Sam

A really dishonest puzzle — not because of its “read backwards” gimmick, though that is too gimmicky for my taste — but because the answers don’t fit the backward-read clues. An example: tressed does not mean hairy back, but simply long hair (tresses) hanging from one’s head. Another: “counterargument” is not a synonym for argument (spat) but merely a component of a spat— A argues one thing, and B disagrees via B’s counterargument. And so on, it’s a disappointing, unfair puzzle.

Checked several references, “alee” does not mean safe, just “on the side away from the wind”. And some of the musical clues are quite nitty.

Sorry to have this puzzle on a Sunday…except for it’s 25x25 size, isn’t this a Thursday puzzle? I suspect REBUS-style puzzles amuse their designers more than any solver. And on top of the first, second and third comments (recommended reading): some answers here are quite a stretch. I hope this puzzle was fun to build…but it wasn’t fun to solve.

What a tour de force! Fabulous puzzle, thank you.

Lovely puzzle, thank you — and double thanks for the fascinating manta ray information, a sweet “gift” from you on top of a tasty Sunday crossword!

FABULOUS Thursday ploy, great and original use of a well-recognized phrase! Wish we could secretly watch your 13 puzzle-loving siblings tackle your crossword in parallel — hey, maybe your next short film?

For the next project bring: 40 Down Eritrea—Greek not Latin

Of course, many nice points on a puzzle composed by one who has written so many for the NYT. But it seems there is not so much editorial supervision as there should be— some of these clues/answers aren’t just reaching, they’re wrong. Devilry is not mischief, opals are not milky and etc etc.

“Mice” doesn’t work for “Cat’s scan?” A scan is a search, and besides, most of the time, cats are not seeing mice. I love the clue’s clever punctuation and pun, but if the answer must be “mice”, how about Cat catch, Cat’s pawed or etc. That’s for your next edition. And animals don’t rest in the barnyard where manure is dropped, but nearby in a barn, creating ft, hutch or etc. Overall delighted by your whole puzzle, especially Nine, TSA, Myra, DDay and more. Thanks!

Because Saturday is the most challenging puzzle, it’s most important to play fair with clues/answers: but answers such as “ OKwiseguy” (tone deaf for any clue beginning “ dude”) and “careened” ( which includes lack of control, in no way fair for “hurtled”) are not fair, and what’s worse, they are in key positions.

Brilliant innovation, and very fairly hinted at by the answer “Roman numerals”. Love your use of Roman math to adjust the “rebus”, itself a Roman word. SPQR!

Fabulous, sumptuous, even voluptuous long clues and answers!

Hard to compose no doubt, but unfair to solvers, which is no fun. The Tiger clue does serve to alert solvers to the clever wordplay, but why does “wall art” point to wood and screws? It doesn’t. The Times cuts this puzzle too much slack between clues and answers. And laboring over such obscure clues/answers (“drupe”? “Madison is on” etc etc) is worse in the enlarged Sunday format.

Wonderful Rebus technique and key! Thank you, thank you!

Fabulous grid and clever, matching theme, with many clever clues and a delightful Zamboni reward as the “icing” on the cake (rink)!

Delightful Sunday puzzle, thanks to you in Beirut! For reprints: “Husky” needs a capital H; this crossing with “Homer and Herodotus character” foxed me.

Difficult is good, and especially desirable in NYT Saturday crosswords! But unfair is just unfair, and more importantly, anti-climactic. Clues like some of these remind me of a kid cheating at Marco Polo: the seeker calls out “ Marco” and a nearby runner doesn’t reply “Polo”, cheating. Some of these clues are the same. Yawnnnnnnn.

Thanks for a good puzzle, but at least 3 CLUE CORRECTIONS worth mentioning for your reprints and cluers: “regime” is either a government or a protocol, never a group; a pawned item is deposited as collateral for a loan, never traded (if the collateral is abandoned, the item is foreclosed/seized/resold, but not traded); and radon is not “unstable”, but rather a very stable halogen (also called a noble gas) resulting from radioactive breakdown of other, unstable elements such as radium. Hope this is useful, and thanks again.

Lots of lovely twists, thank you!

The fill seems to me ornery and/or overwrought, not a fun sort of challenge; indeed, over the last couple years, one can notice what a wide latitude the NYT team is granting to long-time, multi-published cruciverbalists…maybe more in the interest of showing off the verbal creativity of the puzzle designers ( and the mentoring skills of editors?), than furnishing puzzle solvers with fun challenges. For me and many, the leitmotif of puzzles like these is a cross between “See how clever I ( the designer) am” and “ Gotcha”. Boring.

Some wonderful clues and the “secret double” is very clever: but for me ( solved inn30) I do wish a title or early clue had pointed toward the “repeat” trick…last ten solutions were more frustrating than fun.