Michael

Before solving 1A and 16A, the 80s kid in me entered ACIDWASHEDDENIM for 17A. I wonder if the creator set that trap. Good puzzle!

I got this thing done without a single hint from the Wordplay column until literally one last square: the H in AHNOLD. AHNOLD? 🙄

I'm so pleased with myself, seeing BRANDY ALEXANDER right away, and getting ANDY. It's my day off, so I don't have to be smart about anything else for the rest of the day.

New Jersey? ... good one!

I sure bundled this up - so certain HAITI supplied the sugar.

Digital deals... 🏆

L I̶ K̶ E D L O V E D I T

I really like "A little bit of everything" and its answer.

Smack in the middle of a crowd. 🏆

Wow! Solved without going to the Wordplay column for a hint. 🏆 That moment when I figured out the Us... Fun! (I did have to check the spelling of jodhpur.)

"Amazon wrapper" 🏆

I realized I got my Lovelaces mixed up when LINDA didn't fit. 😳

Word of the day: ennead

Delightful! ..and I'm going to repeat those eye-rolling jokes.

Fun! The solution for bonkers had me laughing.

TATA and DATA are both candidates for "new oil." I had the T in GILT (instead of GILD) already there, so I had to read this column to solve the puzzle. I might have lost my mind trying to figure out my mistake. I should slow down a bit.

6-Down: my first guess was a word that would never be in a Times puzzle, but it's funny that the first, second, and final letters still worked. Also, my dog was staring at me at the time, but I wasn't going to walk her until I completed this puzzle. My first guess was almost proven correct!

Figuring this out without a hint... I feel so smart right now!

Y'all (and yinz) must go solve today's Wordle after solving this. You'll see why... HA!

Thanks to Louis Winthorpe III, I immediately knew the answer to 45D, La Bohème.

This was a pleasure, and a remedy for my Saturday puzzle PTSD. I think I could have solved most of today's without looking at the grid.

When you confuse ibex and ibis... 🤦‍♂️

To Ms. Corbin: What you wrote about Doonesbury not being funny was funny. It took me back to when I thought the same, until I noticed Mr. Butts. ..and that was a fun puzzle!

"Served au jus." I hope 58D served a reminder that it's never "with au jus."

When I finally saw FRANKENSTEIN for scrapbook, I got the giggles. What a fun puzzle!

60D: I briefly thought it may be a Saint Crosser, a saint on a cross, or someone who crossed a saint, but the abbreviated ground-level answer fell into place. However, even after completion, I'm wondering what that answer would be. 🤔

Reading Wordplay before solving, I was careful to stop short of any spoilers. The caption under the photo, "Perches in a coop? Or purchase in a co-op?" had me hoping today's puzzle would feature long, homophonic answers. That made me dive right in. Oh well, it was still a fun puzzle. So... are there any puzzles in the archive that feature homophonic phrases as answers?

My very last square to fill was the third of 111D. My interpretation of B.S. was not as the maker intended, so I got lost trying to double-rebus an extravagant spelling for scat and overthinking the simple solution for "joke around." Perhaps eating too many KitKats would result in skitskat. 🤔 Perhaps this crossword's maker intended this confusion. (I hope so!)

14A's clue immediately brought to mind a dirty dance song by the rapper Khia. If I get caught singing it at work today, this crossword gets the blame!