Valerie

Fun puzzle, Kit! Congratulations on your NYT debut. Impressed that you met one of your retirement goals. I’ve been retired almost 20 years and still haven’t declutterred my garage.

Congratulations on your NYT debut, DB! An enjoyable puzzle after a stressful day. Lucky me, I’m old enough to remember the TV shows, movies and the RUBADUB nursery rhyme. IMDB sounding out to “I am DB” was pretty clever. Looking forward to your next one!

A challenge to get a toehold on this one, but a satisfying solve. Loved that one of my favorite authors, Octavia Butler, got a mention. Her 1993 novel, Parable of the Sower, takes place in an America ravaged by climate change, economic collapse and social unrest under a radical authoritarian president. Ha! What are the chances of that happening? Happy Friday everyone!

Congratulations on your NYT debut, Avery! Clever, fun and appropriately challenging for a Sunday puzzle.

That was fun! Had difficulty finding a toehold at first, but Barbie and sibling rivalry saved the day. Never had anything Barbie in the 60’s because we were too poor, but we had plenty of sibling rivalry. My mother’s favorite catchphrase when we were engaging in “sibling rivalry” was “let it go” so I loved seeing both answers in the same puzzle. Happy Friday!

Thanks for the fun and clever puzzle, Nathan! And kudos to the genius who made it possible for online solvers to enjoy the graphics!

Happy Birthday, Adrianne! This was the fun and clever puzzle I needed after a long day. Thank you for sharing your gift with us.

Great puzzle, Ryan! Congratulations on your graduation. Big fan of KIMSCONVENIENCE so that long spanner helped me get a foothold. Loved that it crossed with MINIMART.

Loved your message in Constructors Notes, Trent. A relevant and timely reminder. Great puzzle, too!

Great collaboration! A fun and punny puzzle that had me groaning and laughing out loud. Nick Offerman is a national treasure. Nick for President! His slogan can be “Vote N.O. For Less Drama, More Comedy.”

Great puzzle, Jackson! Good luck with your college apps.

Congratulations on your debut, Josh! It was a fun and clever puzzle with just the right amount of challenge. Looking forward to your next one.

Congratulations on your first NYT puzzle, Owen! Very creative and fun. Your constructing helped you out of a dark place and surely brought joy to many solvers. A win-win! Hope to see more from you in the future.

Congratulations on your solo debut, Ben! A fun and clever puzzle.

Great debut, Amanda! Fun, interesting and learned something new, which is always a bonus. Looking forward to more puzzles from you.

Congratulations on your debut, Margi! Very enjoyable Monday puzzle.

Congratulations on your fellowship and the birth of your daughter, Phillipe. I really enjoyed solving this puzzle, It was fun, full of clever clues and I loved the musical theme. Looking forward to the next one!

Great debut, John! A really fun and clever puzzle. Looking forward to your next one.

Great debut puzzle, Jackson! Especially loved the “troll” clue. My teenaged granddaughter gave me cool points for knowing this without her help. Thanks for a fun Friday!

Really fun puzzle! Congrats on your NYT debut, Caroline.

Congratulations on your debut, Peter! Very creative and fun to solve. My kinda puzzle. Looking forward to your next one.

Great puzzle, Jesse! Sorry you’re hanging up your constructor hat, but hopefully you’ll find time to gift us with another when the kids are teenagers and want very little to do with grown ups. Enjoy them now! Favorite mondegreen comes from my granddaughter who thought Diana Ross was singing, “Stop in the neighborhood” instead of “Stop in the name of love.” She sang it loudly and proudly. Happy Friday!

Great puzzle, Kareem! Very clever theme and fun to solve.

Congratulations on your debut, Ilana! Really enjoyed this puzzle. Clever and fun. CHEESEDOG AND DELIVERYMAN made me laugh out loud. Thanks!

Great debut, Adrianne! So happy Arjun inspired you to create this fun and clever puzzle. Looking forward to the next one. Deb, I totally said, “I can’t hear you,” out loud after 3D!

Great debut, Benjamin! Thank you for honoring one of my favorite authors and for introducing her to new readers. Love seeing comments from people not familiar with her work being open to checking it out. Learning new things is the best part of crossword solving!

Great debut, Jesse! Very clever. Enjoyed solving once I skipped to the revealer and figured out the trick. Looking forward to more of your puzzles. Always amazed at puzzles constructed by high school and college students. Like where do they find the time? I barely managed to get my laundry done between classes and homework. Impressive!

That was fun! Congrats on your debut Patrick. Glad you met your goal. I hadn’t noticed that the Tom, Dick and Harry reference seems almost non-existent these days until Sam pointed it out. Haven’t heard that saying in years, though it was pretty common back in the dark ages when I grew up. Any Gen Z’s here know the current term used? Asking for the Boomers.

Clever and fun puzzle! Today I learned about “beeramids.” Why didn’t I learn this in college? I want a tuition refund!

Congratulations, Zach and Ben! Thank you for a clever, accessible and enjoyable puzzle. I laughed out loud at 31A as I’m sitting here sober in California. First time I’ve heard the term “California Sober,” but I love it! More collaborations, please!

Great debut, Emily and Sala. Wine and crossword constructing with a friend—goals! My only complaint is that I now have the PETER COTTONTAIL song stuck in my head like a BROKEN RECORD.

Great debut, Rena. Challenging, but worth the effort. Clever theme. Congratulations!

Great puzzle, Tarun! Congrats on acceptance into the Honors College at SDSU. My granddaughter was just recruited there to play basketball. Go Aztecs!

Great debut, Mat! I assumed The Iron Lady answer required a rebus and didn’t understand the shaded squares, but figured it out when I got the revealing “bump in the road.” A fun and clever journey.

Great solo puzzle, Willa! Clever and fun to solve. Looking forward to the next one. And yay for women in technology!

Nice debut, Harry Zbheng! Happy New Year to the NYT crossword team for making every day an adventure.

Great puzzle, Erik! Clever and fun. Loved the shout outs to Octavia, Simone and Schacarri.

Great debut, Landon! Very clever and fun. Glad you stuck with it (or should I say KEPT TO?). Looking forward to seeing what you do next.

Thanks for taking us on a spin around the block, Kareem! That was fun and clever. And shout out to the graphics team. Wow!

Congratulations on your debut, Fritz! A challenging, but enjoyable puzzle with some clever clues. Got stuck on 5D with “slyboobs,” then wanted 11D to be “act natural” with a rebus. Caught the errors on crosses and made it to the finish line. Looking forward to your next one. And thank you, Deb, for the shoutout to Colbert, who is not only a great talent, but a truly decent human being (IMHO). Happy Friday!

Great debut, Chris! Fun and clever. Looking forward to more from you.

Fun puzzle! I grew up in the 1950’s and SAYITDONTSPRAYIT brought back fond memories of other such phrases that were popular back then. We thought we were so cool and clever.

Great puzzle, Julian! Challenging and fun. Hope to see more from you!

A clever and fun debut, Mr. Locke! Looking forward to more puzzles from you.

I loved this puzzle! Clever theme. Congratulations on your debut, Justin.