Amanda

I caught on to "TOGAE" pretty quickly but really struggled to accept "OKRAS" as the plural form of okra.

I'm always a fan of clues that speak to each other and this puzzle delivered some great ones! Squealed and squealer. Two Cannonball Adderly clue, lining up on the left side of the board. Two Odyssey references on top of one another. Most populous and least populous Canadian provinces. A good puzzle doesn't need to be this extra, but it just shows the constructor's commitment to detail. It's not just a fill that supports the theme–it's a fill with it's own intentions.

I had "ALIBI" for far too long. "ALIAS" helped me nearly finish the puzzle, but I got stuck on "HAA" and "WAIST" (who isn't watching their waist?).

Loved it! Thought it was a rebus at first when THEIRONLDAY and TROUBADOURS didn't fit, but then clocked the highlighted squares were the key. I got stuck a few times after that–I can't believe I kept reading [How many people walk along the beach?] as [What number of people have walked along the beach?]–but I got quite the dopamine rush once things started slotting together. Very much enjoyed and gained a new word with ALOP!

Loved this! However, on my first pass through the clues, I solved 60-Across as STEAMBOATWILLIE and then saw that MICKEYMOUSE fit in 110-Across and assumed I had the theme locked... but then I thought, "Mickey Mouse isn't devious." It took about 30-seconds from there to fill in MEL BLANC, ROADRUNNER, BEEP BEEP, and WILE E. COYOTE and then I noticed the asymmetry of the puzzle and realizing the shapes made me laugh out loud. Such a satisfying solve!

I had DEPOSIT instead of DEEPSIX for the longest time which was very frustrating, but I suppose some of the fun in cross-wording is learning new terms!

While I was doing the puzzle, I assumed this was a high school kids EXTREMELY cute way of asking a girl to prom. It was only after I finished that I realized... it's October. If there are any HS kids reading this--I would have said yes if this is how I was asked, but also I guess a daily NYTimes crossword solver is a particular type of specifmen.

This puzzle made me groan in the best way. EMORYBOARD nearly took me out--I had the EM and thought it was EMAIL but that would have be too straight forward. I literally had to get every thing but the "Y" to make the connection and once I did I had to take a moment and just scream into my hands because of how good of a clue it was and how long it took me to figure it out. Those are the best solves--the ones that take ages but when they fall into place you realize it could be no other way.