Jack

There might have been some kind of transcontinental confusion at 49D... either that, or Australia must have significant population of Irish émigré's that I'm somehow unaware of...

I'll die on the hill that Sunset Boulevard can't be officially classified as a film noir... but I suppose I get how "satirical Gothic melodrama" probably wouldn't fit on any day but a Sunday

Is there a wedding-famous cover of Shout by a Motown artist that I'm not familiar with...? The Isley Brothers recorded briefly for Motown in the mid/late-60s, but Shout was recorded for RCA Victor. Unless the constructor is using "Motown" as an absorbent genre of any kind of "classic soul" – which I am not on board with.

Maybe my fastest Wednesday ever — having a copy of "Your Movie Sucks" that I read cover-to-cover as a teen absolutely helped. I can remember those reviews like song lyrics. Thanks for a puzzle as witty, snarky, and fun as reading Roger Ebert himself always was!

Maybe it was doing this crossword while at work that was putting me in too formal a mindset, and held me up for so long before I realised "Yes" was supposed to be "Yup". Oh well.

Is this a new redesign that's being rolled out today...? If it is, it's horribly formatted for PC or laptop screens – the actual crossword is microscopic as compared to everything flanking it on the sides and beneath, and the keyboard doesn't even do anything. Why do computer users even need an on-screen keyword? Is this a glitch......?

Surely Hannibal Lecter would be mulish enough when spotting an error in the Times Crossword to write in and clarify that it is BUFFALO BILL who is the "villain" (dramaturgically) of The Silence of the Lambs, no?

So... saying to "borrow the first two letters from each Down clue and add them to the beginning" just means... removing them? I might be missing something, or else that's just a little needlessly confusingly worded. Otherwise, meh – the conceit is fine, but would feel more purposeful to me if each Down answer solved to a new word instead of just becoming gibberish after its first two letters are removed.

"Boss level"? "Final boss" would have fit just as well...