Jen

Late to the party, but I fell asleep at 8:00 last night, so 🤷🏻‍♀️ Just wanted to say how much I loved this puzzle. I feel so lucky to have gone to schools where we were required to read five of the six books featured in the puzzle (Jazz was published shortly after I graduated). It scares and angers me that we live in a country where those beautiful novels will never see the light of day in many schools and libraries. My whole outlook on race and humanity was changed as a young person who absorbed those stories and learned so much during classroom discussions. I, my child, and my grandchild, are better people because of it. Thank you, Ms. Morrison…and Mx. Panico!

Honestly, I loved this puzzle! When EARFLAPS didn’t fit I was like, “Please God, I can’t handle a rebus on a Tuesday morning…” So I was spared the rebus and I learned something new. In fact, I learned several new things from this puzzle! To Joel and the rest of the NYT puzzle team, you guys are doing great and your efforts are always appreciated. If we as solvers are missing Will, his team must be feeling that tenfold. Keep on keepin’ on. You got this. Have a wonderful day, everyone!

I don’t always comment here, but I do enjoy reading the comments, so I feel like I’ve come to know many of the regulars here. I am terrible with numbers for some reason, but word puzzles and games are my jam. I so look forward to the NYT games every day, even panicking occasionally when we travel internationally because I don’t want to miss a day with the time change and blow my streak! To those of you celebrating today, have a very Happy Thanksgiving, and to those who don’t celebrate, have a lovely day! Also, I loved this puzzle and was thrilled to solve it in less than 15 minutes with no hints needed. 🙂

Loved this puzzle so much!

A few sticky points for me in this Wednesday grid, but I enjoyed it very much! Clever and a lot of fun.

I guess I’m the odd one out because I stumbled a bit with this puzzle (although I still enjoyed the challenge). I think these subzero temps this week have frozen my brain.

My only issue with this puzzle was the answer for 57A, because we all know Mayor Vaughn was the real menace in Jaws! I liked this one. Have a wonderful day, everybody!

Great puzzle with a clever theme! I too was thrown by UPSA Daisy instead of UPSY. But this was a fun solve and could’ve worked as a Wednesday or a Thursday lite. Nice job, constructors!

I got the SE in a flash and the rest was tougher. The NW was a bear for me! I got COREYS and ETSY and nothing else wanted to come to me. I couldn’t get ICE CAPADES out of my head, so that slowed me down. Definitely a challenging puzzle, but I enjoyed it!

I am loving the puzzles this week! Although I will admit they’ve definitely been tougher for me than usual, so I’m both excited and terrified to see what’s coming up next. 🫣 Loved the Under the Sea theme. Very clever, and brings back a hilarious, fond memory of watching the OG Little Mermaid with my older brother. Thanks to the Brothers Matz for ending my challenging day with a smile. 😊

I was wondering if it was just me who found this puzzle super challenging! I thought I was losing it. Then I read that the constructor is a math major at Carnegie Mellon, and suddenly I felt a lot better. It took me longer than usual, but I love challenging puzzles so this was enjoyable for me. TGIF!

Very entertaining theme! Much easier than Monday, which I appreciated. I remember watching Rick Dees perform DISCODUCK on American Bandstand when I was little, and found the ducks cool and terrifying at the same time. Be still my Gen X heart when I saw the song in the puzzle. Have a great night, everyone!

I thought this puzzle was fantastic, especially for a debut! Very clever theme and some really good answers. Learned a few things, too. Great job, Zachary!

Since lots of us are sharing — 6:13 tonight, 4:29 PB for a Monday. This was a perfect puzzle to kick off what will be a very hot, incredibly busy week for me. But I can’t believe it’s almost August! Stay cool and hydrated if you’re due to catch the heat and humidity. And have a wonderful week!

Deb, what a beautiful tribute to your beloved father. I am so sorry for your loss. Thank you so much for sharing such a moving story with us! The part where you solved the puzzles with your dad was so cute. I can picture a tiny Deb leaning over your dad, excitedly telling him the answer. I’m so glad you have such fond memories with him! This puzzle was a fun one for me. A breezier Thursday was just what I needed after a particularly frigid week here in Chicago. Have a wonderful day, everyone!

What a clever, fun, absolute blast of a puzzle! I had recently begun going through the earliest archived puzzles because I was feeling like the more recent ones weren’t challenging me as much lately. (I started with a Monday from 1993 and I’m actually stuck!) Today’s puzzle was clever, challenging but not impossible, and a fun throwback to one of my favorite childhood arcade games. Thank you for this!

After scrolling through the comments, I feel a little better admitting that this one was a DNF for me. I just could not wrap my head around these clues! I definitely appreciate the challenge, but alas I had to bow out because I found myself looking up answers that only led to more lookups. Which is fine — this just wasn’t my puzzle. Hoping Sunday is a little more in my wheelhouse. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

This was a tricky yet fun Wednesday for me! Very enjoyable. I do have to thank Nelly for referring to his hometown as The Lou on his hit single “Country Grammar” back in the day. You couldn’t escape that song for months after it came out, and it was the first time I’d ever heard anyone call St. Louis The Lou. TMYK!

Tied my personal Thursday best with this one, but didn’t understand the theme until I came here. Very cool puzzle and well done, although I feel a little speedy for a Thursday. Not that I’m complaining! Have a wonderful day, everyone!

Not my longest Sunday solve but it was definitely up there! Once I figured out JUDICIOUS, things started falling into place. Or so I thought. I got the dreaded message and was surprised that fixing a typo did not give me the gold star. Also enjoyed the DOLL PARTS shoutout. That clue threw me because my brain went straight to the album cover for Live Through This, which is a pageant queen. This was a tricky but fun solve!

This puzzle was a blast for me! It definitely had me thinking, but I loved the full spanners. No lookups required, and my only regret is that it didn’t take longer to solve because it was so much fun. I hope to see more like it!

Wow, this was a blast! Great clues and such a fun, clever layout and theme. Thoroughly enjoyed this one! ⛳️

What a fun, super challenging Halloween puzzle! Loved this one. Safe trick or treating, everyone!

What a clever, fun puzzle! A perfect Monday!

Very fun Friday! Thank you so much, Robyn!

Very fun puzzle! Got my brain going early this Monday morning, which I needed. Have a wonderful day, everyone!

Very fun Thursday! A rebus puzzle where I don’t have to look up any hints is very rare. Enjoyed this one a lot!

Great clues and a fun theme. The perfect Monday puzzle!