe my decent time on this one to the crossings for Ayo Edebiri.

I'm not a new solver, but I liked the puzzle and the clueing. It's OK to have a n occasional Thursday puzzle that isn't wholly inscrutable.

Really tough for a Friday but an elegant grid and a fun solve.

I need to brush up on obscure celebrities. Or not.

An enjoyable solve! The clues were just tricky enough to require trial and error. Well done, Kevin.

I guess the price of a record-breaking puzzle is an insanely difficult solve. Oh well.

Really hard, but a great and ultimately solvable puzzle. Excellent Saturday entree!

In the minority on this one, I guess. Clever puzzle, but I didn't enjoy solving it.

I really enjoyed this puzzle, I guess mostly because I was able to figure out the gimmick with reasonable effort. Very clever concept and construction!

Elegant grid, enjoyable solve. Nice work.

Someone has probably corrected Deb in an earlier comment, but Don't Mess With Texas is not the state's motto, it's an anti-litter campaign by the Texas Department of Transportation. The state motto is "Friendship".

A very elegant and engaging solve. On the easier side of Saturdays, but I'm not complaining, especially after yesterday!

Very easy solve for a Thursday. Not that I am complaining.

I agree with Selective Walrus's comment. Once I realized what was going on, I just did web searches until I could intuit the rest of the obscure answers. Hard, but not enjoyable.