Neil

Regarding the natick in the SW corner — I feel that the editors should not allow crossed proper names as a general rule. This is the Sunday version of the NYT crossword, the crème de la crème. I feel like the standards should be a bit higher. I respect anyone that can create a crossword, and I do not mean to take a shot at the constructor, but I do feel like, perhaps, the editors should step in at times. I admit that I really don’t know anything about what the editors actually do.

Super natick 86D 97A. Never thrilling to see those crossing proper names…. Otherwise a fun solve.

Someone may have commented on this already, so I apologize if this is a repeat — I don’t have the patience to read all the comments so far. “Aortal” is a terrible clue. I’m a physician and we literally never say that. I’m sure someone will chime in to tell me that it is, indeed, a word. That may be technically true, but we only ever use the term “aortic.” Never heard “aortal” in 25 years. Otherwise, a good puzzle — thanks!

28:31 faster than average. This means one of two things: 1. This puzzle was really easy 2. My average times are horrifyingly long Or most likely, both.

Fun puzzle — and the first time I’ve broken that elusive (for me) 23” mark on a Sunday. Close many times, but finally did it. 😎

Good puzzle overall, fair and fun cluing IMO. My only gripe is the “Nuclear Fusion” title. I know it was addressed in the commentary but it still seemed awkward to me, and a bit of a stretch. The rebus part was fair but a tad inelegant in that there was no higher level pattern to the rebus entries.