Becca

I just wanted to tekka minute to thank Evan Kalish for his tasty puzzle. It was fun, geometric, and didn't maki me feel crabby at all. This one must be a real feather in his kappa! It takes ingenuity tomago crossword this fresh. I'm guessing Evan bento-ver backwards to make the theme work so neatly. No reason for him to be Modesto... he has every right to 'brag' a little bit and maybe say "I'll shoyu how it's done!" Umami must be very proud! *ducks the stream of pelted tomatoes* Thanks Evan!

"Hello, yes, I'd like to report a serious Natick cluster in the Sunday puzzle today." "??" "There I was, beginning to enjoy the clever & original theme, savoring some of the excellent misdirecty clues, when I got sucked into the vortex of the central middle southeast section & it sorta dampened my enjoyment of this puzzle." "Ma'am?" "Yes well I know it's sorta nitpicking, haha "nitpicking" some "Naticking", that almost rhymes or something *clears throat* anyway I concede that this could be one of those YMMV things where I just never heard of KNoX or KNEX or TONEMEs & I kept going back & forth between NOTEGUSTO & NOLEGUSTO & NODEGUSTO & such & although I love Andrea Braugher & knew he was in "Brooklyn 99" I had no clue of his character's name & was trying HOLT HarT etc, & THNEEDVILLE threw me for a bit but it was really that Central Middle Southeast section that got me actually running sheepishly to google (even though I'm still counting my streak) tentatively confirming that YEET was right, & that KNoX was indeed a construction toy (which is what drove me to google "sound unit for Asian languages" & find TONEME (not TONoME or TONodE or TONotE) which d'oh makes sense as it rhymes with phONEME & anyway, for me the experience of this Sunday puzzle was marred by that Naticky centralish section. I see from the 50 comments so far that that's not the general consensus & people really liked it, but that's my take on it. And I just had to express that." "Ma'am, this is a Wendy's"

I enjoyed this puzzle. Fun, silly, playful punny theme. And some really nice, clever misdirecting clues. A few riffs: ~~~ "What, you call yourself a hockey team?! You're totally embarrassing Toronto." MAPLELEAFRAG ~~~ "Meh, so he's turning 18. Big whoop. It's not like he's more mature than he was at 9 and it's not like I care, anyway." BIRTHDAYBASH ~~~ "That Earl— or is he a Duke? whatevs— is really a bore, and ugly to boot" NOBLESAVAGE ~~~ [*obscure "Monk"-niche entry*]: "Hey, I liked Bitty Schram better, Sharona just kicks Natalie's @rse."* [*NOT my opinion!] TRAYLORTRASH <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traylor_Howard" target="_blank">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traylor_Howard</a> ~~~ "This bread $vcks." LOAFPAN ~~~ "Scorcese? Overrated. Spielberg? A hack. Fellini? Bleh. Coen Brothers? More like the Groan Brothers, if you ask me" DIRECTORSCUT ~~~ ____ Anyway, fun, fun Sunday puzzle. And diss is de honest troot!

I have rarely if ever enjoyed a Monday puzzle so much. Although it was a breeze of ease, it was somehow tasty all the same. I mean even before the theme, it was just somehow fluid... some Monday puzzles somehow satisfy despite not having "difficulty", and this was like that. Like one of those pleasant tunes that's simple but somehow puts your mind at ease, as you nod with pleasure at its almost Taoist 'yes'ness. Plus a few little morsels, tidbits of whimsical crunch, like "Addictive thing in one's pocket" (PHONE), "Site for skeletons" (CLOSET), a cute PuzzPair as Lewis would call it of AQUA and AQUI (and ACOW?), and this is all even before counting the theme! For some reason my app didn't do the animation, which I didn't realize it was s'posed to do, but I supplied the sound effects: as I looked for the O's I went "deedle-deedle-leedle-leedle-deedle-deedle-deedle leedle-deedle-deedle-dooooo" as my finger traced its path. It's lovely to have a light meal like a Monday puzzle be so delectable. Thank you, Jeremy Newton! No wonder they named the international metric unit of force after you!

I was told there'd be no meth ewoks > emus

I've been doing the puzzles regularly, even if I haven't hung out in Comments much lately... but I do pop in here once in a while. Have had a few hiccups in my streaks from now and then simply not getting 'round to doing the puzzle in time and then catching up… to some gold, some blue due to two full days between. Oh well... but it makes the month-of-puzzles page look a bit like my Alma Mater, UMich. Blo gue! 🟨🟦 I have just two things to say about today's puzzle: 1) When I finally copped onto who the characters were that all those clues referred to, I gave truth/resonance to the constructor's name by getting a big Grin(berg)!! Delightful, fun puzzle, fantastic graphic, very lovely Sunday crossword. And the other thing I have to say, passing through here? Simple: MEEEP MEEEP! *swiiissshhh* 〰️〰️💨💨

I just flew in from Natick City in Northwest Acronym/ ProperName and boy are my brains tired

Hmmm… Mr Youngs wishes "The Producers" had been his inspiration for this puzzle? Well, his wish has become my inspiration for… this. ~ ~ ~ [see two links at bottom if you want for lyrics to original song and the YouTube audio from orig Broadway version if you wanna sing along while reading. My version here starts at the 52s mark of YouTube vid] ~ ~ ~ I Wanna Be A Constructor by Becca (by way of Mel Brooks) ✏✏✏ I spend my life a-commenting With Wordplayish folks And cooking— kugels, ramen things— And posting odd jokes I have a secret desire In my soul deeply hid It sets my heart afire To see me… in the grid 🎶🎶🎶 I wanna be a constructor getting featured on Wordplay I wanna be a constructor Lunch on AHI every day I wanna be a constructor Building rebi, puns and pain I wanna be a constructor And drive EvaH insane! I wanna be a constructor wielding OREOS, BRAS and EWES I wanna be a constructor WHO WILL NEVER USE "EMUS"!!!!" I wanna be a constructor spurring Comments of delight I wanna be a constructor And see my name "Becca [IL]" on site! CROSSWORD GIRLS: She wants to be a constructor BECCA: Sell it, girls! CROSSWORD BOYS: Of a great big Sunday smash BECCA: Don't forget the drive-by's! CROSSWORDERS: She wants to be a constructor Crossing TWAIN with JOHNNYCASH She wants to be a constructor Tease our brains 'til we cry OUCH! ECO! WOAH! OWL! OOOH! She wants to be a constructor With a great big Thursday ADO!! BECCA: I wanna be! (She wants to be!) >>>>

I was told there'd be no meth

O O H A W E L C O M E B A C K I E W O E L A Y S L H !! 💋 And that's the long and Shortz of it! Shout-out also to Joel F, who held the reins and kept things going in the interim, including some very fine puzzles we may tend to forget AMID the HUBBUBS and STIRS and ADOS that are part & parcel of our feisty Comments section— & we thank him for that! We may have said "ONO" when Will got laid up earlier this year, but then we said "ENO he's working hard to git back to the Xword ROYALCOURT & we look forward to his return!" He OTT to get a medal. OREOughta at least get a virtual GROUPHUG! (*Hmm, has that ever been a crossword answer? Well it is now. With the Jeopardy question being: "Q.: What is being EXUDEd & EMITted & WAFTed from the Comments section today? A.: GROUPHUG". I expect the honeymoon to be about two weeks before Comments section resumes its usual MELEE & RHUBARB & BROUHAHA at normal course & speed. But that's OK. That's just par for the cross. We still appreciate the work & the care & the love-of-the-game [or lovelineoflinethelinegame] that go into the creating & editing of these crosswords. PLAY BALL! Welcome back Will!! PS I very much enjoyed today's puzzle, it was both Monday-breezy but also had a little bit of welcome 'crunch'. Very very nice puzzle, & very very nice debut. Thanks Hannah!

I found this pleasant, and was not as disappointed as many of you seem to be. I enjoyed the theme and the puns— although I don't for the life of me get how ALTERCATION is some kind of great pun, I mean the word 'alter' kinda sorta comes into play, but, huh?? and why does Deb's explanation of it peter out mid-sentence? I smell a conspiracy!— but anyway HOW is nobody mentioning 52A INRE being clued by [Regarding]?! Isn't INRE just short for "in regard to"? That's weird. The clue [Regarding] is basically the same as part of the answer. Now THAT should incite some RHODESRAGE from any scholars out there

Fun puzzle, nice theme. Not too tough, but not *too* easy to get through, required some thought, a thorough and pleasant Wednesday workout. One that ought to receive kudoughs. Take a bough, Meghan Morris. (BTW is your first name pronounced "Mayfan", "Mahan", "Mayan" or... fancy this... "Maygan"? tough to suss out) . Sam Corbin said: "Please share your best Gilbert and Sullivan puns to celebrate the occasion." [Well, first a question: Would "Einstein On the Beach" be considered a [relatively] "Light Opera"?] Mikado stop making physics puns. Iolanthe stop but I just can't. If I were Catholic I would probably be asked to do penzance for this. I think I'll just take a breath and have a nice hot cup of Koko... And maybe listen to a nice Romantic piano CD (I have a little Liszt) emus are such susceptible cancellers

I really enjoyed this puzzle. To be franc, I really liked the theme & its "4-way" style, how each themer had its own twist. Even at end I didn't quite get 54A's gimmick cuz I only vaguely recalled "??Tivoli? Trivola?" FOUNTAIN of the film, mainly just FOUNTAIN, really… never saw the movie, just a trailer. Got all pence-ive but it took the Column for me to see the NickelBACKwards twist. I mean, it's zloty digest. I had it right though— found my error, combed thru & saw 18D HOdSE (25A HYPEd instead of HYPER), !fixed it & got the gold coin! Kareem you totally got me w/ Washington Airport— took some crosses before I considered THAT Washington. ALaddin before ALIBABA. "Revealing word", cute. OTOE, OBOE, OVAL, I'm sure Lewis will enjoy… HOTDAMN, a fine Sunday puzzle. Lotta good clues. BOING! 114A might throw some of our overseas solvers, but I liked it. I doubt Commenters will be reading Kareem the RIOT ACT today. I'm guessin' there won't be much of the usual drachma. Lotta good puns, no real kroners… I feel no gelt in saying this was a rial-ly solid, even lire-cal puzzle. And no, I'm not shilling for the NYT— nothing could be farthing from the truth. If I may peso bold as to say, w/o trying to pound it home, this was a very smooth yet crunchy puzzle, a very fine Sunday outing. Mark my words, I liked it. Of course EMMV (Euro Mileage May Vary). Thanks for florin us, K! And now maybe I'll put on some colón & go out to dinar Guilder? I hardly knew 'er *ducats* I mean *ducks*

Enjoyed today's puzzle. A little tickle of a theme. These themers aren't easy to construct wittily and fluidly but of course I had to try… ____ A N O Z I R A ... Coen brothers' 2nd film— starring Nic Cage— about rearing a kidnapped child, literally - - - - (raising ARIZONA) _________ E C N E I T A P M I ... What one might feel during an hour spent in the waiting room when one's doctor is running late— literally - - - - (growing IMPATIENCE) _________ E L I B O M . . . A term for a person aiming for and achieving higher status, social position and income— literally - - - - (upwardly MOBILE) ________ R E D R O ... One of two options in which to view one's photos or files size-wise or chronologically— literally (this would probably need a lot of kind crosses) - - - - (ascending ORDER) _________ S S A M L A C I T I R C ... Achieving the minimum amount required to start or maintain a project, venture or nuclear reaction— literally - - - - (reaching CRITICALMASS) *********** I tried to find a way to make "BEAN sprouts" work but it didn't really track. So anyway these aren't all that great, clues a bit clunky, but it was fun to try, and it kind of illuminates how fresh today's puzzle was. Even OLIVER North was pretty nifty. Oh wait, I just came up with one more! _______ E C I L A ... A Ralph Kramden catchphrase, never ACTUALLY threatening to his long-tolerant wife— literally - - - - (to the Moon, ALICE! To the MOON!) Heh! !YAD SLOOF LIRPA YPPAH

I dunno if I recall ever actually laughing out loud several times throughout a crossword puzzle before this one. Oh, I remember puzzles that delighted me and probably inspired exclamations of delight (I think at least one Jeremy Newton puzzle, among other puzzles), but in this one the Dad jokes were so perfectly wonderfully awfully silly, I loved 'em. Guffaws were had. Just a really fun, playful, silly and witty puzzle that reveled in punnery. Excellent. I felt just a little Naticked for a while by 7D ERDOS crossing 27A COS (never took Trig in school but figured it was probably COS), then discovered the snag was a simple overlooked wrong letter at 57A/57D, just didn't notice I had an typo'd O there instead of an I(NLAY), fixed it and got the congrats! Loved 120A, what a wonderful winky and fresh take on this oh-so-common crossword clue. Tsaright. Silly, playful, smart and fun puzzle. OK letsee: "Aw gee, Baryshnikov left the theatre before I could get his autograph? ' _ MISHAGONE 😝🤓🤔🙄 My attempt maybe highlights how well-done the entries in the puzzle were. Kudos to Ginny Too. __ A SAD STATE OF AFFAIRS "Hey! Anyone here witness which extra has been snatching all the pastries from our Craft Services table here on the "Wait Until Dark" set??" ___ Hepburn: "ARKINSAW" See? 102A ain't so bad after all. Wildebeest uniform? GNUJERSEY

I liked this puzzle very much. I was familiar with the NOTRUESCOTSMAN fallacy among others and kinda grinned when I got that one. I got most of the ADHOC one but because of a wrong cross I didn't get the PROPTER part (which I kinda sorta semi-remembered but didn't fill in) for a bit.. I realize now I probably was familiar with that one mostly from having seen that West Wing episode. I loved the examples i.e. the clues, and other non-theme clues as well. Public Service Announcement: Although so many erudite people misuse the phrase, "Begging the question" doesn't just mean "leads us to the question" or "demands that we ask the question"... "Begging the question" is actually another term for circular reasoning. It gets tiresome sometimes to see even very smart people writing "And this begs the question..." when they simply mean "And that begs for us to ask the question", "demands that we ask" etc. *I just got back from a quick google to doublecheck and oops Merriam-Webster says it's a OK to use "begging the question" in this common usage. But then didn't they accept "irregardless" as a word a while back? YOU'RE NOT MY REAL DICTIONARY. I HAVE NO DICTIONARY

Had a mild, not wild, fine though-not-prime time with the rhymes. Not stellar like Uri Geller but it was a coup for a new debut, little glue, woohoo. And one of the few recent puzzles that didn't have ROO. Not heaven, but I give it a seven. A good smart start taking part in the crossword arts.

As promised/threatened, here's my stab at a few theme entries of my own: I realize two crossing words is much easier than fitting them in the context of a puzzle but here it is anyway. Once I realized the double-meaning of the word "bang", I immediately thought of two of my favorite though very different screen works, one small-screen, one big-screen. Here 'tis: ------ 34D - This is the way the poem ends, this is the way the poem ends, this is the way the poem ends, __________ but a whimper 64A - Critically lauded 1960s TV war drama co-starring Vic Morrow, which utilized lots of untranslated French & German native speakers, & half of whose first-season episodes were directed by up-and-coming director Robert Altman ~ ~ ~ N O T W I T H A COMBAT[bang] _____ 73D - Things may not end this way as per T S Eliot, but according to many astrophysicists, this is how it all began 82A - Wacky much-beloved 1980 film spoof which spawned many catchphrases like "And stop calling me 'Shirley'", "Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit smoking", & which featured Ethel Merman in a cameo as a delusional hospital patient who believed he was Ethel Merman ~ ~ ~ T H E B I G AIRPLANE[bang]

I just flew in from solving this chewy, Saturday-style Friday puzzle and boy are my brains tired! I don't think I've exclaimed out loud as exuberantly upon solving a puzzle as loudly as this time! The SE was my almost-Waterloo, it's so fun though when the cobwebs fall— for 35D I had BANK____, and as often happens with crosswords, I thought of 'ALL' the possibilities of what 'rails' could refer to— except of course the one it turned out to be. Bank of a river? Inside a bank where maybe the rails refers to those roped-off sections? Was it BANKline? Or was this referring to a BANKheist or BANKjob gone wrong? I didn't know what. I dunno when or how I thought of BANKSHOT and "ohhh, pool table 'rails'!!" So, for 54A I had DONTBEAfool, DONTBEAdolt, DONTBEAnass, even considered DONTBECRAZY for a nanosec. Maybe DONTBEAHERO is where things fell into place, I dunno… but that was so excellent to have the SE and thereby the puzzle fall into place. Lots of wonderful clues and entries. Maybe a couple 'meh'-ish entries but overall I thought this was quite wonderful. Now, regarding this Wordplay Comment section format though, why did NYT change it so you can't open the column and Comments in a browser so you can refer back to the puzzle? For what purpose is that change? Also, typing my comment here is made super-dysfunctional and anti-ergonomic by whatever new system they've installed. Cursor obscured by keyboard. Yecch. Not an improvement. Puzzle: good, NYT format change: not so good.

This puzzle put a grin on my face. I mean literally, when I caught on to the theme, and even after I finished it. Lots of chuckling. Very well done. Any puzzle that quotes a good Steven Wright quip (are there any other kind?) is already earning points right out of the starting gate. I just filled things in with "F's", didn't even occur to me to consider it as a rebus; after all, Steven Wright is Right! It SHOULD all be fonetic! (In fact that's how his name should be spelled, natch). I too was put in mind of the whole Filipino/ Philippines thing, nice extra "aha, hmmm, yeah" epifany. I started out reeeal slow, hardly filling in anything, but somehow it didn't feel 'unfair' or "d'oh, remote wavelength"; sometimes you don't get much on first pass but it still doesn't feel 'wrong', you just kind of keep going and hope to get some illumination. (Also at one point I realized I hadn't done many of the Downs cuz I'd somehow accidentally switched back to Acrosses, so once I had at 'em, I filled in some more. Never been more happy to see Tori AMOS in a puzzle). Good clues, some nice 'n sneaky; well done. Nice to see Emil Jannings in a puzzle. My phavorite 'Flox' can sport a grin even bigger'n my grin at doing this puzzle. You might find his Denobulan smile creepy; I just find it funny. After all, he's a doctor, not a monster. <a href="https://64.media.tumblr.com/ebbadea3ab905d69a702971a0a2a8ff6/dc3307d83680c27a-3a/s500x750/4508d288f586693eae97ce9abc22631180cd748b.gifv" target="_blank">https://64.media.tumblr.com/ebbadea3ab905d69a702971a0a2a8ff6/dc3307d83680c27a-3a/s500x750/4508d288f586693eae97ce9abc22631180cd748b.gifv</a> Onward to Phriday!

[I can't find the post I was gonna reply to, it was in a thread on the whole OXO tic-tac-toe debate. I thought it was someone named Roger, and his comments gave me an idea. Can't find the thread so I'll just post it here] "[??Roger's remarks] just spurred an idea for an April Fools Day puzzle that'd probably elicit 1000+ comments. (I hope no one actually takes up this idea) : A puzzle made (almost) entirely of those controversial bugaboos of the Wordplay Comments: nothing incorrect, nothing "wrong", just, the puzzle's entries would (almost) ALL be words like OCTOPI, and the Tic-Tac-Toe clue/answer just mentioned (OXO), no Naticks or anything controversial outside of crossword-world, just clue/answers that create such a hubbub every time they appear. So let's see, TAMALES, I'm blanking on others but there are so many of them. Strictly linguistic objections and controversy. Of course the constructor could also throw in, for the necessary short easy fill, things like OREO clued as "A black and white cookie", ONO as "Yoko ___" or "John Lennon's life/ 'Double Fantasy' partner", with no wit or inventiveness whatsoever. Hah. If it were a Sunday puzzle perhaps the title would be "Mar-teehee de Sade". Or "Marquis de HEY!!!!!" I still remember fondly an April Fool's Day puzzle where the theme answers had words from the clues, defying an actually pretty cardinal rule. Some people were mad. I found it funny. But my idea above I think would just be stirring up a wasps' nest… *snurk*

Even though I don't consider myself particularly bad at handy stuff— in fact I'm pretty good, in an elementary way— and my memory isn't too bad, still and all every day when I turn the radiator off at night (I like a cool sleeping environment) or on in the morning, I almost ALWAYS mutter aloud "Lefty loosey, righty tighty" (dunno why I say it in that order, I just do). This was a very fun puzzle. I, like at least one commenter, got TOOTH and LEAF without noting they kinda needed the word "loose" to make 'em a tight fit… and for some reason when I filled in SKIN (9A) I got my screws a bit loose and thought it was the answer to the 10D clue "Footballer's uniform" (I figured "aha, shirts and SKINs"— which is actually more of a basketball thing). So I didn't notice the need for LOOSE or TIGHT (especially since sometimes words fill in from the crosses), but once reading the column I'm very impressed with how well constructed the theme is! And the puzzle was fun overall with the clues etc. A very good, chewy, al dente Wednesday. Thank you Wealthy Felines. I'm sorry, I mean Rich Katz

This was a solid, enjoyable, breezy Wednesday puzzle. Nice theme, didn't get all the themers instantly but I rose to the occasion. After being about a day behind with the crosswords cuz of a busy Sunday, I put my petal to the metal and caught up. I like a puzzle that leaves you smiling and nodding. A nice mid-week mid-difficulty level, no STEM grant needed for this one but that's apt for a Wednesday! Might be an enjoyable solve even for someone who's green at it. Doesn't knock you to the flora with difficulty, likely wouldn't pistil anybody off, offers a potpourri of subjects (but isn't loaded with *too* many pop-py references that might incite impatiens) and is just overall a nice little puzzle that grows on you. Lilac'd it! 🌸 "Did you like it too," I aster? 🌸 "Aster?! I hardly know her!"

I liked this puzzle and enjoyed the theme. Somehow I didn't cop to the exclamation-point factor till the column! Now, I've eaten my share of those cookies but was probably too occupied stuffing them into my maw to note the exact nuances of the brand name, and I forgot the exclamation point in the campaign slogan cuz it feels like about 20 years ago, I recalled the Willa Cather title after a couple crosses but wasn't aware of the exclamation point, and somehow I forgot all about Yahoo's "!" even though I've seen it a million times. Before I read the column I'd wondered about the lame redundant 'bang' following the Acrosses with no connection or need for it going across. Ha. Now I see, and remember the "!'s"!! My stab at a few theme entries of my own in a sec. >>

I liked this puzzle a lot. Had heard of most of the films, even though I've only seen a handful of them. For me, like many others, TAW/tIRED/WIRED was the last corner to fall… though actually I then got it right, looked around the grid and saw that 99D/99A had a [deliberate, non-typo] 'Q' there, for qAYS and qABO— seemed right to me, what can I say, I may live a 3-minute walk from gorgeous Lake Michigan but it ain't an ocean— tried a "K" and then a "C" there, and got the golden statue🏆! So honored! I'd like to thank my grocer, my Instacart app, my WiFi hotspot, my— um I mean I got the congrats page. Delightful concept, Mr M, very well done. Kudos! ~ I scribbled these 'themers' yesterday, no inclination to refine 'em to be better/ funnier or give 'em clues, gonna slap 'em on here anyway: ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 📽 2001 GREMLINS WALK THE LINE 📽 MEATBALLS DAMAGED MY DINNER WITH ANDRE 📽 CLUELESS INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS STOP MAKING SENSE 📽 12 MONKEYS CRASH THE PARTY 📽 FOOTLOOSE FRANKENSTEIN IN BRUGES 📽 M*A*S*H FRIED GREEN TOMATOES IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT [or a special Halloween triple feature 📽 M*A*S*H FRIED GREEN TOMATOES IN COLD BLOOD] 📽 ALMOST FAMOUS CLERKS EATING RAOUL 📽 GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER IT'S PAT GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK 📽 LOVE! VALOR! COMPASSION! OH, GOD! AIRPLANE! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Dishonorable Mentions: 🎬 BEYOND THE FOREST WHAT LIES BENEATH THE BIG TREES 🎬 HELLO DOLLY WALL-E PAULIE ~ ~ ~ Thank you and good night 🐠

I liked this puzzle, and enjoyed catching on to the theme-- took a while for me to shift Buzz around in his orbit, same with putting JAZZHANDS back up (albeit in different order) after putting them in my pockets for a bit. I was very puzzled that it could be anyone but DONPARDO but I kept going back-and-forth with tearing out and putting back in part of that answer because it just wasn't working! I think what clued me in to the theme is I was pretty damn sure there's no product named NODOj. I was stuck in the North by Northwest for quite a while. I may as well have been scaling Mount Rushmore chased by evildoers for all the headway I was making. I think what unzipped it was when I finally got UNZIP, hoohah, good cluing. But even that last stretch of NxNW was still a gingerly tentative climb from the abyss. That crawl to the finish line ought to have been scored by Bernard Herrmann. One of z trickier, cleverer puzzles of a Thursday. Even if the precipitous NW got me temporarily zzdiy.