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Hats off to Ms. Park – this puzzle was a brilliant brain-bender! Deb, I needed this First Pass Friday today. It's reassuring to see that even experienced solvers like you found this puzzle challenging. My initial pass mirrored yours exactly, which was both validating and humbling given how little we both managed to fill in at first. I appreciate your candid approach, especially your willingness to use the autocorrect function and try different letters when at a loss. It's a great reminder that solving isn't about proving how smart you are, but about enjoying the process and learning. As I slowly pieced together the answers, the puzzle gained momentum. Those 'aha' moments when several clues suddenly clicked were incredibly rewarding, leading to a deeply satisfying finish – even though it was one of my longest Friday solve times! While incredibly difficult, this puzzle was fair and immensely satisfying. It's constructions like these that really stretch our solving skills and keep our minds sharp. Challenging, but in the best possible way!
@Logan So happy to have you here! I'm thrilled to hear that the puzzles are bringing you so much happiness already. I've been solving since I was a kid, and it is indeed one of those hobbies that only gets more fun over time. Here's to many more streaks - and may any streak breaks be gloriously unbothered, the crossword will always forgive you. Happy New Year!
You know it's a good puzzle when you have multiple *click - aHA!* moments, and this one was full of those. Crunchy, fair, brilliant cluing, and I feel smarter after completing it. Magnificent construction, Kate!
@Blue The fist line of The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost is "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood."
Very happy to see a challenging Saturday puzzle today! OXFAM crossing with AFORTIORI nearly ruined me, but I eventually plugged that F in and heard the happy music. And I learned two new words out of the deal!
@joel88s As a Gen Xer, I fall smack dab in the middle of the two generations and knew neither.
@Vaer Not only do I adore Peter Falk (and Columbo), The In-Laws is my favorite movie of all time. Many people understand the "serpentine" reference since it's been re-used often in contemporary pop culture vehicles, but I feel like many people don't truly know where it comes from. Once of the greatest comedies of all time in my opinion.
@Francis I think @Bandit is jokingly referring to a celebrity crush, not trying to convince us of a save-the-date. I call Bill Skarsgård my future husband all the time (Bill just hasn't gotten the memo yet).
@mirle234 can usually take or leave most musicals, but The Fantasticks has had my heart since I first saw it as a kid. I’ve probably seen it around 20 times over the past 40 years, and whenever I hear about a nearby production, I do my best to go see it! My dad always called it "off-off-OFF-Broadway" :)
@mirle234 ahh of course! I did briefly consider that it was a form of "rend" but my brain was having trouble connecting the dots. Thank you!
I love love LOVED this puzzle from start to finish. The long spanners were fantastic, and the cluing struck that perfect balance of being tricky yet fair. It took me multiple passes before I felt like I had a real foothold, and even then it made me work for every section - in the best way. A perfect Saturday puzzle. Thank you, Mr. Diehl!
@James Mattina (Constructor) Beautiful debut, James! I look forward to more of your work.
I truly adored this puzzle ❤️
I really enjoyed the theme today, but I’m stumped on how SPLIT works as the answer for ‘Rent.’ I know you can split rent with a roommate, but that doesn’t seem to fit the pattern of the other theme entries. What am I missing?
@Rita @Anne I'm confused what puzzle this is in reference to?
@Calhouri "...I'm not unwell, thank you"
@SBK I watched the remake a few years back, as duty, and I can say that it's bad 😆 they changed the story SO much, and even renamed the characters, boooo! @G what a cool memory! It was my dad's favorite movie so I saw it a ton as a kid, but rewatching it as an adult was a delight since I gained an entirely new insight to its brilliance.
@Joe same. The Beasties continue to get me through parts of my adulthood as well.
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