Ash

Today marks my first ever 30-day gold streak! 🙌🏼 I can't believe it! I thought for sure I wouldn't make it on Saturday and Sunday. I'd like to thank the Wordplay columnists, this forum, my son for the assists on physics/math and Spanish language clues, Ms. Zhang for a LOVELY Monday puzzle and beautiful notes, and, of course, Ayo Edebiri. DUNZO!

This one really staccato me. Classical music puns?! Yes, please! I was smiling at every theme entry, and this made me want to dust off my piano. Congratulations on a fantastic debut, Philippe. Looking forward to more from you!

I'm so grateful I rediscovered my love of crosswords this year, and made NYTCW part of my daily routine. Thank you to all the talented constructors, and to everyone here for the daily laughs. Wishing you all a joyful 2026! May you indulge in Oreos and IPAs while listening to Brian Eno or Yoko Ono, and may you never be chased by orcas or emus. 🎈🥳🎉

This felt like a good mix of gimmes, tricky clues, and don't-knows: perfect for a Friday. One of my favorite things about crosswords is the brain's ability to be confidently wrong. For example, I misread "peel" as "peal", as in RINg, giving a Christmas villain named HEROg. "Yeah, that sounds right." 😂 My other favorite thing is the diversity we bring to solving. Different generations, regions (even countries), life experience, all brought together by our love of puzzles. One person's "gimme" is another's "don't know", and we all learn something new! (AUTODIDACT is new to me, but I knew EVOO thanks to Ms Ray!)

"No no no, it's Wreck IT Ralph. And TonKATsu. And meerK....oh. Aha!" Love a clever rebus and a good Aha moment! Beautiful puzzle!

TIL that Monaco and Tuvalu contain the same number of letters.

Well, if I needed any further proof that I am indeed a millennial.... The excitement when I saw the ELLEFANNING clue. "Wait, I KNOW that one!" 😂 This was a fun theme, even if I wasn't familiar with some of the names. I think the DONLEMON clue was my favorite.

Holy Moses that was tough. I loved it. I'm slowly accumulating a mental list of constructors whose puzzles guarantee potential streak-breaking difficulty. Tough but fair. The kind of puzzles where I know it's going to take me over an hour, but I'll power through, poco a poco, and enjoy every minute. Katie Hoody is on that list, and now I'm adding her husband. 😂 Fun fact: "menopause" and NIGHTMARE contain the same number of letters!

One of my favorite puzzles of the year. Too many brilliant clues to mention here, but I was smiling and saying "wow" throughout the solve (AND it's my birthday, so thank you for a perfect Sunday morning!). I think FAREISFOUL AND FOWLISFAIR was my favorite. A few spots really tripped me up, and I was flyspecking for a while looking for my mistake (I'm looking at you, TRICE!) but that's part of the fun. What one might say about a big, punny puzzle? Levity is the soul of wit!

I do believe I have my very first 7-day gold streak!!! I'm still slow at Fridays. I probably stared at the NW corner for a solid 20 minutes, due in large part to my confidently wrong entry of ivESTROGEN. 🤦🏼‍♀️I did think an IV seemed like overkill. 😂

Now this was a solid Friday challenge. One of my only gimmes wasn't super helpful since I couldn't remember how to spell it 😂 The WOODEAR, PERIP..., RENE, THE section was brutal! Some lucky guesses and a peek at the column for THE (🤦🏼‍♀️) finally got me through in well over my average time. Tough but fun. Congrats on a fab debut! More late-week challenges like this one, please!

Wow, that was crazy hard. More Fridays like this please! There were so many personal don't-knows in this puzzle (almost all of the proper nouns), and yet, it was ESCAPEArTS that was my mistake 🤦🏼‍♀️ Jazz aficionados and MEZCAL were two of my favorites. Too many good clues to mention!

MTV Cribs and Myst?! My elder millennial heart overflows with nostalgic joy! I thoroughly enjoyed this one, though for the longest time could not let go of a 1a DIs, and chose to accept that "seALIES" must be an esoteric nickname for seals, and they would indeed want to mind the nets. 😂 Also loved the rebus clue. Excellent Tuesday!

I should know better than to let myself think "wow, this is really easy for a Saturday" when I'm only halfway through. Sheesh! The bottom section had me completely stumped. Not really knowing the Avengers movies, AVENGERS ENDdays seemed perfectly logical 😂 that mistake tripped me up for a looong time, along with several others in that section. Persistence finally paid off. Thanks for the workout! Hope everyone is staying warm and safe!

GAH! So many don't-knows for me in this HUMDINGER. I had more empty squares throughout than on a typical Saturday! Luckily my millennialness gave me EFRON, TERRENCE, and KESHA as a foothold, and I encountered NOISOME the other day in the archives, but much of the top half eluded me. I thought the theme was cute and well-executed. I can't complain about a solid challenge in the middle of the week.

Absolutely brilliant. Definitely going on my POY list. Multiple layers that tied together beautifully (AND on March 15!), and yet, still plenty of difficult and fresh fill in the rest of the puzzle. Chef's kiss! (See what I did there?)

My favorite OREO clue thus far 😻 Congrats on a fine debut!

I was kinda hoping every answer in today's puzzle would be OREO, but that's probably just me. Nary an Oreo in sight!

Never in a million years could I have imagined that having brunch yesterday at the Vanderpump restaurant in Las Vegas and having my friend explain "Vanderpump Rules" and its origin to me would come in handy in the next day's puzzle. 🤯

Sheesh. I started out breezing through this, thinking I was really on the right wavelength. Maybe I'll even get a PB! Nope. Not even close! The bottom half had me thoroughly stumped! I refused to let go of STARTREK for much too long. Excellent clues all around. Thanks for the challenge and for teaching me some new words! (I'm looking at you, BACTRIAN and NAZCA).

Menopause mentioned 🙌🏼 I was definitely on the constructor's wavelength today, despite a few don't-knows (I'm looking at you, BoER and SNOCAnS.) Loved seeing CHARLIXCX here, but my favorite clue was for CAT BEDS. I ended up donating our unused cat beds to a shelter, as mine much prefer an obliging suitcase, my desk chair, or the highest traffic areas of the living room floor. This was a fun one!

Turns out JUST PEACHY contains the same number of letters as YES INDEEDY 😂 I lucked out today with several gimmes in the NW ...ACTION HERO, SHONDALAND, PTOWN, and figured the second half of 1a was TRAPPED (as I find myself frequently cat trapped, like right now). I clearly remember the anxiety of attempting to lay a sleeping baby down without them waking up. Phew! But that SE corner had me stumped for a long time. I loved the clues for STEW and WONDERBRA. I kept thinking of push-pops instead of push-ups and was trying to come up with an ice cream brand that starts with W 😂 nicely done!

Coincidentally, NYT games replaced DOOMSCROLLing for me. 😂 Still a lot of screen time, sure, but I get to exercise my brain, learn new things, and feel a sense of accomplishment. Huge improvement! I enjoyed this theme, and found myself stumped for an embarrassingly long time before ALP came to me.

A perfect Saturday puzzle, IMO. A few gimmes to crack it open, a few "same wavelength" lucky guesses, long stretches of "I have no clue" followed by glorious aha moments...I love Saturdays! So many good misdirects today. Sixthsenses before SPIDEYSENSE, TONgue before TONSIL, ADe before ADS, SwordS before SABERS. I absolutely loved WHALE SONG and its clue. More from Adrian, please!

What a delightful puzzle! Fresh clues, fresh fill, and it must have been on my wavelength because all of my guesses turned out to be correct (with the exception of ARI before RIO), probably the first time this week that's happened. I didn't know most of the proper nouns, which kept things interesting. Thank you, Mr. Mehta, and thank you Deb for your constant wit and joy. You will be missed!

Thank you for everything you've taught us, Deb, and always in the warmest, most joyful way. I hope you'll drop in occasionally while enjoying your next chapter! As for the puzzle, thank you APBIO for teaching me XYLEM in high school! I think this was my second fastest Friday, but I enjoyed every second. Excellent clues throughout. And now maybe I'll remember how to spell FIBONACCI 😂

mATERHORSES, dING, and DoTS.... Oh my! I tried my DArNDEST! I, for one, found this delightfully challenging. Loved seeing FRIEND OF DOROTHY.

Absolutely loved this theme. Well done! I laughed out loud at DOTS, and just so many good clues throughout. Schitts Creek and the LEVYs mentioned!!! 🙌🏼 My favorite comfort show. Thanks for a truly enjoyable puzzle, Rena!

TOASTS to this puzzle! My insistence on Prod before PSST (cause, you know, poke and prod? Clever) produced 3 nonsense downs that I chose to accept, and delayed my solve time by at least a solid 30 minutes. 😂 I was laughing out loud at some of my mistakes once I figured them out. Really great clues throughout (loved DIVEBAR and CIRCA). I thought this was a perfectly Friday level Friday, and I'm looking forward to the next Friday the 13th! 🫶🏼 to Minnesota

I caught on to the roundabout gimmick pretty quickly with the upside-down GLASS, ok... that's cool, but it wasn't until much later that I realized the roundabout entries went in every direction 🤯 I'm in awe! What a fun ride! And always a joy to see Mayor Pete. I personally liked that the "starting points" weren't marked. Speaking of roundabouts, they are pretty ubiquitous in the state of Utah, but the most iconic (IMO) is our beloved 9th and 9th whale. That's right, a giant sculpture of a rainbow whale in a landlocked state. Who doesn't love a bit of whimsy? <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_of_the_Blue_(sculpture" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_of_the_Blue_(sculpture</a>)

Coincidentally, I just dropped my daughter off at our local comic con to display her INNERGEEK! Loved that clue. I have a thing for collective nouns (and sometimes making them up) but did not know that FERRETS make a business! Love that!! I'm picturing them having a serious meeting in bowties. Fun clues. I had DELETEDemailS first, and was stumped on CREASED. Well done!

The "aha" moment when I said out loud to my disinterested cat "Oh! They're anagrams! I love this!". This was another bottom-up puzzle for me (like yesterday). The North kept me pretty stumped until I finally let go of "prankS". Some clever clueing for a fun Sunday puzzle!

The comments have me LOLing today... the number of people who parsed HAVEATIT differently 😂 I thought the theme was fun, but that Willow/Rock/Netflix character section was my tough spot. Phew! Loved the MNEMONIC clue. A trip to Costco may yield an AmpleSample? 😅

Wow. I thought I was getting good at these. Basking in the meager glory of my nascent gold streak. And then along came today's puzzle to humble me. 😂 Thank you for the challenge.

Brilliant! This was so much fun and on my wavelength. Perfect crunchiness. I was about to give up and check puzzle when the aha moment finally came...I had St. barTS, which made for some nonsensical crosses. That's when I realized that I DID actually know the Russian word! Huzzah! Lovely wordplay all around, and my nascent but personal best gold streak is still intact (barely. Phew!) It brings out the kid in you... Absolutely brilliant.

What an impressive feat, Mr. Schiff! Just brilliant. I got the phi rebus pretty quickly, but it took about 3 theme entries before I figured out the I/O business...a lovely aha moment. "Sound from a ragdoll" was great!

Thank you thank you for a solid Saturday challenge! The first pass felt hopeless (which I expect for a Saturday!) but then it slowly and steadily cracked open from the bottom up. My ultimate trouble spot ended up being the little cluster around TRAILED. Anyone else? I thought maybe great athletes played with pain 😂 I didn't know Sidney, and for the life of me could not figure out the word after TRIVIA... Trivia bees? Trivia teas (lol)? Trivia keys? Ah.... TRIVIA TEAM... Of course! 🤦🏼‍♀️

A typo in San Neill's name briefly had the double diamond as "hell", and that felt about right. 😂 I loved this theme. Well done! I smiled as soon as I saw those symbols and their respective "hills". It's funny, I grew up skiing in Washington State, and now I live minutes from arguably some of the best skiing in the country, and I've only been a handful of times in the last 10 years or so. Maybe this puzzle inspired me to get over my grumpiness and get back out there (though I'll steer clear of the double diamonds 😉)!

I was thrilled to see Katie's name today, and this one did not disappoint! So many fun clues and clever misdirects. Breezy but with plenty of resistance. I had Helen HuNt until the very end....I mean, maybe she has a podcast, right?! This was a perfect example of a sprinkling of "trivia". I don't think I knew a single one of the names, and yet they were all perfectly gettable. Come back again soon, Katie!

I have a print from the TATE MODERN hanging on the wall right next to me, and yet all I could think was "Who is Tate Modern?" 🤦🏼‍♀️

Somewhere, buried in my garage, I still have the Netflix DVDs I accidentally kept. 😂 Probably the most expensive DVDs I own and they weren't even good movies! Sounds like today was tougher for me than most. Those corners! Tough but satisfying. BABYSTEPS indeed!

What's a CAUCUh? And Smart COOKIt? Oh, right, it's SEIZE, and not hEIst 😂 For the first half, I was feeling a little underwhelmed and disappointed at the lack of a trick. Then I realized what was going on. Anagrams! I know they're not everyone's cup of tea, but I love them, and I just now realized what TONGUETWISTER means 🤦🏼‍♀️ very clever. I'm in awe of the thought that went into this one.

Core memory unlocked: ONOUROWN. I had forgotten about that show. I couldn't tell you a single character or plot point, just that I remember loving it (I was probably 8 or 9). I figured we had a rebus when I had IMNOTHIDANYMORE, but I thought it was I'm not A CHILD anymore and went nuts trying to figure out the significance of the missing AC-L! I finally figured out the trick, but it took a while. Loved NBAREF.

I prefer Mac and cheese with a side of Mac and cheese, personally. I loved the Jean Valjean clue!

Ach so! Coincidentally, I just got back from Germany and had a week's worth of puzzles to catch up on. This one took me forever, and I loved every minute! I saw we were giving and taking MEs, but didn't get the revealer until the end (ScAM before SHAM.... Sigh). Excellent column and constructor notes today! I hope to see you two back soon. (And thank you for reminding me I need dish pods)

This was a delightfully difficult Saturday for me. Phew! About halfway through I had holes in every section, but perseverance paid off, and the NW corner finally fell at the end. I've never heard of COLORWARS, but the crosses worked so I went with it. And TIL CELESTA, BAMBINA, a fun fact about giraffes, and that DONER is Turkish in origin! Thanks for a fantastic Saturday workout.

I knew we were in for a treat when I saw Katie's name. Bath seat? Setup for an extra point? Even a fresh (to me) and clever OREO clue! Absolutely brilliant.

I was halfway through when I realized today is Thursday and not Friday 😂 Wishful thinking. Somehow I just shrugged and moved on at ASCENT, APE, OLE, and AMBLED. I absolutely loved this. Perfectly difficult, IMO, and a fun, tight theme. Even if it did remind me that it's only Thursday. Sigh.

Phew. That was quite the workout. I actually had CUREL right, but sauce before PASTE, bro before CEO, -ing before JOB, gown before DRESS, and only got to GRACEPALEY from crosses and some lucky guesses. Finally, it was changing hONEYED to MONEYED that gave me the music. Tricksy!