Jon

When googling Kyrgyzstan mountain ranges Alai is the 8th one that shows up. Very obscure, not the countries most famous range. Maybe it's better to redo the grid rather than reach that far to force the grid to work. Shout out to all the 78 year olds who knew the song reference. I'm assuming you would need to be at least 10 years old in 1956 for a song to be in your common knowledge. Frustrating puzzle for me.

Drily? Stan? Timon? Nerts? Tons of proper nouns? Not a fan. Hajj also has two Js - it's not Haj. Not up to snuff imo but glad to see others enjoyed and congrats to the author.

Way too many proper nouns / references. Glad others enjoyed but untouchable for me.

Great idea for a theme, really set up well. Could not set down. Will be hard to settle for future puzzles as this one set the bar high.

Ok seeing mostly complementary responses so going to be brutally honest, I thought this puzzle was terrible and not up to snuff. I love a theme, this one misses the mark. "Change O" to me should imply we should be changing all Os in the theme answers or changing letters to O's. This theme is neither. Every answer in the theme is literally what the fill should be. The theme answers should of been "blood type", "same here", "not quite", and "lemon lime", we as the solvers then could of felt the magic by "change O" the last O to reveal fill that fits. As the theme is now all of the fill is literally what it should be and I guess it's loosely put together that if you change the last O it's a still word. Weak. How is this a "brilliant illusion"? Not feeling the magic in this one.

Liked the puzzle! Did not have issue with gram - I've seen for those in the metric system it's interpreted similar to pounds in the US where weight and mass are not differentiated in the everyday. Conch took me back to lord of the flies. Is tribalism innate in us? Or can we we band together and overcome our differences and live in harmony? These days it's challenging, but always worth keeping an open mind and treating others with respect! Having other perspectives strengthens the team and we don't have to all agree completely to get along. Am I talking about the comments section or our politics? The answer is yes :) E pluribus emus.

Felt a little harder for a Monday - Opuses / tempeh / hesse / Vera - I felt clueless on, did not know Opus referred to music. Hopefully I remember that for next time. Liked the theme! Shout out to all the workwomen out there as well! Good luck to all you on your Monday!

Got the theme! Should lead to an easy solve for the rest of the puzzle right? Right?! Nope. Still liked the theme. Stared at TOOOLD for a while it's Too Old for anyone else like me who struggled to see it as two words. Laughed once I saw it. Can anyone explain Pee? The answer not the necessity of the bodily function. Tough puzzle for me. See you on Monday Barry!

Going to go against the grain here, did not enjoy this puzzle. While the theme rings true to each character, the theme clues does not actually help solve the others as they are all proper nouns. Having to recall Pavlov's and Willy's full name is not satisfying fill. This problem is further exasperated by the over use of proper nouns in this puzzle and several proper noun crossings. A much more satisfying theme clue would of helped hint to fill in the characters full names. A better puzzle does not have proper noun crossings. Glad others enjoyed but this one missed the mark for me.

The accra - rodan - naiad - bate - nena section of crossings was brutal for a Tuesday. I can sing the song in German but the singers name will never stick for me. Not sure why there is debate on the Natick of Evie / Vieira - you either know them or you don't. Not good design imo but for some I'm sure both are gimmies. Great theme though! Really enjoyed that part. This one crossed my proper noun threshold but glad others enjoyed. I would try to iron out some of the proper nouns in the future. Hope to see the author again.

Great theme - a little too proper noun heavy.

I agree needlessly heavy on proper nouns with not great crosses. I think some of those should of been and could of been worked out and certain sections dragged this puzzle down a grade. For those who will scoff, take a look at Anwar / Adue - crossing a proper noun with a lesser known term I think is poor early week design. There's a multiple examples of this Nene / Edna, Mandel / Cel. Great theme, great master clue, and still enjoyed. Critique is important. Making crosswords is not easy but let's not brigade those who are just giving their two cents just because it's not completely positive. Looking forward to more.

Liked the theme, clever to include two in each word. Seemed hard for a Tues, if we could elide some of those proper nouns off future puzzles I'd appreciate it.

Struggled. Turns out thrill seeker, trick shots, sheath swords, Modelo beer, drains for sinks, are no go's. Have this discussion all the time, I still think better puzzles have more specific / tighter clues, and I'll die on that hill :) - I know some solvers love this type of challenge though. Maybe cryptics are more for me. . . Love (get it?) a holiday theme, so kudos there. Happy Valentine's Day to all! Forward.

I wish there was a button that just gave all the unfilled proper nouns. Kudos to any authors who can make puzzles with 4 or less names, this week seems proper noun heavy so far. Did enjoy the theme!

Have never heard of ad hominem but theme is clever if you got that. Otherwise was untouchable for me as crosses just did not fall into place. May just be tired this morning. Loved the clueing of eye test. The suns clueing was odd to me, not sure how is it familiarly, isn't that just the team name? Adding rois to the flashcards, have seen that several times now. Are ogres really so monsterous? I always saw them as allegories for outcasts. Usually just misunderstood. I've seen the wonders it can make by reaching out to someone. A basic friendly gesture and a chance can make a world of a difference. I hope we all try to give the ogres in our life a chance and the benefit of the doubt. But be cautious, not all are shrek, some ogres will make you into soup if I recall my fairy tales correctly.

I had a different interpretation of the theme, was trying to make the letters the same on the parallel clues. This theme just did not click satisfyingly. I'm a little surprised about maximum and abysm being controversial. Maximum I though was straightforward and these puzzles dig into obscure words regularly, so abysm seems on brand. Tried hard to make labyrinth work with Pan's, wasn't sure how to spell it. All in all I would say typical Weds puzzle, interesting to see what triggers different solvers.

I found lone eagle to be a poor clue, as bald eagle also fits and is much more common term. This mixed with multiple proper nouns on the SW side made an otherwise strong puzzle cumbersome. I provide this feedback constructively as I do appreciate it is hard to make puzzles. God bless America.

Brutal NW corner. One rule I thought I picked up on is that an answer is only abbreviated if the clue also has an abbreviation. For 1D though no abbreviation and is AMMO. Is AMMO a word? Dictionary just gives as ammunition. Maybe not a good rule? I liked cans better for that one.

Not Monday difficulty, really dislike the proper nouns.

Lone eagle is bad. SW corner killed me.

Great theme! Really enjoyed and not too proper noun heavy. Got most of this one but ersatz x etre and iroc x rotgut x otoh were fatal for me. I've heard of gut rot after a late night but not rot gut, does not sound appealing either way. On one hand, OTOH, well I've just ever seen. OTOH going to start using regularly :)

Did not know alit - of course it was crossed with a proper noun. Would of edited that section but otherwise liked. Solid theme.

Boff was interesting to say the least . . . Someone mentioned the overuse trend of adding e to words, looks like estop predates the internet so nice one. Are eider and Minolta, words to add to my crossword flashcards? Have never heard off, as they did not make the writeup wondering if these are common? Would love any suggestions for these as well - have Elon, Uvea, epee, Apse, asp, and elis so far. Happy Monday to all.

Is Harpo crosswordese? Coincidentally ran into a similar clue in a NYT Weds crossword book that I just started. Wondering if it's also him (just "Marx brother" in that one). May add to the flashcards. Googled Harpo - fun fact he was involved in smuggling messages on behalf of a US ambassador in the USSR, quite the life! I'll remember his name but not sure about the other brothers, hoping Karl doesn't also have siblings.

I thought hard for a Tuesday, been working through a Weds book and think with fill like tincts, agate, breadfruit, this would fit in. Liked the theme. Got aper and otoe so at least my crosswordese is developing slightly. For 13A, is there anything that shows it should be abbreviated? Eventually got it as CAPN but I hesitated as it thought it needed to be a full word.

I despise edsels, there are much bigger failures from the 50s. There are 100s of discontinued cars over the years, not sure why this one is so notable that we are supposed to get it just clued as a failure of the 50s. How about we use McCarthyism for that clue next time.

Ftroop should of been removed, I know not easy to remove as noted but that's what makes it hard to make a crossword.

Can anyone explain Apse clue? Not making sense. Also is moog general knowledge? Surprised neither made the write up but maybe I'm missing something?

Is Larry the basketball player? Or is there a puppet I'm not aware of?

Tried to make kabob work way too long. Liked the theme. Ate at doesn't really come to mind for me when I think of corroded. I think of corrosion as a build up on top of the metal like on an old car battery, not eroding it away, google seems to suggest it can be both? Any chemists on here? Regardless great reminder to check your coffee makers for corrosion!

I'll echo the sentiment that this one did not seem like a Tuesday in difficulty. Humbling experience for me as a solver who thought they finally mastered Tuesdays. I liked the theme once I saw it but half time made me try to have the first word be a word associated with time. Haven't seen this theme yet so perhaps if I'd seen it before I would of got it. Skor / taro / epaulet / spoor / rennet - I would not have said any of these were words prior to this puzzle. I did the auto solve for these and don't regret it. Let me know if these are supposed to be freebies. Nice to learn Annie was based on a comic.

Thought theme was a fun way to solve proper nouns. I wish more puzzles would have a theme for their proper nouns, even if it's not a main theme. But small nitpick with the themer, I think manchild would of been much cleaner and more common of a phrase. But perhaps manbaby is a regional? Still enjoyed!

Harder for a Monday but overall clever uses of words for the earth day theme. A little sad to see this puzzle is controversial or triggering to some. The discourse is unfortunately representative of the current times. I will critique the proper noun crossings - think these should of mostly been worked out. Diets fad also felt very clunky to me, is that actual proper grammar? Diet fads sounds better to me. Also I don't think you need to call out the word ladder but perhaps that makes it more Monday friendly. Happy Earth Day all.

Thought it was a solid Tuesday. Liked the theme. Have not heard of the actor or the bank so that cross was hard. I've just been writing ":)" lately in any proper noun crosses and then auto fill. It's been a fun way to finish vs throwing in random letters.