Weak

Easiest ezersky puzzle ever. I couldn’t believe the constructor name when I solved it. It’s a Christmas miracle.

My time doesn’t reflect this. But this was the hardest puzzle for me in 2024. By far. I was ‘annoyed’ I struggled so much for a ‘Wednesday’. But I loved it. Nothing came easy. And what came easy was wrong every time. When I finally cracked the revealer, it all clicked. I can’t even remember or list everything I did wrong. But isn’t CASE a good answer for “making or breaking?’ Thought the mountain range was URAL. But no, it’s a river. But I guess I’ll nitpick and say GESTS doesn’t seem like tales of daring. But maybe I don’t know what daring means. I BONE in stock? Or bones? TYPEO was just a great “those letters don’t make sense together” answer. Anyway. The theme was clever. I enjoyed the phrases and the clues and the fill. Thanks constructors!

Was looking for a quick Thursday. This wasn’t it. But it was clever. I really struggled with it, more than I should have, given I figured out the theme pretty early. I was really hamstrung by fill that I thought were gimmies. Like paver for MASON. Match for AGREE. Bland for ICIER. that said. If I was more relaxed and not trying to power solve. I think I would have enjoyed it more. But that’s on me. But gold, at least. I’m not a fan at all of IBEENHAD. It’s the expression, “I’ve been had?” And DVRs aren’t really features of smart TVs, are they? I don’t think like a Samsung, has a built in DVR. It’s more like a service than a feature. Methinks. But I think some clever non themer cluing. It was definitely “Thursday worthy.” Thanks Simeon.

Very smooth. Very approachable. Weintraubian. This puzzle filled itself in. I kinda wished someone who was new to xwords was watching me, so I could impress them with my incredible solving skills. I'm conditioned to enter DoH over DUH. And first put HoHOS (shoutout Santa), over HIHOS. END.OF.RANT and STAYCATION were the highlights for me. This puzzle was so nice, I have nothing else to say. I'm satisfied. Thank you, Jacob.

Was it too easy? Maybe. Was it brilliant. 100%. To come up with that solution set. Just [chef’s kiss]. Daniel. If you made the clues harder. I think this woulda been POY candidate. I really really appreciated the work it took for your come to with this.

Harder than Friday or Saturday, methinks. Never heard of a pip outside of Gladys knight or dice. Noisome and espial are new to me. And my phone autocorrect, as well. But great puzzle. I enjoyed this Wednesday. Thank you

The constructor notes are the gold star. What a great back story! Really really fun to read. I’m always gonna celebrate a crossword with sports. But the LARRY Bird clue seemed a bit off.

Not a fan of Sundays. Such a big grid. Too much time. Too hard to do on phones. But a harder Sunday. I am sure many appreciate, but not me. That said. A solid puzzle. Appreciated the double clues. More than the shaded trick. Made me work. Thank you. Maybe create something like this for a 15x15? But gotta say. Petrichor. What a great word. Very relatable for Californians. Some people I know really like the smell of gasoline. Is there a word for that. Other than weird?

Oh man. I’m bummed. But relieved Solved in 20 minutes. Spent next 30 or so minutes thinking about how the themers made sense. Punted, and decided to read the column. I can’t imagine trying to “sleep on it” to figure out the trick, only to see this was a “technical issue.” Woulda been a lot more frustrated than I am now. But the ultimate troll job was having additional ones in the constructor notes and not underlining those! Pretty sure, the column could handle underscoring. So sadly. Too easy for a Thursday. And not fun because of the glitch. Regrettable for the constructors. Just my opinion.

Really great concept. Very well executed. The best part is that there is very little chance of getting the long entries from knowing a couple letters. It makes you work a bit harder to get ask the jokes. SOISIT. “They don’t want me to stand” HIMAIMUP. “Greetings, feel free to injure each other” Too bad no constructor notes.

That was an incredibly tough puzzle. If I was live streaming the solve. The video would be 1 hour, 19 minutes long. And there would be a lot of time with no action. There was a lot of faith required in this puzzle. Putting in unsure long crosses just to connect to other parts of this “5 grids in one”. But I’m a better man for golding this bad boy. Very proud of myself tbh. Ryan McCarty. You’ve made me a better solver. Later bro.

I came here expecting to read every comment saying this was too easy. Pleasantly surprised to see that is not the case. (Didn’t expect the crossword nerds would be so up in arms about the singularity of NFL ownership). In any case. I must have really really been on the same wavelength. Because I had all six long entries figured out almost immediately. (Versus sussing out the long entry from the crosses). Though. Using.Your.noggin. Was my initial guess for 11down. TIL jethro Tull is not just a music band. Thanks for the breezy Friday.

I’m not a big fan of proper names being used in crosswords, in general. But a theme of proper nouns. Plus fill that also required (in my opinion) hard to spell proper nouns. Not a recipe for fun (for me). If you gave me $100. I could not spell EBSEN, LAOTSE, SAUTERNE all correctly in one try. Unfortunately. I only knew three of the theme names. So that didn’t help. Not ‘mad’. Got through it. But just to get through it. So hopefully. I’m the only one that didn’t find this ‘fun’. But in two hours. NFLredzone. And I will be properly entertained!!!

Hopefully. We’ll get some good ones that take people back to meaningful times Always Love You, I Will Through The Grapevine, I Heard It Around, I Get You Babe, I Got Candy, I Want For Loving You, I Hate Myself

This was a great Wednesday for me. Interesting theme. Kinda a safe entry to Thursday. Many fill clues were misdirects, but not diabolical. I learned stuff -interesting but sad fact about concrete -never heard the word MEEMAW, and I guess I know how to spell it now. And of course, am saying it with sober country fried scent in my head -UTE is plural Homage to crossword stalwarts. OREO. And EMU. Alex touched all the bases on this one.

The fill was maybe a bit too easy for a Wednesday. But MY GOODNESS, the reveal was inspired. I can't believe HOKEYPOKEY was your starter. And you came up with the other two. Great way to make an entrance. Congrats on the debut Greg! I was an amateur to think McFlurry might be mint. Of course, it was OREO. Actually, I think the current mashup flavor is OREO Mint McFlurry. Nothing signals the coming of Spring more than a Mickey D's Shamrock Shake? amirite! (side note, that new Manga dipping sauce is pretty meh) So far this week, for me, each day's solve time has been faster than the previous day. By Sat, I may be sub 5 minutes! haha

Haven’t done the crosswords in a while. Actually still solving today’s. But had to stop and write “companionship” is the the greatest clue I’ve seen in a long long time. Didn’t read article or comments yet. But I hope my sentiment was repeated over and over in the comments. Back to solving. Btw. I figured out the revealer on the first starred clue I came across. [pats self on back]

This is the hardest puzzle I’ve done in a while. Actually I gave up. I couldn’t crack the SW. I just couldn’t give up swish (cry before a shot) for SMILE. ShEDS for SEEDS was at least a real word. Like I sad. I just couldn’t give up swish. That said. I thought the puzzle was a little too heavy on proper nouns. But now realizing the intricacy of the grid design. (Not sure why I didn’t notice it before). I think I would have been much for forgiving about anything, even a bunch of trash fill, given the ‘uniqueness?’ Of this grid design. I like Saturdays that humble me. The joy is in the struggle.

Very well crafted Friday. I really enjoyed it. It took me longer than I wanted, and I really thought about punting as I couldn't crack the SE. But then LORDY finally popped into my brain, I was able to finish. Well below my 'average,' but higher than my past year Friday average (whatever that number is). I actually liked that the long entries were comprised of so many words (oh it's on now, shook things up, on a roll, up to no good). I not sure if that made it harder or easier to solve, though. Such a quality puzzle in my opinion. If only SHAG and BOOTYCALLS could have crossed. "Oh it's on now" could be a related term, if you squinted hard enough. Perhaps a RAWR started the whole escapade. Do the kids still say "Netflix and chill?" Thank you for the fun puzzle, Hemant!

231 comments. I’ll post first. This was too too hard for me. 90 minutes. But I didn’t want to give up. “Take one” versus ONEEACH cost me 30 minutes. Especially with LES Blues working as a cross for both. I know I am not the only one. In fact, I won’t be surprised if that is the top comment. This is a great Saturday under normal circumstances. But I wanted to gold star this month and what a way to torture me. Last Saturday of the month. why couldn’t they print this next week? I would have gladly done a Google on TIMREID or Nicholas ROEG. But today, I had to fight hard for the gold. I lost like 5 pounds trying to finish this one. My only bright spot is that all my trouble spots were proper names. Today I learned it’s spelled free REIN. just aimed it was reign. I rarely use the term if ever, but I certainly have never written it. And now, of course, it seems obvious. This week, I always thought it was “righty tighty, lefty lucy” before the puzzle corrected me. I loved this, but I hated it. It’s sweet, but I’m salty. This was Saturday+. I should have required an extra subscription to access this one. Haha

I think this is a great starter puzzle for folks getting indoctrinated on Thursdays. Easy enough rebus to suss out. The same rebus every time. I’m spoiled. So I found it a bit anticlimactic. But reading the constructor notes gives me greater appreciation for the theme set. Shoutout to CASSETTE. Bittersweet memories of making and receiving mix tapes from high school /college romances. Fun fact. Not really a fact. Or fun. But the car I drove has a stock cassette player and 6 CD changer. There are still cassettes in my glove box. But I’m afraid to play them. I know they’ll be ripped to shreds.

Haven’t done the xwords in a while. I thought I had no chance with this one. Very little progress after 10 minutes. Then somehow COMTE popped into my head (uh, I think that’s a cheese?). Then the bottom somehow filled in. The top half was going nowhere. And then, even though I thought I went through every clue 10 times, somehow, I realized I never read the clue “Showrunner Rhimes”. But somehow, 20 minutes in, I finally saw the clue. And that’s all I needed to scream through the top half. I can’t be the only one this happens to. You go through all the acid and down cores multiple times, but late in the some, you see a clue you somehow skipped like 5 times. But it is a critical gimme that unlocks the puzzle. So I guess proper nouns saved me. COMTE and SHONDA. very nice Friday. The two vertical spanners were great. I alleviated the three S long entries: SEEABOVE, SELLSSHORT, STAYTUNED. Maybe a Friday + / Saturday - Thanks for the puzzle

Outstanding Saturday I loved the three levels of long crosses. I worked my way down. Top two thirds were done very quickly for me for a Saturday. That last level. Yikes. Like 30 minutes alone. But once I gave up on par as a golfers concern, for LIE. The bottom third fell in lies than a minute. The showed respect clue that needed an entry that started with a K confounded me to no end. I can’t imagine how hard it was to put this kind of grid together. I really appreciated solving it. Thank you Scott McMahon

For hardened and cynical veterans. This could be the most shining example of an early week masterpiece. Of course. Every rule of early week was broken. So there’s that. But man. What a cool reveal. When solving in the phone. Take that paper solvers!

I don’t know why. But I feel like it is easier to create a theme puzzle than a late week one. I’m probably wrong. In any case. One submission. One published puzzle. That is crazy bro. Congrats Bryan. I’m curious to know how many clues were yours. I really really struggled with this. And so many times almost succumbed to check puzzle. But I just kept pulling my hair out in that SW corner. I just couldn’t let go of beer for “cold one”. Until finally did. That said. Zero junk fill. Great cluing. This seems like a Friday from 10 years ago, level of difficulty. At least for me. This is the toughest Friday I’ve done in a while. Anyway. The football is finally restarting soon. So that weather delay was perfect for doing the puzzle. NFL is back!! Go ravens! Go niners!

This took me twice my average. I have never had so many answers I knew that were right, be wrong. They were in so many corners. Soulmate was my starter for the NE. Instead of TRUELOVE. Mealtray (then GIANTbra) for GIANTESS. I knew emu was probably wrong for MOA. but I’d like Oreo clues. There are always new ones showing up. Plus others I can no longer remember. So much ‘erasing’. But proud of myself for golding it. At 1:01:19.

I figured most comments would read this Saturday had zero bite. I guess it’s comforting to know that I’m part of the mob. Found NW difficult yesterday. And today, Wednesday-like. Far be it from me to question our editors, at least on things not related to clue rendering (underscores you say?), but there is no way the editors didn’t know this was crazy easy. Does that 13 part crow series have contract with Fridays? So the editors toss us a bone for Saturdays? Well that dog won’t hunt. Any puzzle can be made so much harder by more obscure clueing. This one needed some harder rewrites. That said. Loved the long entries! And the fun grid design. Loved “Olympic bars”. Only glue was maybe OOF. I know in being arrogant, but this grid deserved better than to be panned as “too easy.” January isn’t starting it too well for the editors, in my (nobody cares) opinion.

Sadly. So many comments read the same sentiment. “ What is the point of having a Thursday-level trick if it can be bypassed so easily? I am not sure who to blame for this.” Blame??? No one is to blame. If you FINISHED the puzzle without trying to SOLVE the puzzle. That’s on you. You should blame yourself for not trying to figure out the Thursday trick (brilliance in this case). Blame yourself people. For being so obsessed with trying to stop the timer, versus actually trying to figure out what was going on. It was Thursday, you should have known something was amiss. The only person that cheated you was…you.

Wow. The week I decided to jump back into daily crosswords. Tues was tough. And Wed (tonight), I had to solve to figure out the theme. But it was very impressive. No other ‘pips‘ in the rest of the puzzle. And now I’m thinking about craps. I got especially hung up on wetKISS. Then bigKISS. Then finally through the crosses, I got it. I considered check puzzle. Which for a “Friday+” level solver. Seemed humbling. I’m a big sports fan. But I couldn’t crack RESEEDED for the life of me. I’m not joking. These early week puzzles have been harder on me than the Friday and Saturday. But I love it. I may become a daily solver again (minus Sundays). For me, I thought the “start of many emotions” was a clever clue. Thank you Victor

Bro. PR. Bro I usually loathe Sundays because I solve on my standard size phone. But I’m old. So I have to zoom in, then once you fill in an answer the cursor jumps all over the place because the grid doesn’t fit on the screen. And honestly finding that incorrect cell is just torture on a 21x21 grid. Even when I’m flying. It still takes me 45 minutes. Today. A personal best / personal record. This will never be broken. Unless I start solving in a laptop, where I can type in answers. Today. I was BEEP BEEP. and that two tone shading in cells that comprise Wily ears, nose, and neck. Great work. Tech team.

I consider myself much more handy than the average American male. I know how to tighten and loosen a screw, of course. But today, I came to learn that the phrase is not “righty tighty, lefty LUCY” As obvious as this is. It never occurred to me that it was loosey. Of course. I have never written this phrase in my 50+ years. It doesn’t impact my ability to use a screwdriver any more efficiently, but today, I learned something. Thank you

I thought the comments would be lit up with “too easy.” It was almost a PB for me. But Friday night crossword has become NC17. GSPOT LM(F)AO Makes me question CUPS and HEADSHOTS. Even EROICA made me second look.

Okay. It’s slang. Okay. I’m old. But STANS used like a verb? I say nay. You can be a stan (noun), but verb…yuk. “I am staning this jethro tull” this makes my ears hurt. Not talking about the music. Anyone under 35 care to chime in?

I think I spent more time trying to understand the revealer, than the solve. Simple enough to figure out eventually. But “Yamaha product” and “a smartphone has lots of these” and “muffler worker” were nice misdirects for a Wednesday.