Jay
California
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California
Filled everything in. No music. Flyspecked multiple times. No music. Changed numbers to letters and then back to numbers. No music! Finally I count all the K’s. Waitamminit … there’s way more than 14 … Music. :)
@History Teacher No reasonable person would think that every single Muslim woman in the world wears one. Life is never that simple.
I love it when they’re on the hard side.
I’m a 35+ year vegetarian. But I still like to indulge in a meaty crossword.
What if a puzzle is puzzling? Isn’t that the whole point?
I prefer a touch more despair.
I couldn’t figure out ALL YOUR EGGS. I knew that had to be the answer, but I couldn’t get over that part of the puzzle being the only rebus. That is the price I pay for being too much of a stickler for consistency. Next time I’ll try to remember that rules are sometimes meant to be broken.
Loved every moment of that.
No rebuses. Now nobody will have anything to complain about.
PB Saturday. Can the NYT please dial up the difficulty a bit? These puzzles have been all too easy of late. (Famous last words)
It’s definitely a natick, and a hard one. It was my last solve before hearing music. But despite only vaguely knowing Mario and having my last math class in high school, I still managed to fill things in up to the last square, which yielded to an alphabet run. Phew.
Agreed. A proper mental workout.
Part of figuring these things out is being exposed to all the different ways they can trick you. Last year I may have given up on this one too. But not this time!
@Eliz I agree. The writer’s disappointment is their own, and doesn’t need to be shared with the rest of the world. If I were the puzzle’s constructor, it would be disappointing to have one’s work assessed in such a way. If it’s good enough to put in the NYT, then it should be good enough for the columnist to write about without such negativity.
I appreciate the effort. My eyes beg to differ.
Agreed. The bars are meaningless without a standard measurement.
Defeated by SNARFING. The streak is dead. Long live the new streak.
It’s been a rough week, with Thursday, Friday, and Saturday all taking about an hour to complete. But music was heard, the streak continues, and the bruises will eventually heal.
Not a PB, but well under my average. It wasn’t the workout I usually expect from a Thursday.
Thank god I got the music on the last fill in. If I had to fly speck this thing, I would have melted down into tears. And I’m not a crier.
PB. The kind of puzzle you fill in as fast as your fingers allow.
Humbling. I guess I needed it. Didn’t come close to finishing this.
Started slow, but ended fast. Easy, breezy Friday.
Is it just me, or was that way too easy? New PB.
Aurae/Ferrule was my last catch as well. And I’m glad I found it, otherwise a lot of work would have been in vain … and I probably would have cried.
I have to disagree. The challenge is figuring it out. This one was a full hour over my average. But there are times when the average means nothing and it’s all about finishing the puzzle. This one definitely made me work for it. But it was extra rewarding to hear that music play. That kind of relief has never been felt over a Monday puzzle.
Agreed. There’s no such thing as a bad kitty.
Same experience for me. Felt like I was going nowhere until I solved in less than average time.
Simply too easy for a Saturday.
I stopped working last night telling my wife that this might be a streak ender. For some reason I just couldn’t see it. A good night’s sleep and it all fell into place.
I hate, hate, hate flyspecking a Sunday.
Since Friday was like a Tuesday, it’s perfectly fitting that Saturday was like a Wednesday.
PB for a Tuesday … er, I mean Friday.
I thoroughly enjoyed figuring this one out.
Perfect Saturday. Utter despair, achingly slow progress, but still managing to hear the music. Really had my doubts on this one.
Agreed. Love to work that mind a bit.
That was the last one I got before the music. I spent a lot of time looking elsewhere for the mistake.
Easy. I did set a PB … my third PB set this week. It’s a Christmas miracle!
Agreed. You have to anticipate misdirection and the edges of acceptability.
That was my final solve as well.
So much fun! An easy fill up to the final missing word, and a lovely brain tease to figure it out. Perfection!
Either NYT has dialed back the difficulty, or I’m getting better at these things.
Oh yeah. Right there. Don’t stop.
I had a cat on my chest and fumbled in at 22 minutes. I swear I have to re-enter everything twice. The app, though convenient, is definitely not a way to solve a puzzle quickly.
1, means that black square is touching one MINE (bomb). 2, means that black square is touching two MINEs.