John Peil

My very first no-lookup Saturday EVER!!!! I want to thank this entire community for giving me the hope and endurance to keep at a puzzle even when it seems impossible and inscrutable.

Came here to whine over “peruse” meaning “read thoroughly” — I’ve spent my whole life perusing things at a brisk skim. Turns out I’ve been using it wrong for decades. The word literally means careful, detailed reading. Guess I’ve been “browsing” this whole time. Suppose that’s why it’s called a “web browser” instead of a “web peruser.” You win this round NYT.

Used to hate these “puzzle” puzzles; now I enjoy them more than any others. Always a gritty mental test for me and always a joy when I can figure out the trick. All that would make this a worthwhile puzzle, but the fact that each of the theme answers make actual words really blows my mind. It’s why NYT is worth the subscription. That and the fact that I know I’m supporting a newspaper that publishes sort of everything I’m AGAINST, generally speaking. And that’s something worth supporting and worth reading. Wish more people understood this.

Being an avid basketball fan really helped on this one; managed to shave 31.7% off my usual time. Still a beginner in my own estimation, but today the strangest thing happened: after beating my head against the wall for the past several years with tricky Thursdays, today I was actually a bit crestfallen that the solve wasn’t MORE difficult. I think I’ve finally started enjoying the challenge that late week puzzles bring. And I think I finally understand the good emotion/feeling behind comments on a puzzle’s relative crunchiness. As always, very hearty thanks to this community for being so helpful and encouraging over the past couple years.

Did not get the trick of this puzzle at all, so it was basically just a giant crossword puzzle with a lot of trivia. After reading Sam’s column and looking back at each of the theme answers… WOW! Just so amazing that someone was able to figure all this out. Unfortunately, re-scrambling or unscrambling letters to make new words is my absolute kryptonite… I’ve always been just horrible at it. But that doesn’t take any of the shine off this puzzle, even if I can only enjoy it after the fact.

For my mileage I thought Whac-a-mole and it’s depiction were just brilliant

Stretcher Bearers? was the best in my opinion. Great clue, great answer. SE was brutal, some of the top center too; took longer than the entire rest of the puzzle. Getting to the point where I can complete 85% to 90% of the Fri/Sat puzzles and then just fall apart on the last couple fill-ins (i.e., I go get my Google on). Pretty cool to see the progression from my fear of Wednesday's two years ago to this point. Onward!

BOTOX GAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Ouch. There are times when I finish a puzzle with auto check enabled and end up disappointed in myself for not trying harder. This. Was. Not. One. Of. Those. Times. Ouch.

This was a great, very difficult puzzle that shows the true power of using crossings to find totally unknown answers . . . took me 84mins to solve, but was worth it to learn a lot interesting trivia. My only true hang up was the triple natick (for me) of TARA - ARIE - BEHAR . . . but now I know those answers too!

It’s just cruel that nightshade and BELLADONNA have the exact same number of letters

I, for one, stand with Harry Connick Jr.: despite Randy Jackson's best, multi-year efforts, PITCHY just isn't a word. "It's called singing off-pitch." There was really no need for a made-up colloquialism when proper musical terminology was already available. Thank you and have a great day.

Such an incredible puzzle, and so SO far beyond me.

Ugh! towers, not towers! (English is hard)

MAGICIAN!!! What a great freaking clue. Put the puzzle down and just reveled in that clue/answer for a bit this afternoon.

Great doing a puzzle on my bday which just so happens to be on the same day as The Boss. Happy Monday everyone!

LOL on some of the top comments today, geez folks. Just came to say that I find these early week puzzles to truly be an art form. It has that same feel of impossibility at certain points of a late week puzzle (SE got me until the cabbage popped into my head [GET IT? Cabbage? Head?? Hello?!?) but it comes together SO much easier. To me that is art.

For whatever reason, I was absolutely positive the answer was VEGANBLOOD

Going places? Shut up and take my money! Great puzzle, and completed on the john by a John no less.

Wow that felt way too easy for a Friday. I’m a horribly slow, plodding solver that has to pick up and put down the late week puzzles multiple times just to make a dent, but this one flew by almost effortlessly. This must be that “wavelength” thing y’all are always talking about.

Really enjoyed this puzzle and I love the zing of emotion I get when I figure out a theme like this. But I also choked a bit on the glue smell of ERIEPA and OWEITTO.

Loved this, and it’s nice that the Monday/Tuesday puzzles have a slight bit more grit to them these days… I would quibble with a STING being described as a RACKET . . . but it doesn’t mess with the solve or the overall beauty of the puzzle, so I’m good with it.

MATRYOSHKA!!!! Worth the price of admission folks.

Great puzzle! Confidently plunking in esos (ESAS) and Yale (UCLA) really slowed me down. Bit more difficult than historical Tuesdays but I guess that’s normative now. Good to be back . . . Gold Star streak started TODAY!

This was ridiculous, preposterous even . . . and I absolutely LOVED IT!!!!

Well if it hadn’t have been for Montana’s confusing introduction of a Spanish-language lottery I would’ve made it under 5mins on this one 🤦‍♂️

Totally awesome puzzle with the theme going over the roof and the morning/night on either side! A couple personal naticks dampened it a bit with the alliance/French/actresses and territory/troopers, but as I always say: Now I know!

I was married to the idea (MARRIED I tell you!) that it had to be an obAMA COACH . . . HAD TO BE!!! That was the last part of the puzzle to fall for me (sigh).

This was just brilliant! It seemed impossible after the first past and then turned into my PB by the end. Never saw Midnight Cowboy but the scene looks hilarious on YouTube. . . the only X-rated movie to ever when Best Picture! That’s not walking on water, but it’s close.

Delightful puzzle that had me totally confused on the theme . . . many thanks to Deb and her wonderful encouragement to chase the dopamine high . . . after a bit of thinking I haphazardly just said the half-words out loud and bam! It’s gonna be a great Independence Day :0)

Liked this puzzle, but NSC and ELAND were new to me so crossing MARCEL made for a brutal ending. Had to Google Duchamp to finish. Ultra fast for a Wednesday up to that point.

Plunking down Mead for BOCK gave me a major headache in the SW. Great puzzle!

That dancers could have moved in unison at 23A and that helterskelter fit perfectly at 57A, made this puzzle all the more enjoyable.

Really enjoyed this one, despite being overcome by 10D and the 21,23,30A triple stack natick. Seen them all before here; hopefully they’ll stick with me this time.

(and Doug)

I really enjoyed that, for me, the puzzle was truly unsolvable without the revealer. That made it a wonderful journey, albeit a short one.

Finished this in 12mins for my 12-day streak 12mins faster than average . . . as difficult as I find these puzzles — and I am on the ragged edge of below average after Tuesday — there was a part of me that really wished this one was more difficult due to the totally awesome theme