Emkay
Rhode Island
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Rhode Island
@Michael B. My mom called a slotted spoon a “holey” spoon, and for much of my childhood, I thought it was blessed by the priest!
I had mEATWAVES. mEH!
@Mike. I’m looking for a crunchy, healthy snack after finishing that one… Annapolis my treat!
Wishing you smooth skies ahead Deb! It was a real pleasure to read your column and improve my solving skills. You gave us all a boost with insightful and encouraging commentary. I reviewed my early days of solving in 2018-19, when I could only finish Monday and Tuesday without help. Now I can usually get through every day, even if it takes me awhile. Thanks for all your guidance!
Super clever puzzle! Thank you Zhou Zhang for taking us on this journey of ups and downs. :)
@joel88s. Given the extensive editing we all hear about that goes on before puzzles are published, let’s put this one on the editors.
It took me quite a while to complete today, but a satisfying finish without any hints. It seems like there are posters who have gone on and on about puzzles being too easy, and now when there’s a more difficult one, they are not happy with that either! There is always going to be variability around any solver’s knowledge set and how it aligns with the constructor’s. Clues are often brilliantly clever, and other times rather obscure or imperfect. Learning how to navigate the imperfect is a valuable life skill. I admire the constructors’ efforts and give them grace considering how difficult their job must be. Easier puzzles, I try to improve my solving time. Harder puzzles, I am just lucky to get through and seek hints from Wordplay as required. I am frequently astonished at how often I achieve a breakthrough by putting the puzzle away and coming back to it a few hours later. The quirky themes and gimmicks are challenging and enjoyable for me, even the rebuses. Variety is the spice of life!
I really enjoyed this one as well. One of my faster Wednesdays but i think it was a Potter-like mind meld that allowed some subtle or tricky answers to pop out of my head! Sanka… Askafter… Lariat… Hold Dear…. It felt great to finish it!
So much easier than yesterday! And I feel like I’ve arrived as a puzzle solver… my immediate thought for 7A was the correct answer, rather than INNS or LODGES, irrespective of the # of letters.
Took me over 2 hrs but finally conquered it without any help! NW corner was my struggle, like many of you. I also had DEFER instead of DETER. Once I got CUTE, then AD SITE occurred to me as the destination, and the rest came tumbling down. Pleased with myself that I can get the tricky sports clues (thanks to growing up with 3 bros and a sports-nut mom): Alley oop, Pele, American League. Very challenging but fun puzzle!
I loved the Utne Reader back in the day pre-online media availability. It was a great way to access the most compelling content from across the more niche publications. Surprised to see it here!
@Lauren Ford. That’s where I got stuck too! I knew HACE did not work. Eventually caught my mistake.
This was one of my fastest Wednesdays. Nice puzzle. New one on me about the kids’ make believe game, The Floor Is ____.
I am not a fast solver in any case, but that took a long time. I must be in the minority being familiar with PDQ Bach from my childhood piano lessons. Between that, Hazmat and 3605, the rebus presence was not too difficult to detect. Jaguars always bring to mind a jumble of X,J,K,E and S letters for me. Overall I enjoyed completing this Sunday, and very impressed with the construction!
I am woefully weak on WW II monuments, or I would have realized that OAHU was not right. After stepping away and returning later I realized the down was probably GIS and that triggered GUAM… Boy I wish I had solved those sooner!
@Momerlyn Great idea! I stocked up at the grocery store yesterday. I hadn’t bought eggs since the holidays. Oof! 9 dollars a dozen! I’ll skip the custard pie this time :-)
@Eric Hougland I “pissed away” many minutes before realizing i should have been passing time… :)
@Jane Wheelaghan “BUYS” has a definition in US English that means “accepts or believes”. <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/buy" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/buy</a>
I didn’t get the theme. I thought BUTT would be the letters pushed out, after solving uNIT. Eventually got through it given a couple lookups. Overall it was clever and enjoyable.
This week overall was easier for me than typical weeks. Like others, I got the west side quickly but the east was slower going. I enjoyed each of the span answers, especially the yummy one! May try to do some baking while the temps are moderate this weekend!
Apparently you need to update the app to see the new game!
It’s not often that my tiny state appears in the puzzle! Woohoo! Our Sen Whitehouse punches above his weight, I believe. I finished but only after a struggle with a few spaces in SW corner. Finally I thought of DART! I was not familiar with SAPID but now I know!
@Brendan. The Washington Post used to host a Peep Diorama contest every spring. The creativity, the puns, the modeling skills were outstanding! Going back through the history is a walk through so many cultural events… <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2024/03/28/peeps-diorama-contest-winners-2024" target="_blank">https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2024/03/28/peeps-diorama-contest-winners-2024</a>/ <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/style/wp/2016/03/16/classic-peeps-a-decade-of-sugary-social-commentary" target="_blank">https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/style/wp/2016/03/16/classic-peeps-a-decade-of-sugary-social-commentary</a>/
@Cat Lady Margaret Thank you so much for sharing! Absolutely delightful and not what I was expecting at all. Hey everyone, this recommendation needs to be the most upvoted comment for the day! You won’t regret it.
@Felicia At least some electricity is generated through renewable sources!
@Marks agree completely with you and @Torey Adler. Dark Mode needs a re-think for how the gimmicks are displayed. Particularly after you put letters in a square, the circles are just not visible.
@Bill. I’d say that myself is both emphatic and redundant, in the literal sense.
Record time for me on Thursday. Much more fun than a couple days from last week! I got 6 down and the theme answer very quickly. Willow was probably the enabling trigger and then the rest fell in,
Once I removed stag from 27D and pale from 28D, it got a lot easier!
I liked this puzzle! I often have trouble with Thursdays but this one i got through by talking through a few clues in the top right with my friend. Thank you Ella!
@Jamie I got nowhere yesterday. Broke a few month streak :(
@Shan I haven’t thought about that in years, getting those color adjustments right… The Caucasian skin tone was tricky to balance.
@Jim “impactful” is my favorite! /s
@sonnel. Between that and the OPEN BOOK TEST, it came to me that something tricky was going on!
That was a very gratifying Thursday puzzle. I caught onto the theme on RAREEVENT. The top corners were tricky for me. Coming back after a break always makes the difference when I get stuck. The benefit of a brain rest amazes me!
@Justin The most under appreciated comment of the day!
@Robert Nailling ,,, same here, that NW corner was &$z^#
We had a team of six or seven finishing this puzzle today… had more fun than you can imagine! Thanks Peter for a fun one. As others did, we are objecting to ACNED…. But otherwise we loved it.
@Vaer Indeed, regardless of how long it takes! (In my case, an order of magnitude longer than the 9 minutes mentioned by another solver…)
@Mike in Paris, the Pont des Arts is famous as a spot where couples would attach a padlock as a symbol of their love. It is no longer allowed due to concerns about the bridge's structural integrity. I know Prague has a similar bridge.
@Justin I second that! The most brilliant satirical comedy ever.
I have to admit, i puzzled for a moment over “Don’t touch that Dove??” A very clever puzzle overall. One of my faster Sunday times.
@Steve L Okay, so I’m curious now. How is it that you know this?
@Chungclan I did this too!
@Texas T Same here. Initially I filled in GMA, thinking that the T for Test was in the clue but that was a real stretch. I corrected that from the crosses.
@CCed I had BEAUTY SALON in for a while. Of course it doesn't really make sense and NOLAS for the garnish was not working. I saw the light finally.
@Sebastian Thank you for that! It was my last error fixed.
@Jacqui J. Same here for athleisure which I was really proud of having come up with (and it fit initially of course).
@Barry Ancona Yes, I suppose since my time was only ~5x rather than 10x versus the expert solvers, this was too easy for a Thursday :) But it was a romp for me!