Kaden Brouwer

Had so much fun with this one. And a Thursday personal best for me!

Proud to say I actually caught on to this one on my own (doesn’t always happen for me on a Thursday!). I suddenly saw HORA as H OR A and said to myself “thats IT!” And for once was able to use the theme to aid my solve!

I by no means consider myself a smart/clever crossworder, but I managed to parse the theme pretty early on. Still took me 40 minutes and I had to reference a couple of the currencies…but I did it!

I really enjoyed the parallels between CAMERAREADY / PHOTOSHOOT ; STREETFOOD / CARNEASADA ; HORSERACE / STEEPLECHASE. Super fun!

Wonderful puzzle! I love themes like this but totally missed the L/R situation. Found the NE a little tricky with ROUEN / RAPTOR / TOPANGA, so yes, I did pull up a map of France to help.

I’ve worked with microscopes plenty, never have I referred to any component as an “optic” (singular).” I know it’s technically in the dictionary but it feels quite clunky. I’m probably just being persnickety.

I will always allow dictionary/thesaurus help when I get stuck. If I’m still desperate I’ll allow myself lookups outside of that. I managed this with just the thesaurus help — what a workout though! BOWSER and KOOPATROOPA really laid the groundwork for me, I think.