Kaitlin

@Xword Junkie boooooo 🍅

@Marc A. Leaf dADJOKES cost me and was my final fix—I thought dATTED must be some technical sewing term (since both baseballs and eyelashes can be sewn)? 😂

omg the dramaaaaa! Here's my ruling: - defendant and OP @Darren was rude to highlight that the constructor is "new," and to accuse them of "want[ing] to show how clever they are" and writing "poor clues." (And will he reply to Barry's questions—or take the 5th?) Finding: probable cause on a charge of rudeness. - cross-defendant @Barry Ancona showed him DATA that suggests his assessment of the difficulty is flawed; and asked what specifically he objected to. Finding: no probable cause on a charge of rudeness. - sur-respondent @D has probably seen Barry Ancona making comments, that are questionably helpful and arguably before; but his rap sheet isn't admissible in the present case to establish action in conformity therewith, and they're bias renders them an unreliable witness. Objection overruled. Jurisdiction is proper in my heart, and appeals should be timely filed. xoxoxox

@Andrzej your response made me misty-eyed. What a nice place the NYT Crossword comments section is! 🥲

Somebody come get this guy.

@Marlene—look things up!?

@Barry Ancona yes I read the actual column immediately following my comment, but it was too late to edit it! I was just telling my husband this morning that you're always in the comments absolutely roasting people—glad all I got this time was a copy/paste. 😅

@Robin CK people my age (millennials) and younger write it that way (all one word)—in fact, I would be almost ~ surprised ~ to folks in those categories seriously write "Am I right?" instead of "Amirite?"

@Rich in Atlanta TALL ORDER (like the last ice cream cone with three scoops, or even a single cone, since "taller" than wide) and SCOOPED UP (like the process of scooping ice cream) both fit the theme. In fact, SCOOPED UP was the answer that revealed to me that the gray squares were ice cream cones.

@Lewis I laughed out loud at "come into the box"—I've never heard that before. So serious! Can't help but oppose it to the "octagon" and hear it in Deidrich Bader's Rex Kwon Do voice. 😂

@CCNY this is why I come to the comments section.

@Mean Old Lady re: your first observation—ASAMI!

@DK I filled "WALKIE" and "RAZZLE," and problems with "NEW" (amphibian) and "BAR" (entertainer) taught me the trick.

@Barry Ancona ⚾️💥🫡

@Barry Ancona, @Kelli is the OP you're trying to neg, not @Lynn. I guess we all make mistakes!

@Nick also started with VACUUMS!

@Michael I also felt weird about typing "HAREM" but this article (citing Oxford Islamic Studies Online) also uses the word "sacred." <a href="https://bridgingcultures-muslimjourneys.org/items/show/238#:~:text=The" target="_blank">https://bridgingcultures-muslimjourneys.org/items/show/238#:~:text=The</a>%20purpose%20of%20a%20harem,before%20the%20rise%20of%20Islam. I don't know wheth we're qualified to tell Muslim women what a harem is—since I don't know about you, but I'm not Muslim, and since you at least (I assume) identify as male—but maybe your point is that NYT probably isn't qualified to define it, either, on which I think I basically agree.

@Jerry sometimes the long way 'round has the prettiest view! <a href="https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/annakendrick/cupspitchperfectswhenimgone.html" target="_blank">https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/annakendrick/cupspitchperfectswhenimgone.html</a>

@Barry Ancona how come you take the trouble to delete the autogenerated "@" every time?

@Barry Ancona we're not!?!? 🤣

@Cherry, done! Thank you for linking the email! Here's a short template to make emailing even easier (just copy and paste): I am one of many who would prefer the old crossword stats format, which allowed easier comparisons between today's, average, and best times. Please consider bringing it back.

@Laura Whitaker POT LIKKER 'round these parts! 😂

@Jon showing my age [positive connotation? 😂]—I remembered this term from Family Guy!: <a href="https://youtu.be/kz-ldQDOZ84?si=ZvbE3OoFRfrq6S-7" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/kz-ldQDOZ84?si=ZvbE3OoFRfrq6S-7</a>

@Peter G initially preferred TROUBLE because "hot tub" was too short!

@Francine the doctor was a woman! 😂

@Andrzej scrolled for the Billie drama, but it looks like it was deleted! 😫😂 Anyway I think you're nice and am sorry if anyone was rude to you. 🤗

@Paul Turner I came up with alakARaz. 😭😂 And finished the NW corner last.

@Mary I missed a PR by 5 seconds! 😂😭

@Marty I got this one, Barry. An em dash is the longest: — An en dash is shorter (but still "long"): – A hyphen is the shortest: - Long press the hyphen on an iPhone keyboard to see all three!

@Rachel 👏👏👏👏👏

@Lewis that is actually very good.

@ECheung it's the Roadrunner. The Roadrunner is the bird.

Also—mEEP mEEP.

@Mr Dave I am a practicing public defender!

@Lake life my immediate thought was also PALINDROMES! (as @Steve L says, probably because of RACECAR). Of course, it was clearly not. 😂

@The X-Phile d'oh—commented too soon! Great minds! 😂

@Call Me Al I didn't realize this, either, until I read the column. (😏) Cute!

@Infidel same!

@pmom yes I assumed it must be a technical sewing term!

@Rich in Atlanta my immediate thought was "Oh, I'd like to do this puzzle!" (probably because I like the idea of resituating ladies given short shrift)—but since I know all the revealers maybe it wouldn't feel like a win. 🥲

@Dan sorry about @Dave 😂

@Bill yesterday evening on our way into the gym, I was explaining to MY partner when the moon would be full and how one can tell! (which I had actually just discovered for myself pretty recently 🤭—and I'm no dummy, either!). I am getting such a kick out of the fact that you and I were doing the very same thing around the same time! I also appreciate the larger overall observation—my partner and I have gotten into the History Channel series "Alone" recently and are learning so much about primitive living (that must have been fairly obvious to people not so long ago)!

@Grant the reason I got this answer on the first pass! 🤩🎸🎶 But I still think of myself as young—Danny Elfman is just old, man! 😂 [NB, that's an em, not a en, dash.]

@Grant but now that I think about it, it makes sense that there are a lot of print editors here . . .