Kenny B.

@acjones I have always found this column and many of its comments to be overly sympathetic to horrible puzzles. The treacle runs thick here. Years ago, I submitted a negative review and was thoroughly flamed by many commentators who defended the 'clever wordplay' of a puzzle that clearly was dreck. There are other blogs online, including Rex Parker's, which in my opinion, has much better reviews of the NYT puzzles, minus the treacle and toxic positivity. If one reads the comments on other forums, it becomes clear that this column is just a giant kumbaya circle. Sure, give the constructor a participation medal, but it was the editors that decided to publish this failure.

@Jeanne If I am served a bad meal at a fine restaurant, and complain about it, I really am not thinking about the chef's feelings, just my poor experience.

@Jim If somebody smells a bad odor, and says, "Wow, that stinks!" There is no need to delve into the various reasons why it stinks, there is no need for testimony, most people understand what stink means. Today's puzzle stunk badly, that's my opinion, and commenters have no duty to explain why.