Steve

@Megan Not sure about zeros, but there have been a lot of repeat answers the last few days. I recall seeing: ASAMI RIGID IMON Multiple times recently.

@Ben Blackwell I agree with drudgery. Too many clues tried to hard to be witty. Not a terribly fun one for me.

@Barry Ancona I know. But to say a letter is stolen then to use that letter in the same square is poor design.

@TheBiggestHater I disagree. On mobile, it was incredibly difficult to follow what was going on. And the “stolen” letters weren’t always stolen. Look at 118A, where DALI is stolen. 69D is completed by a D at the end, so only ALI was stolen. Overly confusing and in many cases incomprehensible.

@Red Carpet “there is no rebus” And yet the “take a peek at the answer key link” shows all rebuses and no down solves. I know you liked it from your comment below, but I even the NYT can’t seem to figure out how to present this one.

@Charlie I’m pretty sure they were referring to Not Applicable.

@Lauchlin you’re not alone. My first pass in both directions yielded a very sad number of responses. Just wasn’t my day.

@Marshall Walthew I came here to say the same thing. Absolutely no one refers to a Major League Baseball player as an ALer or and NLer.

@Rachel we are reading the HP books with my 11 year old. I recently referred to a certain class as Defense Against the Ark Darts. He thought it was hilarious and reminds me at least a few times a week. I also recently mixed up Harry and Sirius and created a new character named Harius.

@Jamie Same for me. Ignoring the Star Trek theme (which I know little about), I thought the clueing was overdone. It tried to hard to be witty and funny, and in many cases the answer was a stretch. Just my opinion.

@Jane Style guides often place colons and semicolons within quotation marks. Here’s and example from Loyola Marymount Law School: <a href="https://guides.library.lls.edu/c.php?g=1066706&p=7765387" target="_blank">https://guides.library.lls.edu/c.php?g=1066706&p=7765387</a> Two go inside: Period: “That doesn’t concern you.” Comma: I like Aretha’s songs “Respect,” “Do Right Woman,” and “I Never Loved a Man.” Two go outside: Semicolon: I don’t like “Respect”; it’s too monotonous. Colon: I like “I Never Loved a Man”: it’s a blues ballad in gospel style.

@Barry Ancona agreed 100%. Switch the last two days and no one complains! This was a breeze for me.

@Niki B My son has celiac so I know exactly how you feel. He was diagnosed at 11 years old and is 3 years into the journey. Still a challenge, but we’re grateful for the better knowledge and much improved product labeling. I, too, had never heard of seitan.

@Murhatroid “The project suffered a blow (major setback) when the team leader left the company.”

@Cherry Same for me. Well over my average. Top left absolutely stumped me because I had hijab for a long while. The I A and B all fitting both words was tough.

@Joe P the theme clues are all band names that then solve to more direct meanings of their names. Carolina reapers are very hot peppers that are red in color, thus the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

@Paul Turner Same for me. I had the entire left side of the puzzle completed before almost any of the right side, and the SW was blank but for the airline.

@Greg Made even more confusing my DALI being stolen from 18A but D finishing off 69D, so it looks like only ALI was stolen. A good concept but terrible execution IMO.

@Red Carpet I understand how the puzzle works. My beef is with the way it is presented. And the fact that the “stolen” letters aren’t stolen in every case.

@Viewer same with 118A and 69D. Dali is stolen but D solves 69D.

@Steve I got my left and right mixed up. I finished the right side quickly and had almost none of the left side.

@Ellen I came for this as well. Business schools generally prefer the GMAT.

@T I finished in 19 minutes, about 4 faster than my Thursday average.

@Steve “by DALI” and 118A. Sorry for the typos.

@Jack As did BOSSFIGHT, which had me going in circles for a while.

@KK I fully agree. Not a fun puzzle.

@JM George and Ira had a brother Arthur, so the wording is correct.