Timesnlatte

@David this was exactly what a Saturday NYT should be. Frankly, inexperienced solvers shouldn’t be able to finish a Saturday without help.

@Matt I completely agree. The NYTXW has a reputation as the gold standard of puzzles,m. The dumbing down of the weekend puzzles in particular in recent years has been obvious. It is absolutely an editorial decision - see last Friday’s column where the constructor gave several tricky - and clever! - clues for SURPRISE PARTY that were rejected for a pretty easy one. As subscribers,we have the right to complain about that. My issue isn’t with the constructors, but with whoever has made the decision to not keep Fridays and Saturdays to their previous standards.

@Heidi BUT THEY SEND OUT AN EMAIL EVERY FRIDAY FOR “EASY MODE”!!! Sorry for the rant, but it’s frustrating. Why do that and then make the Friday puzzle too easy?

@Ιασων I’m not after a PB, I look forward to a Friday challenge. This wasn’t one. Clever puzzle better suited to earlier in the week.

@Howard N. Was “dessert sandwiches” yours? Bravo, if so!

@Nancy J. That is a great idea! Also toggles to the “easy clues” for Fridays and Saturdays could keep everyone happy!

Why not use the easier cluing option to make Fridays and Saturdays medium for the newer solvers and keep the main puzzles the challenge they used to be?

@Steve L I look forward to a Friday and Saturday challenge. Why do they bother to come up with “easy mode” for Fridays and then make the Friday puzzles as easy as a Monday?

@Madalyn I agree. I look forward to Friday and Saturday being a challenge. This puzzle, while fun, was not. Better suited to a Tuesday.

@Linda Jo It was a nice hat tip to the SPORCLE Con for trivia buffs that is taking place this week.

@Nat K Me, three! This was great, perfect Saturday challenge.

@Nancy J.YES! They already send out an email for Friday “easy mode” (although Fridays have already lost their punch) why not for the entire weekend. Please, keep the end of week difficulty up to the former standard and offer an “easy mode” option for the beginners.

@Skeptical1 I came to say that as well.

@Annabelle Yes, that is how it used to be before selling puzzle subscriptions became a major part of the NYT's business model. Since then, they have dumbed down the later week puzzles. Experienced solvers have been complaining about this for a long time now. Additionally, the focus on finishing quickly doesn't help. Many of us like to spend our weekends slogging over difficult puzzles and don't care about our solving speeds.

@Andrzej MISSES are what they used to call the standard even numbered sizes. Juniors are the younger cuts in the odd number sizes. They were (are?) cut slimmer in the hips. I don’t know if they still exist.

@B Honestly, I think the beat the timer mentality is why the Friday and Saturday puzzles have gotten so much easier. It used to be something to do throughout the day, especially Saturday and Sunday. Now it's about beating the clock.

As I said yesterday, now that there’s an ability to use a different set of clues, please consider offering end of week puzzles at the previous level of difficulty and giving the option of easy/medium clues for those who love easy puzzles.

@MmmmHmm Saturdays are supposed to be hard. Really hard. Beginners should expect to finish them without help.

@abelsey yes, and I have seen complaints that we don’t organize it for them…

@ktel completely agree and it has been that way for a few weeks now. Makes it far less enjoyable. Let’s hope tomorrow’s is an actual challenge.

@Jim I’ve been doing the puzzle for decades. The end of week puzzles have gotten much easier, especially in the past year or so. Beginners shouldn’t expect to finish a Saturday without help. Fridays should be hard. If you look in the archives, you’ll see what I mean. It’s about selling subscriptions, unfortunately.

@Mean Old Lady I found it on the Washington Post’s website for free. <a href="https://games.washingtonpost.com/games/stans-daily-crossword" target="_blank">https://games.washingtonpost.com/games/stans-daily-crossword</a> @retired, thanks for the suggestion! That took some wresting with!

@Matt KITKAT worked for me.

@Erik P 62, and I found it way too easy for a Friday.

@Amber yes you can. Click “more” and then “rebus” and it lets you enter multiple letters

@Steve good, then I’m sure you’ll be happy to be a member of the ALLUMNAE association

@Wayne Harrison Fridays and Saturdays now being way too easy is the experience of most veteran solvers. Beginners shouldn’t expect to solve Saturday puzzles without help.

@CG The Times has an “easy clue” option on Fridays. Not sure how to access it because I don’t use it. But they have the ability to publish more than one set of clues for a puzzle.

@Times Rita one can only hope.

@Kevin Davis it’s not a win when you look forward to ending the week with a challenge.

@Mark if you complain to tech support they may give you your streak back.

@AP Completely agree - figured out the rebus far too early because it was given away in the midi.

@Wyra I finished in my average Monday time. The fill was super easy.

@Striker they have the right idea with easy mode clues, they just need to execute them better. It would be great to have easy mode options for the entire weekend, while keeping the pre-app level of difficulty for the main puzzles. Perhaps make it so you can toggle the clues back and forth, if that’s technically possible. Keep the gold standard level of difficulty available to those of us who want it, give the newbies the easier clues while they learn.