Ron

Just this: YABBER?? ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Way too tough for a Tuesday. The crosses NERTS/TIMON, OSRIC/ASLAN, and CHIANG/AGGRO were all potential Naticks. ⭐️

So I finished (finally) but no happy music. Ah, POkERSUIT was wrong! Yes, but still no music. Ah, TAiBO was wrong! Yes, but still no music. Ah, MiDSEASON was wrong! Yes, but still no music. Was UPPIty wrong? Yes, but UPPISH?? Too many Naticks and a lame theme, IMHO. ⭐️⭐️

An unexpectedly tricky Monday! I had to come to the comments to understand the THEBIRD and OLIVER entries. After I noticed the confluence of AWAIT ANAL ORAL, I couldn't unsee it. 😮 DOPE puzzle! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I gave up after about 30 mins and consulted the column where I discovered my issue: ABYSM rather than ABYSS. I suspected MAXIMUs should've ended with an M, but ABSYM?? Other difficulties were the crosses STEWIE/ELIE (both obscure names), HAWKE/KIP (both proper nouns, the latter obscure), and LIMN(?)/WANNA(slang). To cap it off there was the SE corner with MYST (obscure) and "Host" = ARMY. ? Too tough for a Wednesday and a lame theme. ⭐️

Sorry, couldn't resist. My first thought for "Digital provocateur" was UROLOGIST. 😏 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Too tough for a Tuesday IMHO: PROGROCK, GOOGLEABLE (!), NEYO, UMHI crossing OHGEE 😖, ASCII, etc. Wording of the revealer is confusing. "After 1-Across, shelf accessories … or what can be placed around ..." implies that ENDS can be placed around ..., not BOOK. ⭐️⭐️

A more timely entry at 91A would be FORD TO *USA* DROP DEAD (Ford being Ontario Premier Doug) 😊 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The trickiness, the animation at the end, the Easter egg of all the "classes," clever clues, on and on. I'll one-up Caitlin:: A++ !! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This has to be my least favorite Sunday of all time, and that's saying a lot. First, no theme, then LOTS of no-knows, many of them crossing: - ATARIGAME ("green paint"), TORINO (as clued), MOTORPLEX, MIDINETTE, SWISSROLL, PIAMATERS, PEDRO, SMOLT, WONG, GUS, MARTA - COLLEEN, IMMIX, and BET (BuT also works) all crossing CORTEX - SHINNED, HECATE, RAKI and ETTU (a Latin phrase with an English clue) all crossing NAKEDSUN - TOMB (I thought wOMB was more clever!), ARIE, YOLANDA, SKOR, and SMART (as clued) all crossing ORANGEVODKA (green paint) You get the idea ... Two clues/entries really tripped me up: GAMMA -- My career was in electromagnetics but I'd never heard of this! It is a unit that is virtually *never* used. Plus, I discovered it is a unit of field *strength*, not *flux*. There IS a difference. MISTERBIG -- In my Czech culture, "head cheese" is a cold-cut made of the snout, ears, etc. of a hog. ⭐️

As a retired nuclear fusion researcher, I was struck by the title of this one! I was led astray, however, by the first two rebuses I encountered : DH and DT. I assumed these represented hydrogen, deuterium, and tritium — the atoms involved in nuclear fusion — and that all the other rebuses would be the same letters!

Very late to the party, especially being on the West Coast, so I’ll make it brief: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Before I fully understood the theme, I was contemplating a "Covid of Greek mythology." 😄 Anyone else? Quintessential Thursday trickery! Kudos Msr. Kwong! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I have to object to the Natick EVIE/VEIERA for a Tuesday puzzle: 1) Both are names, 2) unusual spelling of the latter, a TV personality. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Not much of a fan of this one. As many have noted, "Rod-shaped" is a distraction and entirely unnecessary in the clue for 18A. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Gotta complain about the two crosses of names: DELANEY/LARTER and REEM/ROSAMUND. Since no theme, much less any tricks, not my favorite Sunday. ⭐️⭐️

Yesterday THC, today CBD. 🤪 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Great puzzle, but the cross PERETTI/TAOI was evil. I had to run the alphabet. Am I the only one who wanted Westernmost (shortened to WEsTEST 😣) at 7D? too long? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Re 67A, "lone star" is also the state's rating. 😉 Clever theme! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was a complete NAIF, not getting the theme, and filled in only one letter in each circle. Thanks to the software for giving me the solve! 😊 Great puzzle! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I started the puzzle tonight to get a head start on the second most difficult of the week. Before I knew it, I had finished in record time! Was this a Tuesday puzzle misplaced on a Friday?? ⭐️

Haven't finished yet, but just had to interject. WAY too difficult for a Wednesday, in particular, the NW corner. ⭐️

OH BOO HOO, what a struggle in the NE! SlaM (as in poetry) before SWIM with loliRICH (Yeah, I know) before WERERICH and ARm before ARK. Also argON with airbus before IBERIA, lena instead of STYX, and baSES instead of RISES. Key to unraveling it was grokking ITINA followed shorty with IBERIA and UNITS. YOO HOO! Love all the Os! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

First, I figured out how the downs completed the across theme entries, then that they were actual words, THEN that they were numbers, and FINALLY that they were in countdown sequence! Masterful construction, Mr. Vu! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Tough Sunday. I was sure something was wrong with THNEEDVILLE and/or AULII, but no. My mistake was with KNoX/TONoME. End of a streak ... Clever theme! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I'll be short and sweet. Favorite puzzle ever! No trickery but lots of clever theme clues and fantastic grid art! (And being a martini fanatic also helps. 😊) Superb debut, Mr. Curry! And kudos to NYT software folk! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Note six of them!)

I definitely went INOVERTIME to solve this one. So many no-knows like WALTHER PPK, SQUEE, SQUIRCLE, LOME, SOHO (as clued), etc. My last section to fill in was the confluence of LOME, BLOC, TEXACOSTAR, BOOKONCD, and SOHO. My principle hangup was with having rOME, BrOs, and BOOKiNCh (I know, nonsensical). Oh, I also had COXnS and iveS instead of ANNS for too long. Pleasant memories of playing MADLIBS as a teenager! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Like some others, apparently, I outsmarted myself by catching the trick early on and "braiding" too early, e.g., TeoSHOE, MOevON, etc. IMO, the editors could've provided some more guidance. Otherwise a very clever puzzle. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I'll be quick. Fantastic Sunday! Not only because the themers were all grid spanners (or close) but also because the fingers were in the right order! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Let me go on record as one of the many who were shocked by PUTIN appearing in the grid! 😵 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Is it Thursday already?! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The cross of PLOTZED (?) and ZILLIONTH (bILLIONTH? mILLIONTH?) was too tough for a Tuesday. ⭐️⭐️

Re photo of Resolute Desk in the Oval Office: Unrecognizable now ... ⭐️⭐️⭐️ P.S. I was in bands during middle and high schools and for one year in college and am an avid jazz fan. Not once have I heard baritone saxes referred to as a BARISAXES.

A tough Monday for me. Started out immediately with awed rather than RAPT, followed by the TYPOS LIon (LIAR), MATZaH, SKOl ("Soul Patch Kids?" Sounds good to me!), and like Sam, OPARs. Found one mistake at a time before finally hearing the happy music. Clever construction, Mssrs. Chalfin and Kingsley! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Unlike Caitlin, my hangup was in the NW. The clue for 1D was pure evil. I had vULgaR for a time. And count me in as one who first had "embarassed" before OUTCLASSED. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

ALLFORONE and ENOROFLLA?? 😉 Finally got the solve. Whew! The confluence of OUTEAT, CFO, and TOAT took me forever to sort out. The first was particularly difficult since I wanted the entry to end with ER. Then, after I got the revealer, I looked for ONEs and ALLs in the *entries* before I grokked on the clues, as Deb did, I presume. Clever theme and great debut, Sara! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A few missteps: EyE before EWE, frAU before BEAU 😊, lApAz then SANtA (Fe, thinking that this might be a rare Saturday with rebuses) before SANA'A. I really like this one. Tough but doable, no "double Naticks," many clever clues, etc. And I love the X, Y, Z ladder at the SE corner! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Count me as one of many who thought the clue for 3D referred to a *person* named Levy. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Anyone else parse 20A as SPAME MAIL? 😊 Enjoyable puzzle! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

PAH?? Pah! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Only a coincidence that 37D appears right after the Iowa caucus? 😉 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

RAOUL Walsh -- not to be confused with Raquel Welch. 😊 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Boy was that a toughie! So much slang such as FRIEND DATE, BOO, BOOM ROASTED, HAD NO OOMPH, WARM FUZZIES, BOOTY, YEESH! Then there were the no-knows NAZCA LINES, the spelling of WOOKIEES, CRISPY BACON (as clued), IMOVIE, BELCH (!), etc. The rest simply had very obtuse clues. But it's what I expect for a Saturday1 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thought leaving the "holes" blank was not allowed since the clock kept running, so I tried PLAN B and entered HOLEs in each one. Still no happy music. Consulted the column and tried some commenters' suggestions but no luck. Finally, I simply looked for flyspecks. Voila: CASetTTE! Other than this goofup, I thoroughly enjoyed the puzzle. Very clever, Mr. Huynh! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Daniel and Andrea left out the biggest grift of all: TRUMP ORGANIZATION (I guess it's too long. 😉) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Frankly, I'm getting a little tired of such colloquialisms as YES AND, I MEAN COME ON, and (in prior puzzles) UHUH, OHOH, etc. I mean, come on! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

My big misdirect was at the start when I noticed that THEATER could be constructed with 5D taking a right turn into 21A. Thus. I thought the title "Gimme a Break" implied such "breaks" in the entries. I finally got it at the intersection of MEER(KAT)S and TEST(KIT)CHEN. Superb puzzle! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

nICE puzzle except for the unfortunate 41A smack-dab in the middle ... ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Two great puzzles in a row! I was delayed in my solve by having ReM at 22D. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Rebuses on a Wednesday -- Yay! Never heard of the term SHRINK RAY applying to "downsize," though. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️