M

@Ny Times reader How is it self-indulgent to dedicate a few dozen hours creating a game for your entertainment? I’d suggest that any given solver not enjoying the puzzle isn’t an indication of a personality flaw in the constructor. It’s safer to assume the constructor is doing their level best to entertain you and would like nothing more than having 100% happy solvers. It’s a very tough crowd of 100s of thousands of dedicated solvers, so can’t win ‘em all. But I can guess that it sucks some of the joy out of it to be attacked personally for trying. It certainly sucks some of the joy out of this forum. Suggestion: share what you don’t like about the puzzle, and keep the ad hominem stuff to yourself.

@Charlotte Simeon (today's constructor) here. First time commenter! Thanks for the lively comments all! I wanted to clarify a few things from my "Constructor Notes" which seem to have attracted some attention in these comments. . 1. I think it's pretty common for an accepted submittal to wait many months before it goes to print. But this puzzle in particular got slated for the week of Fathers Day... so, naturally it had to wait til June rolled back around. I hadn't meant to imply that the delay in this case was unusual, only to acknowledge a neat puzzle that was published in the interim. . 2. It's somewhat common (in my experience) for Editors to request a change to the way the puzzle plays out. They are always very gracious about it, and of course I had the option not to have them run with it in its present form. Having chosen to accept their request for edits, it was a fun process and I'm excited about the finished product (even if it's a bit different than I had originally pictured it). I'm trying to think of a way to revive the original gimmick for a future puzzle... we'll see! . Thanks for solving!

@George "Unoriginal" how? Which part have you seen before?

@Steve L "Kol sasson v'kol simcha" is a part of the Jewish wedding ceremony, very common I'd say. "The voice of joy and the voice of gladness" in some translations.

@DrJoe Tonight's Purim... maybe the triangles are hamantaschen?

@Eva H. You'd be justified in assuming the NYT wouldn't publish a puzzle with so many obviously incorrect answers! The Wordplay column (and lots of the 400+ commenters before you) noted that other answers --correct regions of the country-- worked equally well for the central answer. You're invested enough to bother writing in to the comments section, so you might be someone who would enjoy reading the column the comments are referring to. Looks like lots of solvers had fun with it once they cottoned to what was going on (and that's par for the course in themed puzzles). Hope that helps!

@D That claim is immediately falsifiable by skimming through the numerous criticisms of the puzzle. There are dozens, and some are detailed. The original post didn’t try, but instead used the opportunity to criticize the constructor personally (and anonymously), whom (I’m guessing) they don’t know.

@Steve L Lots of words for "happiness" in Hebrew. Try here: <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happiness_in_Judaism" target="_blank">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happiness_in_Judaism</a>

@Grant Just fyi, Schitt's Creek originally premiered and aired on CBC Television in Canada. In the United States, it made its cable premiere on Pop TV. As an aside: 99% of all movies, songs, books aren’t free to the public (at least at first), and many are available only via one or another digital stream. The NYT, and the NYT puzzle, aren’t free either, and this blog is digital-only. I don’t get why being on a streamed medium makes any given artifact less puzzle-worthy?

@MDB Fair enough. I didn’t mean to suggest people are never rude, whether “regulars” or not. I do feel that being dismissed rudely or treated w condescension is never ok in a forum like this, and of course I can see that it happens. I quibble with the characterization that this constitutes bullying, or that it makes it impossible to post one’s opinions: clearly, you can post what you like. But if the bad behavior has a chilling effect and kills the vibe it’s still bad, whatever one calls it. My original post though was not about how we commenters talk to each other about puzzles, but how we talk about each other (or about the constructors) in personal, derogatory terms. There should be more room for cordially hating (or loving) on the puzzle, and less room (imo) for hating on each other. I hope that distinction makes sense for you. Thanks for engaging in this little chat!

@Eric Hougland Check the spelling on Simeon Seigel (not Siegel) for the Thursday and Sunday ballots?

@heironymous where is Car Boy in the puzzle? others have commented same...?