Thad

Solved without having one single clue what the theme was. Went straight over my head!

Three and a half hours before this puzzle came out, one of my friends texted the group chat, “In XOXO, is x the hug or the kiss?” Weird timing!

What a wonderful debut. Loved the clever cluing with the doubling of “Guinness” and “Stag,” loved the theme itself, loved plenty of the clues (“Final points in scores?” So good.) Was frustrated by TOAT until my brain finally stopped trying to read it as one word and then I was impressed the puzzle had one more surprise for me. Favorite puzzle in a while, and this has been a particularly good week!

This was such an enjoyable solve!

This puzzle was missing a K and an M, but was so close to being a pangram! With ATOZ as fill and the NATO alphabet as the theme, can’t help but think that was a missed opportunity.

This took me 20 minutes above my average time and it was a *battle*. I had to use the Check feature at the end because I was too tired to figure out where my mistakes were. Grueling puzzle but I really enjoyed solving it.

“Type of beans for those who don’t want to be full of beans” is a great clue. Wish it had made it.

My previous Monday best was 2:26. 2:25 today, baby!

I don’t think I got any PBs this week, but I think this might be my PB for a consecutive week (starting Monday, ending today). 61:29!

I’ve looked this puzzle up and down like three times and I’m not seeing a W. Am I missing it, or did Josh really get 25/26 of the way to a pangram and not cross the finish line? Enjoyable puzzle, nonetheless!

My Friday best *and* I got tripped up in the northwest. Super breezy Friday, IMO.