mTownTeapot
Memphis
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Memphis
I don’t know why I continue to come here every day and look at the comments—it’s an unhealthful addiction. We have a lot of hard-to-justify arguments. But the critiques of this theme are simply the most ridiculous thing yet by far. This is a game! Not every day or every thing is about you. Yougov ranks Mario as the second most popular video game franchise of all time. 94% of Americans know who Mario is. Jeez. Hopefully this insanity is enough to break my habit.
I’m not the only one who for the first time got the puzzle title on the main screen before starting, right? It took, what, a decade or so to figure out putting it there instead of hidden in info? Anyway, happy about it!
This is one of the cutest Monday themes in a while! Great puzzle overall. Thanks!
@Bob not addressing everything you said, but the elim was signaled by tourney. Isms is also pretty common crosswordese, I’d say.
@Chris “Blueberries for Sal” is from 1948
Cute! Hearty chuckles for this theme
Watch out on 28 down, editors! NYT just reported on a name change! 🤣 <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/world/naoero-nauru-name-change.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/world/naoero-nauru-name-change.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share</a>
Fantastic! The final reveal and the complexity to pull it all off together was stunning
Alright, today's the day: I'm entering the "puzzles are too easy now" discourse. Perfect day: personal best Friday for me (under 7 minutes), but I don't see any complaints rising to the top about easy puzzles. Instead, it's lovely to see Rachel praised, with the number 2 comment from her mom. So here's my opinion. Why are puzzles easier? Why do people reference the archives (I've done every puzzle since Feb 2018), finding them difficult, and declaring: wow, today is easier. Occasionally someone will nod to the topical nature of answers, but that's huge: it is just easier to solve today's slang and hot topics than having to remember 2018. But it's more than that: constructors (and the editors) clearly better prioritize fresh, contemporary fill more. You can say that makes it easier, but isn't it more fun? The other thing I never see people call out is constructing technology. It's so much easier to make a great puzzle, avoid bad fill, and fit fresh answers from great personal dictionaries. So of course there's less crosswordese and poor crossings. Is that easier? Who cares. So, all that to say, do I sometimes feel like puzzles are softly clued? Sure (yesterday did wreck me, too, though). But what I've come to is this: most if not all of the "ease" today is a reflection of more fun and interesting puzzles. And it's not all about personal bests.
Great Tuesday theme, quite a giggle. And loved the clue for 18-down
I think 4 down is my favorite clue in a while, short and sweet (as a berry)
Stunningly impressive. Fun!
@SP well it does say “your”
Just wanna say that user != customer. Honestly, it’s probably more often than not that the user of a piece of software wasn’t the buyer of it (and the buyer is always the real customer).
What some ________ get, briefly = GEDS Is there any category of person that can’t go in that blank? I had fun though, good challenge
@Peter Thaggard Yeah, this messed me up, and couldn’t fix until the end when I was putting together the sentence and T clearly didn’t work
@Anita Yes, this is absolutely my number one feedback. Made this remarkably tough on my phone. Resorted to penciling all the artists. This was a real slog, but I don’t mind finally having one for the first time in a while going way above my average. Really clever theme, really tough mechanically, but I say worth it. Agree about the model A/T mistake, unless there’s something missing from quick Google/Wikipedia.
Best theme in a while. Laughed out loud multiple times, very clever
@Jay am I wrong that it feels like there should’ve been a ? On this one though? But I loved this puzzle, such a great challenge. Thursdays are the best!
@The Whip that was also my difficulty, though the name is common enough and I did a face palm after getting it and remembering what the pequod was
@Selective Walrus you’re literally doing a word puzzle and commenting on a column titled Wordplay…
Felt like I was going to be stuck on some rough fill and crossings at the end, didn’t really care about this trivia, but pulled it out, and the animation was worth it :)
@Nancy J. Agreed, today was a personal best Saturday, I don’t think I got stuck on a single clue. Very strange cluing for the day. In this weird week!
@Laura W and it doesn’t respect dark mode either
@Cory interesting, I don’t think I really knew the definition, but looking it up, you seem right, though maybe it’s ambiguous
@mTownTeapot *earn Nonetheless
Comment on the mini: I think the clue-references-clues highlighting is going the wrong direction. I.e., it references 1 and 4 down but highlights the acrosses. Forgive me if that comment is in here, haven’t seen it
@Matt and I definitely am insane!
Or say nothing and move along!
@Makynzie I love Community! And actually, without a long digression, I use a two-part narrative technique in some of my clients deliverables in which I refer to the worst outcome of a strategic decision as the Darkest Timeline
@Peter C. Interesting idea. Just went back to a Friday in December 2017. It really didn’t feel very different. Except for 4 random names I’d never know if I wasn’t in my 50s 10 years ago. Two of them were stacked together in southeast, and thus that’s where I got stuck for a while.
@SP I definitely hear your argument, and I think we just disagree! And that’s ok! You comment consistently about this, and I take you as more thoughtful than many of the others that just pile on rudely without anything interesting to add.
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