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@Selective Walrus — Why feel bad? It’s your honest opinion as a subscriber. Just because someone puts a lot of effort into something doesn’t put it above (well-deserved) criticism. This was one of the worst puzzles of 2024, IMO.

@Mary Hudson — Thank you for articulating my biggest issue with this puzzle. I love clever wordplay in crosswords, but today wasn’t it — maybe because there was no theme to build around.

@Mark — I usually start by going through and entering the answers to clues that I know and work back from there. Today is maybe the first time I hardly knew a single clue. I know Saturdays are tough, but I have solved them many times before with no problem.

@Sarah — I had momentarily forgotten the theme, and my first reaction was “Are we being graded now?” LOL. Fun puzzle with some good clues.

@KD — I was not a fan of this particular puzzle, for some of the words you mentioned. Recently invented slang, like YOINKED, should be reconsidered until it becomes more established in the vernacular. Just my opinion.

@Brady Rhodes — My caller ID says “Possible Spam”.

@dutchiris — I take “a cheat” to mean using a help to solve for a particular clue. Colloquialism. As for this puzzle, I’ve been traveling through the Times Wayback Machine and doing crosswords from 1993 onward. Those are hard (harder, I think, than the current puzzles) and take time to solve, but not frustrating. Today’s crossword, however, was in a class by itself because it was so random and obscure in the cluing. IMO. (While I’m here, I really don’t get the criticism-bordering-on-insult of other solvers’ abilities if they don’t care for a particular crossword, either.)

@Pat — In my spare time, I’m working my way through the archives. Right now I’m in 1993. One difference I’ve noted between then and now is the increase in pop culture references that not everyone may know. (Another example from today is the “Dancing With The Stars” clue.) I totally get your confusion over DOGG. I wish a balance could be found between those clues and general word knowledge, literary and historical references, and deduction, as were more common back in the day. I have to say that I’m enjoying the archives more than what I often see on a daily basis. (And before I get roasted for being a “hater,” I’ll add the obligatory “to each their own.”)

@dk — I’ll add UPSA to the list of minor quibbles. Guess it depends on how it’s pronounced. Otherwise, a clever and quick (for me) solve.

@PB — Or “upsy”. That was my guess on my initial run through the grid.

@Elle — Until I got the gimmick I was totally ready to hate on this too, But I ended up really liking it. Sometimes it’s good to have a “fun” puzzle. But as usual here, YMMV.

@Hoosier — It really was. I had an fairly easy day Thursday with the rebus as well. I like to think it’s because my skills are getting better.

@Rich in Atlanta — IIRC, Minesweeper was a preinstalled game on Windows back in the day, like Solitaire.

@Theo — Points taken. I often do The Guardian crosswords, and I sometimes struggle only to find out how easy they were to those in the UK. A “big box store” is a large store that can sell everything from clothes to groceries, or a large store that specializes in, say, sporting goods or electronics. The name obviously comes from the design of the building — it’s a one-story, box-shaped construction. K mart was one of the first here in the States.

@Andrzej — Given that this seems to be a common criticism today, and I think a fair one, I hope the constructors and editors will take this into consideration going forward. Sorry that it was a tough one for you.

@Nancy J. — Really enjoyed the clues. Some had me stumped for a bit, and when I got them, it was like, “Of course!” Had fun this Friday for a change.

@Greg Chavez — Whenever I hear “And how!” Our Gang comes immediately to mind. I don’t think I’ e heard it outside of those movie shorts.

@Nancy — “Tatted up” is colloquial. Like you, I first went for the more conventional word, then realized that it was not going to work.

@Rachel — Yes, it loaded around 6 pm Saturday as usual.

@Patrick Molloy — That was my first guess but I broadened it to an abbreviation that made better sense to me.

@John — I’m still struggling with this puzzle. I thought I had it figured out, but no. Complete waste of time. I’m resorting to hints with zero guilt.

@Mike — Uh…yeah. Totally underwhelmed by this gimmick.

@JonathanT — I do, and more often than not it works. If it’s wrong, just delete. I’ve found, too, that walking away then coming back leads to a lot of “aha” moments, especially with the wordplay clues.

@Alex — If I like a puzzle, I say so. If I don’t, I say so. One’s honest opinions, if given respectfully and with reasons, aren’t “hating”. That particular comment, often given, is the biggest drawback to this forum. Just my opinion.

@Vitruvian Mansplainer — Well, I must have been deep in my cave, then. I have kids from that generation, and I never heard them use the term.

@Theo — Points all well taken.

@Joan — I found last Saturday’s puzzle much easier than this one. I scan the puzzle at first and fill in the obvious answers — usually if I can find a good “in”, I can solve a corner and take it from there. I thought I had it today with DOGIES, but nope. I found hardly any of the clues intuitive or solvable, even after thinking about them, as others have noted.

@Rich in Atlanta — You’ve probably heard it. Clever puzzle. Enjoyable.

@Janine — The Willa Cather clue was a huge hint for me.

@Grant — Why was “coach” in quotes? No wordplay or misdirection that I could see.

@PR Betz — Totally agree. Enough with the pop culture and gaming clues. And stop with the cutesy SUHWEET stuff, too. Maybe the editors just figure this is where we’re at, that this is what appeals to the masses. Or maybe it’s just a blind spot on the part of the constructors. I’ve been doing crosswords from the archives from the 1990s, and they are much more balanced with literature and other (what should be) general knowledge clues. There are some current events from that time, but my memory is still good enough to get those. These puzzles can be a bit more difficult with their wordplay, but enjoyably so — I can’t say that for what I see here some of the time. I also agree with those who question the inclusion of the Cardi B song. Would that have flown back in the day? Somehow, I doubt it.

@The X-Phile — “Finishing the Hat” is a song in the musical, and “Look I made a hat” is a lyric. I recommend listening to an original cast recording featuring Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters. Patinkin sings this particular song.

@Ace — What you said.

@Judith Nelson — I’m kind of peeved at this myself. I entered “equals” as a rebus but it’s still saying there is an error. A rebus should also be acceptable, right? I have a streak going back to late August, which I’ll probably now lose. I’m afraid to hit “check puzzle.” I’m going to read through the rest of the comments to see if there are any other workarounds — but that is beside the point. These gimmicky crosswords that many seem to so love need to work across *all* platforms and should tested before they’re unleashed on unsuspecting solvers.

@Wesley — Sometimes, I guess, there’s no “there” there to some puzzles. The tip off for me was Vivien Leigh. After that, everything else fell into place.

@CarolinaJessamine — I would love to know how to construct a crossword puzzle, especially the very complex ones.

@alchemist — “Host” can mean “many”: “A whole host of resasons.” Slew also means “many”: A whole slew of reasons.”

@Julia K. — No, you are not the only one. This was the rancid cherry on top of a really unpleasant day for me. To those who did love it, congrats.

@Deidre Clark — Isn’t that what the clue said? Wilbur, to Fern?

@Grant— More of a rhetorical question. Just one more clue to add to your list of unhelpful clues. Sorry I responded.

@Steven M. — “Deafen” is a perfect response to the clue, albeit wrong in this case. But what do I know?

@Nat K — You sum up the issues with some of these puzzles very well. I had to resort to some lookups, and if that makes me a bad solver, so be it. Some of these puzzles have too much inside baseball going on at times.

@Barry Ancona — I’m going back into the archives (working on 2014) and it seems like overall the crosswords were harder then, not including the pop culture references. Am I mistaken?

@Rob G. — Agree. I was able to complete most of it but the gimmick eluded me. Wasn’t sure how to complete it. Time-waster. (And before anyone chimes in with “but you have time to comment here,” yes, I do. I just didn’t have the time (or patience) for this.