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When you spell it "mojave" it takes far longer to solve. LOL
Well, that was SOME puzzle! I really enjoyed this one. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone. <3
And here I was thinking it was a fun, easy Monday solve. Apparently I am in the minority, judging by the comments. I think I'll go play some Strauss and dance.
@Eva H. And here I was thinking that the cluing was pretty darn clever and I enjoyed figuring them all out. Yet another example of, as the French say, à chacun son goût.
Long live Methuselah the pine tree!
@RozzieGrandma and then hurriedly filled in "NOIR" LOL
Hey, fellow puzzlers, and NYT peeps, and constructors, thank you for being part of my daily life and for brining me moments of joy! Wishing the world a far better 2026 than this 2025 has been for so many of us!
Thank you, Jill Singer. I missed seeing the wheat penny tucked into the puzzle somewhere, but overall, a fine Sunday puzzle indeed. In the 1960s, when I was a child, a corner store near my grandparents' house still had items marked at the half cent. And here are the childhood rhymes: "Hot cross buns! Hot cross buns! One a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns! If you have no daughters, give them to your sons; one a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns!" and the other: "Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, please to put a penny in the old man's hat! If you haven't got a penny, then a ha'penny will do. If you haven't got a ha'penny, then God bless you!"
@CaitlinLovinger, re echo, the bouncer in an alleyway: I easily read it as voices echoing off close-set buildings.
Wow, Kelly Richardson, that was AMAZING! Thanks for a great Sunday puzzle!
IV League could also be used for "group of phlebotomists in pre-op" Maybe. All in all, such a fun puzzle! (I, too, never heard of optic lobe, but big deal.) Thanks for such a fun puzzle, Nikhil!
@Ben Blackwell You might not be the only one, but I had a very different experience, apparently. I thought it was a lot of fun, and I didn't need even one hint. One second under 12 minutes to solve!
Wow, 23:50 for that fun puzzle -- I feel almost invincible now! Funny how if you sit with things long enough, the answers sort of bubble up. Great construction today!
Jeesh, so much DISHONORING the creator! I liked it, anyway. So sue me. ;^)
"Hubba, hubba!" is the equivalent of a wolf whistle. Pair of pants fit it well. Lots of clever clues and entries here. Thanks for a fun 20 minutes!
Such clever construction! That was such fun! Thanks, Kareem, Ayas!
Like many others, that H of Ahnold and Reavies just made no sense. Pity we didn't have better clues. Other than that, a fun puzzle! Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, especially to the ones who take their role seriously and whose children would say they appreciate them.
Had a dad named Philip; immediately thought of how it means, "lover of horses," and EAGERly ACTedON that hunch and typed in, "equine" for 27 across. AW, MAN! Apparently, I never GOTTHEMEMO about its actual meaning. I guess you *can* learn something new every day! Fun puzzle!
I, for one, thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you, Dylan Schiff!
Psst! I vote hell yeah for more like this Friday thingy -- er, puzzle!
Boss Level Crossword! Great debut, Kim! This brought back many memories of my own son playing SuperMario when he was about seven years old.
Whew! THAT was a tough one -- only completed with cheating. Dang, Jack Hatchett, you got me!
Such fun! Dancing with the Tsars was my FAVE!
@Jeff P. plenty of 1970s teenagers who were far less prone to using swear words than I was used it often
First pass through -- "I am doomed." Second pass -- "Hmmm..." Third pass through -- "By jove, I think I've got it!" Thanks, Ryan Judge! P.S. "Left" was one heck of a clue!
I got the pinky swear right away with only the Y filled in. This was a fun puzzle, done over a great cup of coffee! Thanks, Ryan!
Congratulations to Paul Coulter on this one. It has to be one of the more clever puzzles I've done in a while.
For those wondering about a NEAP tide, you could always LOOK UP that word in the dictionary. ;^)
I never read Wordplay before solving. I am assuming most of us don't?
Once I figured out the rebus trick, it was straightforward. Thanks, Joe, for a fun puzzle!
At 42 across, out of nowhere, a name immediately appeared, a name I remembered from a paper I wrote in 8th grade Spanish, circa 1970, about explorers, which I titled, "To Think I Never Heard of These Men!" Oh, to be young and cringeworthy in one's prose!
23:05. Such fun once I got the clue theme!
Wordle, Strands, Spelling Bee (112 pts so far), Connections, The Mini, and the Crossword. And a hot cup of coffee, now finished. A satisfying 20 minutes of wordplay. Thanks, constructors!
Very clever indeed! As I was doing a quick sweep of the puzzle, my very first guess of a literary detective was Poirot, and lo and behold, it turned out that my instinct was correct. Madam has solved the puzzle.
Thank you, Deb, for your dedication to this column and to all of us who look forward to doing the puzzle as an important part of their day. I wish you well in retirement. And thank you, Kyle, for a very clever puzzle. I got the OP-EDS and LEGS on the first go through. I cannot say the same for the rest of the puzzle. Next time, I think you should get a carnival ride in there somewhere so we can loop the loop.
Hip, Hip, Hurray! A quick Monday solve. Thanks, Brad!
This puzzle made me think of Loretta Lynn and Florence Henderson. Maybe some others will remember why. I enjoyed today's puzzle; thanks, Adrian Johnson!
Was that center block ever fun! Good job, John Lieb!
Oh, Harry, who hath better style than thee?
Clever clues -- fun! I liked seeing hoist, touts, and oust all grouped together.
@LL I mean, "Eden" was my immediate guess. Bloody easy on my end.
@redweather Time to go watch Madea!
@Tony Hydrox are better. Sue me...
Whoaaaaa -- tough crowd here today! I thought the consonant vowel back and forth was pretty clever and I liked the puzzle just fine.
I just do not get why -- particularly with the world situation as precarious as it seems to me to be -- why so many people can focus on things like whether or not this puzzle was to their liking. I thought it was fun, and couldn't care less about the M/B dispute. On the other hand, it took me coming to the comments to understand what the dark squares represented; I guess I needed to have an anvil fall on me to see it.
She can dig it, we can dig it They can dig it, you can dig it Oh, let's dig it Can you dig it, baby I can dig it, he can dig it She can dig it, we can dig it They can dig it, you can dig it Oh, let's dig it Can you dig it, baby Just over here grazin' in the grass. It's a gas.
I must be nuts because I found this puzzle to be zippy and rather straightforward!
Very fun! Thank you, guys, for a clever whimsICAL Sunday puzzle!
Weird that you had to put the letter into the square, as though it were a rebus, in order to have completed the puzzle, rather than just letting the drawing be good enough.