Esmerelda

One who is against squishing the bug on the sidewalk ???? antidepressant

Nice relaxing puzzle. I took the time to mullet over.

Subtle is certainly the word for the theme, really really subtle.

I try to explain to non-solving friends and family the pure pleasure I get in seeing two long, totally unrelated and somewhat odd phrases (like 15A and 17A) piled on each other, and still all the crosses form legitimate words. Anyway, people here get it.

Fun puzzle My favourite clue/answer was 30A. When I lived in the suburbs and shopped at malls, I asked myself that so many times. One mall I frequented had an SAQ (the provincial liquor store). The SAQ was among the first businesses to do away with plastic bags, and I wasn't in the habit of bringing my own. It was embarrassing enough walking around the parking lot looking for my car. All the more so holding a bottle of wine in each hand.

Great Saturday puzzle. What was impossible yesterday at 10 pm was entirely doable at 5am today.

A gem of a puzzle. I'm sorry for the constructor that it had to come on such a dark day.

This puzzle reminded me of a Volvo we once had, which had a tricky and (in my view) unreliable manual choke. I often had trouble starting the car. My husband loved that car, and as part of his defense, he would tout the safety record of Volvos. This was true, especially if half the time you couldn't get out of the driveway.

So POUTINE is now well enough known to appear as a Monday NYT xword answer! I emigrated to Québec some 40+ years ago, but I've only eaten poutine once. That was some 15 yrs ago when my coworkers learned that I'd never tried it, and took (herded) me to the greasy spoon (La Belle Province) across the street from the office in Longueuil. I ate most of it, out of politeness. It was very salty. I love many iconic Quebec and Montreal specialties, including tourtière, tarte au sucre, smoked meat, and Saint-Viateur bagels. But I will never be able to stomach poutine. And here's an alternate clue for POUTINE (for a Friday or Saturday, maybe): Russian president, to a Rimouskois **** Bonne année à cette belle communauté du NYTxword!

I once thought that the growing use of DOULA in crosswords was evidence of recognition of our profession. As a solver, though, I realize it’s got more to do with vowels, and handy consonants. Nonetheless, I’ll take the win. We’re in good company, along with Alan ALDA and Felipe ALOU -- two of my favourite crossword personalities.

At first I thought I had a breakthrough on this tough grid, guessing that both Anaīs Nin and Anne Brontë had diabetes. Darn, one letter short. Solid Friday puzzle -- enjoyable and instructive.

This was a terrrific puzzle. Sure there were some stretches in the fill, but the payback was an original and thought-provoking theme, and an enjoyable solve. Another logical fallacy relevant to the times: If you repeat a false statement enough times it becomes true. I don't know if there's a name for that one.

I came to ask at what scout camp do they build canoes (13A) -- but nevermind, I get it now. Lanyard didn't fit, which is the only camp craft I remember. Here is a great poem about that by Billy Collins. <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/50975/the-lanyard" target="_blank">https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/50975/the-lanyard</a>

Great puzzle, but if the NYT really wants me to "share my thoughts", these are them: I'm finding it more and more difficult to enjoy crosswords. Each day I first turn to the news, and read about the military occupation of cities, ICE shooting ordinary people, individuals being pulled out of their homes or from their place of work, and maybe never heard from again. Some people tell me that I'm lucky to be living in Canada, but many Canadians are not feeling particularly safe today, just because there is a border. That means nothing, if Trump or one of his "kids" wants to retaliate for whatever reason and send troops to Toronto or Montreal or where? -- Winnipeg? Thunder Bay? Halifax?. Maybe there will be some justification given regarding fentanyl or terrorist cells, or critical resources. And I'm sure our prime minister will be concerned, as he always is, but I fear that that may be the extent of what our government would do about it. I love NYT crosswords, I love the puns, I love reading the comments in wordplay. But it's getting harder and harder to block out the rest.

The theme reminded me of an early solving experience when I asked this community what a NAIL EDIT was. Someone suggested a mani-pedi.

Very Tricky, but once I got the theme with NONBELIEVERS I was able to fill in the two other LIEs and then slowly inch towards the gold star. I am constantly amazed by the creativity of themes in the NYT grids, and this is an A-ONE example. Congratulations on a stunning début.

Nice fast puzzle. I made sure to complete it before the "ICE RAIN" (pardon my crosswordese) starts up in southern Québec, with the accompanying risk of an extended power outage. First things first when you're preparing for a possible emergency!

my favourite: SQUAWKAFINELINE I saw a sign for deep fried oreos on a visit to Coney Island. I thought at the time that this would make a great xword entry. It appears to be a debut! Congratulations John Kugelman -- fun Sunday puzzle.

Solid Monday puzzle. 13A was easy for me, as I spent a month in LILLE some 10 years ago, or so. The city is friendly and fun to explore, and there are tons of day trips one can do by train, elsewhere in France or in Belgium. One kind of tourism in that region is visiting WWI battle sites of the Western Front. There are some very famous ones such as Ypres and La Somme, but as Canadians we of course went to Vimy Ridge, taking a train from Lille to Arras. That day is still with me. The first part of the tour is given by Canadian college students in park ranger uniforms. They show you the trenches and tunnels, and recount how the battle played out, emphasizing the Canadian know-how, discipline and grit. It's incredible to hear this story standing where it all happened. But the most moving part of the visit is when you walk up to the towering stone memorial on the ridge, which remembers some 60,000 Canadian soldiers killed during the Great War. That war to end all wars.

Good to see the NYT xword marking this event. I've no musical suggestions but here’s a book tie-in: the Stephen King novel “Dolores Claiborne”. A woman in Maine (circa 1960) uses the excitement and community distraction over the total eclipse as a cover while she murders her husband. Very good read. I'll be watching the eclipse from the QC/VT border (Canadian side) where there will be some 3.5 min of totality. I’m hoping for clear skies and have no plans, schemes or plots of any kind other than to experience the moment (with my husband).

(In keeping with the theme): I liked it a lot.

Nice puzzle -- very gentle and restorative after the painful WS loss last night. I can see how COMANECI would be obscure if you don't know the history of women's gymnastics and are younger than 50 yrs old. Around these parts though, COMANECI is the reason there are so many women in their late 40s named Nadia.

Feeling very proud to have gotten the gold star on this one. Patience paid off this morning. That and not having much else to do since I can't yet stomach reading the news. I've read some of Stephen King but I've never heard of Salem's Lot. He may be the writer to read right now.

Nice! A fairly common first name among women of a certain age in Quebec (like 80+ years old ) is Jeanne d'Arc. I wanted to (but didn't) give that name to one of my girls. Talk about girl power.

This one was amazing!

I really enjoyed this one -- just the right difficulty (for me) for a Saturday with great cluing. I haven't thought about Martin Gardner in a very long time. My father used to enjoy his "Mathematical Games" column in Scientific American.

I liked the clue for 123A, but CREWTEAM is a little awkward -- it's either rowing team or crew, seems to me. In the case of 45A, I think we've had this discussion before. The preferred plural for MAORI is MAORI. Anglicizing petits-fours is fine (those little cakes don't care), but when it comes to how people refer to themselves, when speaking English, I think the NYT should respect that. Overall, though, I really liked this puzzle.

Very original and funny, and for me a smooth solve. I'm glad to see INUK instead of Inuit, given all the debate that's gone on in this space on the topic (i.e. the misuse of INUIT as a singular noun). ICEWINE is a Québec specialty, and I've tried it a few times -- nice flavour, but high-priced. A somewhat better value, if you like apples, is cidre de glace. Now (or in a few weeks for the peak fall coulours) is the time to come to southern Québec and go on a winery (or cidrerie) tour!

I got the trick thanks to Bobby Mcgee. And the song fits the mood I'm in today. Thanks Joe Deeney.

Nice puzzle. Not only do all the theme entries begin with AL but the first words are all ones that are regularly shortened to AL (or Al). Together with the song, that's a winner of a theme. I've been working on constructing puzzles now for a couple of years, but my themes are all kind of MEH. And I won't even start on the frustration of filling in the grid, where all is going well until I get to an unresolvable area that undoes the many hours I've already spent getting there. In his comments, Elliot alludes to the pain of bulldozing a nearly completed puzzle. What I'd like to know is how to tell when it's time to bulldoze, rather than continuing the battle to make the previous fill work, when it's never gonna happen.

Clever puzzle. Putting the theme clues in italics made it much easier. I agree with others regarding ICERAIN. It's called freezing rain, and believe me, it's more than just a driving hazard (anyone else remember the 1998 ice storm?) Polar instead of PANDA slowed things up for me in the NE corner

Fun puzzle, once I enlarged the clues and could see that the suits weren't just plusses. Here's a fact that most Americans probably don't know. Robinson started his MLB career in Montreal, with the Montreal Royals (farm team for the Brooklyn Dodgers). My kids learned about him in their grade school class called "Éducation morale" (the course was the alternative for the non-Catholic kids, instead of catechism).

I just listened to the Daily interview with NYT puzzle editors. They receive upwards of 150 puzzle submissions each week. That made me feel better about my three rejections so far. Great listen, btw.

Great puzzle. I realized I had no idea what is in ranch dressing.... and then I realized it didn't matter. Nota one confused me for the longest time. And I appreciate Joe Deeney's tip re flexibility in the long intersecting answers. I've been working on constructing xwords lately, and find it incredibly fun and satisfying .... until it isn't anymore-- when I reach a roadblock and have to start all over.

This puzzle is nothing to write home about (but I loved it anyway).

What a plum puzzle – accented with the fragrances of lilac, lavender, and periwinkle and the aroma of a fine burgundy. (purple prose)

This puzzle was no sham. Well done!

Damn! I fall for that SILENT letter trick every time! Great puzzle.