Jake G

Yay! That was a Friday puzzle like olden days. Over and over I thought I was not gonna get it. The northwest and the southeast fell, then it filled in through the middle. Then the southwest then the northeast. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Just under 26 minutes and I’m ecstatic.

I’ve heard of jack squat and I’ve heard of diddly squat. I’ve never heard of JACKDIDDLYSQUAT. That’s OK. I figured it out. I guess it’s in an extreme form when you combine the two into the longer one. Fun Saturday puzzle and not a stretch. Thanks.

Yes! Didn’t take forever, was more than my average and I enjoyed figuring it out. A Thursday worthy of being on Thursday. Thank you to the constructor and the editor. Good night!🌙

Cute. Okay. Too fast. The trick was too easy. I want to be clear: I’m not ripping on the constructor(s). It takes skill to put this together. On the other hand, the NYT is settling for this. It was still enjoyable nonetheless, more like an appetizer, though, instead of an entrée.

It was torturous… And ever so enjoyable! I don’t care that it took me 50+ minutes with absolutely no assistance whatsoever. This is what a Friday puzzle is supposed to be.

A thought: It may be that we OGs are just getting better at combining memory, intuition and brilliance to solve faster than we did 5 or 10 years ago. Sometimes I can just hear the answer in my head and I don’t really know where they’re coming from. That didn’t used to happen as much.

OK. That one was fast and not really fun. That was a Wednesday just like yesterday. Not even a hard Wednesday.

Yes! Yes! Yes! Thank you so much. I actually feel like I accomplished something and it took 30 minutes. God, I love that feeling. The NW and the SW had me. That was really fun. I’ll sleep like a baby.

My goodness! There have been some inane arguments on this comments page over the years. This one about rebuses and not rebuses and whatever is really an all-time low. It’s a beautiful puzzle. There is a revealer to tell you exactly what you need to do. What more do you want? Somebody to hold your hand? It’s not your puzzle. It belongs to the creator of the puzzle. We get to enjoy their creation, much like we get to enjoy a painting. You don’t get a vote.

Perhaps they figure that we’re all going to be hung over when we do the puzzle or still drunk. It was fun, though.

Challenging, despite the fact that it wasn’t one of those mind breaking 45-minute jobs.

This puzzle is why some people think of us hard-core CW enthusiasts as masochists. It took me over 50 minutes with no assistance whatsoever. And I’m happy about it. One of those wonderful days where I begin to think I’m not going to get it. A little bit in the center S. A bunch in the SW. And then the entire NW. That’s what was left. And then an insight here and an insight there and I got it all done. Great puzzle.

Amazing. Like the good Saturday puzzle, I begin to think that I’m stumped about halfway through. Then, the familiar insight flashes. Fun puzzle. I’m sure nowhere near as fast as many. I’m pleased I got it in just under half an hour with no assistance of any kind.

Yay! A really good Saturday following a really good Friday. Let’s keep it going. I don’t care that today seemed to be a little easier for me than Friday. Keep them coming. I had to work really hard and focus just to bring it in at 30+ minutes with zero assistance.

Thursday? No. Tuesday. Sometimes a puzzle can be quick and fun. This was just easy. I wait for Thursday to even do the puzzles. Disappointing. Sorry.

Clever, fun, not too easy. Thanks. 😊

I love that it was difficult mainly because I actually finished it with zero help whatsoever. I couldn’t care less that it was 46 minutes. The southwest and the northeast both had me. I went out for some Chocolate Shoppe ice cream, came home and figured out that I had GEtS instead of GEMS… that quickly solved the southwest because then I immediately got COMEHITHER. Ten seconds later, an inspiration gave me METRIC. The northeast fell just as quickly. Who knew that the best ice cream in the world would have such an effect? As their slogan goes “if you want healthy, eat carrots!“. As high of a butterfat content as any superpremium ice cream. I had a double scoop of Zanzibar chocolate, which has actual dark chocolate in it and what they label as “This $&@! Just Got Serious”. Great day. I told my wife, this might be the one that just totally gets me. She told me “don’t worry, honey, you’ll get it.”

One of those easy puzzles that is still fun. Finishing a Thursday puzzle quickly can be the thrill sometimes.

Cute. SW was last. Challenging solve. Satisfying.

It seemed tough and then it was done. Nicely constructed. A good workout.

Update #2: Woohoo! The bottom half crumbled as well. Then I didn’t get the music. Then I went over the whole puzzle across and down and couldn’t find anything. Then I thought maybe NESTSIN and SAKI rather than NESTSoN and SAKo. BINGO! For those people who have not been doing this as long as some of us (and there are people who have been doing it a lot longer than I have), this is one of those puzzles that challenges veterans. The thing is, it didn’t get me angry. It was wonderful. Including breaks, it was 48 minutes. And, I used no help whatsoever. If you have to use help, I agree with those who say use it. It’s how you learn. It’s just never the way I learned. Maybe, for me, nothing beats the thrill of really, really thinking I’m stumped and never going to get it. Then, I solve it. It can actually carryover into life. That may sound weird and so be it. Thanks to the constructor and Will for their fine job. It was tough and fair. The way I know this is I eventually got it. That’s all that counts. This is one of those occasional puzzles where those of us who “complain“ about how the puzzles are easier get our wish granted of tougher puzzles.

Even though it turned out to be easy, it was fun. Enjoy!

Fun, challenging AND quick. Nice.

Well… there goes the nice streak we had for challenging Fridays and Saturdays. I echo with Barry said: again, this isn’t on the constructors. NYT has to keep them easy so that people keep subscribing.

Update: took another look at the top part and it all came together in about four minutes. I’m trying the bottom some more. Still no helps.

Fun puzzle. Great to get it done before I go to sleep. Like so many times, I thought it was getting me and then it came together. I like to think I’m good at these and then I see the times of people who beat my good times. It keeps me going. 😊

Fun little Christmas Eve puzzle before I go to bed. Not tough and that’s OK. I think there’ll be fewer complaints given that it’s Christmas Eve. Ho ho ho! And…. Mehhhhhhrry Christmas!

Cute. Smart. Challenging. Relatively quick.

ON THE ROAD as the first fill helped. 13:20. Way under my average. Seemed real easy for a Thursday. I know many people don’t want to hear that. Sorry. It was still fun. It’s nice to be able to feel that it can be a race sometimes.

Given the fact that I had an almost 4-Hour drive . across Florida to get to Daytona tonight, I could say that I’m glad that it was an easy Friday puzzle. I’m not. Now I have to hope that Saturday is a good one. I may have to give up doing the puzzles entirely. They just aren’t as much fun if they’re this easy. It’s just getting worse.

PURA VIDA is defined in almost every reference on the Internet as the simple life or the pure life. I could find the word “good” only once as an alternative.

Boom! Even though most of it was a breeze, it was just enough tough stuff to make it delicious before I go to sleep. Thank you. Nice job.

I just wanted to leave a note that this puzzle totally got me. I’m actually weirdly happy about it. I didn’t stop in to get any clues. I will come back to it now and then and I really don’t see how I’m going to get it. I have very little for the long ones on the top and the long ones on the bottom. Kudos to the constructor.

Challenging. Fun. Took some thought. Thanks.

Even though it was fast, I have to say that it was fun. A nice little trick. I’m glad I looked for the clue that was the helper. It helped. Thanks for a fun time before I hit the rack.

Fun puzzle. SW corner was nasty.

Puzzle 1. Jake 0. Two lookups vs. almost never any.

Cute. Very easy and still fun. It often makes Thursdays easier if I figure out what the trick is first. Today, it was then no challenge to solving the eight starred clues. XXX OOO to the constructor. 😘🤗

Tasty. Challenging without being maddening. I’ll sleep well. Could have been tougher, yet, still oddly satisfying. 😊