Emma

Really enjoyed this one! The map theme was really fun, and once the theme was clear the rest of the puzzle unraveled relatively quickly. The only sticking point for me was the NW corner - I had YAk for a while, then YAm. As a YAPper myself, I'm surprised it took me so long to get! In brighter news, I've learned about perigees today - and isn't learning the point of the crossword? ;) Small quibble with the cluing for DROVEAT, since it is typically used to mean explaining rather than suggestion. I could accept the roundabout cluing, but since it was crossed with a name, it made it difficult to parse. Overall a great Wednesday puzzle!

Oh gosh, this one really got me at the beginning. I knew Mia HAMM was the female soccer player, but couldn't figure out how to fit her name in the clue with VIDEOGAMES being the cross! It was only when I remembered rebus was a thing that I was able to solve. I thought the theme was super fun, but once you got the reveal, wasn't too bad - this was one of my quicker Thursday times.

Loved this one! As a born-and-raised Maryland girl, as soon as I saw OROLES in 49A, the theme fell together for me. One of my quickest solves yet, and a genuinely fun Monday puzzle - great job to the constructors!

Fun Monday! Thought the reveal of the theme was fun, and I liked that you had to think about it a bit more than you would a typical theme to get the eventual joke. For a while I thought it was going to be based around classic American high school experiences (Powder Puff Football, Homecoming Dance, Assigned Seating) but I liked the twist chosen here better. Was a bit frustrated with ALL, ROIL, and ARFS being paired, as I felt the cluing for all three of these was quite weak. C'est la vie - overall a fun puzzle!

Loved this one! I thought the theme was super fun. POTTERSPOTTER was what unraveled it for me (super fun cluing there as well). I hadn't ever heard Billy Joel's SCENES from an Italian Restaurant, and after I solved that clue, put the song on and listened while solving the rest of the puzzle. A little less challenging than I was expecting on a Wednesday - still super fun overall!

Fun puzzle! But if you are going to include scientific details, please make sure they are accurate. Only electron MICROSCOPES are capable of resolutions down to a few nanometers. The upper right hand was also brutal for me (easily 10 minutes just there). With 14A being pretty obscure cluing (not a fan of WENTAPE in crosswords in general) and 8D having equal likelihood of being emdash or ENDASH, it makes for a frustrating and ultimately unfilfilling solve there. Otherwise though, loved the rebus!

I love a good Friday, but the cluing here was pretty weak for this to be a satisfying Friday. The "T" grid, combined with TEETOTAL was clever, but the bottom right corner that revealed it was an excruciating solve. I also had a few qualms with other cluing - the cluing for 26A was way too niche, and I'm not a fan of 19A, as Queen Elizabeth, now deceased, is no longer REGNANT. Similarly for 5D - SLYBOOTS? Really? But credit where credit is due - I LOVED the cluing for 16A. STUDYDATE fit in more ways than one, so it was a super satisfying solve. Not my favorite, but not a terrible puzzle for a Friday.