Greg

FABLABS is a new one for me, I'd always heard of them (familiarly) as "Maker Spaces" but it's definitely a new addition to my own vocabulary going forward.

As someone who mutters, "Oh for pete's sake" on half of the Thursday puzzles, I really liked this one. Nothing too crazy, some solid clues, and even solved below the average Thursday time for me. Thumbs up. (That said, I was a tiny bit sorry that it was HAIRBOW because I'd convinced myself it was going either be BIGHEAD or NOMOUTH, hahahahahahaha.)

Emily and Sala, I see what you did with WORM and ARIANA above TOM. Well played and a good bonus chuckle!

A few too many people's names today for my taste, alas. Not a bad puzzle but not one I enjoyed for that reason.

If you haven't heard of it, you haven't heard of it, but for what it's worth Qdoba has over 750 locations in the country. So it's not as obscure as some commenters think it is. (The name is made up, though; it was created to avoid potential trademark infringement from other restaurants.)

SW corner was definitely a struggle for me; the one-two punch of BOO BIRDS and SECRET MENU (loved that latter once I finally got there) really reduced the amount of possiblities. On the bright side, it's always nice for years of being a comics geek to pay off with BATWOMAN (even if more people might know from the short-lived TV show).

Cerebro and Edie Windsor? Great puzzle for a cold Saturday. Great debut, Owen.

Way slower (33% slower) than the average today. Which if nothing else, makes for a good challenge and a lot of false starts. This was definitely not a Monday puzzle!

This is an odd one because I got my fastest Thursday time to date, even as I never did actually figure out the theme while solving and had to read the article to explain it. So... a real mixed bag for me but I'm glad others totally got it while solving.

I choose you, StenmetzKatzAchu! Fun start to the week.