PB
@kkseattle
Same!
I love the illustration for that alarm clock patent from 1919.
I can just imagine a more restless sleeper than the idealized model in the drawing, and the trip-hammer flailing wildly to make contact with the sleeper's head as the subject rolls from side to side.
A fitting Rube Goldberg disciple.
Is the New York Times Crossword app for IOS ever going to support a dark mode?
@Steven Kadish It already does :) Tap the gear in the top right corner of the app to open the “Settings” menu. Once that opens up, look for “Color Theme.” Love dark mode!
1
Happily, all in my wheelhouse! Not usually the case for me with a Saturday. Cute to see TIGE.
Jennifer Garner once reprimanded Conan O’Brian for using the word snuck, saying there’s no such word and he should know better since he’s a Harvard graduate. English is not my first language yet I was flabbergasted. At her.
3
@MP How presumptuous (and incorrect) of her! Drives me nuts when these Hollywood people presume to be experts on just about everything.
@Stephanie
Agree that it isn't nearly as annoyveying when it's non-Hollywood people presuming to be the experts on the everythings.
3
Thank God for this puzzle! I was about to hang it up after having almost zero success on both crosswords from Thursday and Friday.
5
I was taught that "snuck" is not a word. I've corrected (gently) many people over the years and I'm adding the NYT crossword puzzle to the list!
1
@kathlenry
We're often taught things that change while we're not looking. Often they've already changed while the teacher wasn't looking. SNUCK is not incorrect:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snuck
How many years is "over the years"? My father used to complain the same way about words, and I pointed out to him that he learned about those words seventy years earlier. Language evolves!
3
kathlenry,
It snuck in while you weren't looking.
6
The same way SB and LB are relegated to our own little thread, I wish that the timer-ppl (a/k/a "I'm so fast!") would be relegated to theirs. Would it be too harsh to suggest they are UTTER BORES?
7
No problemA
3
@Carolina jessamine
No español. Inglés.
In Spanish, it would be "No hay problema" or "Ningún problema" anyway.
2
No problemO
Have a tamalE
@Carolina jessamine
lol, you heard it here, Jess o' mine!!
After this past Thursday, we were grateful for an easy Friday and a pretty reasonable (and fun, with lots of "triumph") Saturday. And we appreciate the constructor's view of crossword puzzling as a family activity.
5
This went well for me until the upper right remained, and remained, and remained. Finally OPT (TO) broke the ice. Very fine puzzle, yet I will complain about one thing: Just as I'm not fond of seeing disapproved of-words like the spelling OCTOPI for octopuses, it doesn't do much for me to see, dare I say erroneous, phrases like AS PER USUAL. AS USUAL, or PER USUAL — fine. Both of them? Ugh.
Still, I don't blame the constructor for that. The puzzle was a lot of fun and a nice challenge today.
2
@polymath
Sorry you don't like OCTOPI. They're very good marinated with a little cilantro.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/octopi
3
wow, i did not expect such an easy puzzle for a saturday ~ i am slightly disappointed, having expected to spend more than the 14 minutes it took me to finish ~ and that was with a couple of minutes letting the timer run while i watched a bit of a cooking show ~ now i have all this extra time to fill!
4
I HAD A BLAST with this puzzle today! Challenging as a Saturday should be, it took me quite a while to chip away at. It was not a SNOOZE FEST or an UTTER BORE. Even the foreign words didn't make make feel like I'M OUTRAGED.
5
Lots of fantastic phrases (StandingO!) with clever cluing, but this felt too easy for a Saturday. After Super Freak (a gimme for those of a certain age) everything just fell into place. Friday, on the other hand, gave me fits.
6
Boyoboyoboy! It's been some EONs since I read Cry, the Beloved Country and Too Late, the Phalarope! Well worth the reading, but seems asif ALAN PATON may have had a fixation on commatizing his titles.
#ReadersDigestCondensed Books
Took a while to think past Monsieur Poirot's little grey cells and soothing cup of hot chocolate and retirement plans to grow marrows [whatsoever they may be] to finally see his SACREBLEU. Mille tonnerres, but ce petit Belge had his share of tics!
@Caitlin, thanks for the clip from Pat and Mike, one of may favourite Hepburn-Tracy movies. Along with about 10 or 12 others.
Thought this NPW offering a pretty fair balance between recent colloquialisms and those of the more AK variety, so I won't say I'M OUTRAGED or inRAGED. If that makes me isoRAGED, I'll give it a STANDING A-E-I-O-U.
NAAN na na na NAAN,
NAAN na na NAAN,
na na NAAN,
na na NAAN
NAAN na na NAAN
5
@Leapfinger
Ah, but what else might one expect of a man vexed so often by his stomach but visions of cucurbitaceous grandeur? Cultivating giant zucchinis ought to be taught in gastroenterology residency programs, n’est-ce pas?
2
@Floyd sighting: I just took a gander at the comments for Friday’s puzzle because sometimes @Leapfinger posts late and, lo and behold, there was a late comment from @Floyd (Durham, NC), he of the smiley faces next to clever clues. He explained that he’s now solving in the evening after everyone is already focused on the next day’s puzzle, so he hasn’t been posting. @Floyd, if you read this, glad that you are well and hope you will at least pop in from time to time. And, bring @Henry Su with you, please. You are both missed.
8
I loved this one. I don’t think it’s less worthy just because I set a new Saturday time record with it. Lots of fun, no clues or answers that seemed out of tune.
1
Much easier for me than either Thursday or Friday --- that's not necessarily a bad thing because it will give me more time to tackle the Saturday prize cryptic in the Financial Times. My first one in was INAPT so I thought a 10 letter answer for "one with something to prove" beginning with a "P" might be Pythagoras but I held back on that IDEA. Happy to see ALAN PATON in today's grid --- his Cry, the Beloved Country has stuck in my BEAN since high school and that's a good thing.
1
Fun, yes. Awfully easy for a Saturday though.
3
SACREBLEU! Quel délicieux!
This puzzle stays crunchy - even in milk!
https://youtu.be/sCFI0zJMWnQ?t=711
3
I had no problemo completing this puzzle so I’m giving myself a standing O. For a Saturday it wasn’t that difficult but it wasn’t a snooze fest either. It should be used as bait to tempt more people to try the Saturday puzzle.
9
That was really fun!
ZORRO MASK gave me SNOOZEFEST and after that it was NO PROBLEMO. Clueing was terrific!
1
Thank you, Caitlin, for today's wonderful Wordplay illustration. A lovely punctuation to a good puzzle day.
4
Great fun. For 4D, before even looking at the grid, I hoped it might be IGIEG.
4
Puzzle of the year! Seemed like every long answer was better than the last. Amazing amazing puzzle.
6
This puzzle has pizzazz. It has personality! It talks to me, literally: I'M OUTRAGED! SACRE BLEU! NO PROBLEMO. IT FIGURES. OK SO?
ZORRO MASK immediately conjured up a visual of ZORRO whipping his sword through the air, making a sharp Z.
Too much fun, Neil Padrick Wilson! I HAD A BLAST!
9
I’ll call this one a “solve” (no capital ‘S’) - because I had to “research” the name of a dog, the author of a book and a title character for something, (play?, book?, movie?)
Other than those - and the word SNUCK - which grates on my grammatical senses (in spite of its legitimacy) - this was a totally enjoyable puzzle.
I thought I was onto a theme after filling in SNOOZE FEST and UTTER BORES - so I wasted some synapse firings trying to make sense out a theme in other places.
Spent WAY too much time trying to make some variant of EARL GREY TEA fit at 60A. It IS ENGLISH TEA, though, so I was on the right track. D’OH! And - - - COFFEE is the breakfast beverage of choice in MY house.
I’ve been wearing them for about three years but have never heard hearing aids referred to as PA’s.
2
@PeterW Think "hearing aid" in terms of public address (PA) system :)
5
@PeterW
An afterthought: Does anyone drink COVFEFE for breakfast??
7
@PeterW I'm normally put off by trivia, so I was really happy to get all those entries from crosses! Although I did have to guess at the BAMA / MADEA cross randomly till I got the happy music :-)
I’ll call this one a “solve” (no capital ‘S’) - because I had to “research” the name of a dog, the author of a book and a title character for something, (play?, book?, movie?)
Other than those - and the word SNUCK - which grates on my grammatical senses (in spite of its legitimacy) - this was a totally enjoyable puzzle.
I thought I was onto a theme after filling in SNOOZE FEST and UTTER BORES - so I wasted some synapse firings trying to make sense out a theme in other places.
Spent WAY too much time trying to make some variant of EARL GREY TEA fit at 60A. It IS ENGLISH TEA, though, so I was on the right track. D’OH!! And - - - COFFEE (not COVFEFE!) is the breakfast beverage of choice in MY house.
I’ve been wearing them for about three years but have never heard hearing aids referred to as PA’s.
1
@PeterW The PAS are public address systems, I believe.
3
Can anyone help confirm this with me?
I believe that Ashanti was the first female singer with three top 10 hits at the same time back in 2002. That would set her with the record a decade before Adele had the honor of accomplishing the same feat after her record 21 broke out in 2011/2012.
Am I wrong or is the mighty NYT wrong?
Perhaps I'm living in a snoozefest!
2
@David
Wikipedia says Ashanti was the first female artist to have TWO top 10 hits at the same time....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashanti_(singer)
@Puzzledog Billboard suggests otherwise.
In spring of 2002, Ashanti had THREE top 10 hits at the same time.
https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/8085800/cardi-b-the-beatles-ashanti-hot-100-top-10
https://www.billboard.com/music/ashanti
1
@David
Two of the three were other artists "featuring Ashanti". That may be why the clue reads as it does.
4
I would like to propose a STANDING O for the 34D clue. And SUPER FREAK makes me want to rewatch Little Miss Sunshine...
A very nice Saturday puzzle.
6
@dlr
Thanks for reminding of Little Miss Sunshine's end... as well as of Grandpa Alan Arkin's.
[smiles]
4
Tried SNOOZERINO (well, it sounded fun) and WHAT A BLAST. EMEND before SMELT.
OCTAD? OCTET?
Knew the author ALAN PATON--that was a big help.
And *then* I did the Saturday Stumper--in one sitting! Without coffee!! (DHubby slept in.)
27 degrees this a.m., big freeze. The sun is quickly dispensing with the frost, and it is supposed to warm up to 60 degrees. Woo woo. Charlotte the Kitty is posted in my lap, icy little paws tucked under. Stay warm, everyone!
5
It takes courage to put in fill like SNOOZEFEST and UTTER BORES because you never know if they'll be used against you in a critique of the puzzle. But the constructor also put in I HAD A BLAST and STANDING O (which has an adorable clue at 34D), so I guess he's an optimist. Anyway it's a puzzle that's chock-full of vernacular expressions, which beats a puzzle that's chock-full of trivia. Still some of the names that were there -- TIGE and MADEA -- almost brought me down. I was tempted to look them up, but am glad that I didn't and solved cleanly, if slowly.
I found a couple of answers very hard to see: WRUNG for "twisted" and NOT US for "them".
All I can think of as a "pre-moving event" is packing. And more packing. And still more packing. I've never had a GARAGE SALE and don't even have a GARAGE.
I assumed hot dogs came in a pack of a dozen, not an OCTET. But how would I know? When years ago I read what was actually in hot dogs, I stopped eating them on the spot. I probably haven't had a hot dog in 25 years and don't miss them. I mostly liked the mustard anyway.
With the exception of OK SO, I enjoyed the puzzle.
2
"I've never had a GARAGE SALE and don't even have a GARAGE."
Nancy,
The former would follow from the latter.
(Unless, of course, you have a garage in your past.)
1
@Nancy Hot dogs generally come in packages of 10, whereas hot dog buns come in packages of eight.
I have never understood the reason for this.
7
@Chief Quahog
So you buy two packages of rolls? 😁
2
Once I got SNUCK then SNOOZEFEST the rest poured out very quickly. Maybe because I’m on vacation and had two cups of coffee and the stress factors of life are INAPT and at an EBB. Or maybe because SUPERFREAK in on my playlist and I was just listening to it the other day. SACREBLEU that was fun! Tied for my best time (11:08)! Can’t help but feel good about the day ahead.
2
I'm not exaggerating when I say I got a Tuesday time for this puzzle.
A few weeks ago when I mentioned to a fellow crossword-doer that my fastest Wednesday is faster than my fastest Tuesday, she speculated that might mean the constructor is a simpatico person. I thought that was a nice thought.
5
I see I'm not alone. Around 32 minutes for the gold star, fastest Saturday I can recall. Loved the original clue (to me) for OREO. Really loved SUPERFREAK and ZORROMASK. Would love to be invited to that party!
4
It is a warm fuzzy and thrilling experience when one finds the groove of a clever and original puzzle like this. It mysteriously stems from something closer to ESP than from mere logic or cognition . I especially loved SACREBLEU, ASPERUSUAL, NOPROBLEMO because I say them. Often. Honest. Not per usual, I was able to get unfamiliar words like SUPERFREAK from crosses. Many thanks, brilliant constructor!
4
I used my little gray cells on this one. Happily I was rewarded with a gold star. LOL moment was knowing TIGE and wondering why.
Thank Neil
4
@dk Ad: "That's my dog Tige, he lives in a shoe. I'm Buster Brown. Look for me in there too!"
8
@dk
“little gray cells”
I saw what you did there.
Well, I suspected everyone else would find this easy, since I managed to finish it. NO PROBLEMO - most of all I found this a very very enjoyable puzzle though it took some work for me.
Had to let the music for 39a run through the back of my brain before I finally got to the title, but that was a big help. I've noticed many times before that one answer can unlock an entire area and that was the case today in a couple of places. Without going into all the detail - I had some things in both areas, but finally thinking of BEGAT in the south and ZORRO in the NW just opened up those sections completely.
I'm a happy camper today.
3
Quite possibly the easiest Saturday puzzle ever. I needed that win. It’s been a rough week. Much fun!
8
Me too - 12:12 vs. 34:34 for this week's Friday puzzle and 27:52 for Thursday's.
But definitely not a SNOOZEFEST.
2
Wednesday's XXX puzzle and today's drove me crazy, but for different reasons; Wednesday's because it was the hardest hump day puzzle I've ever slogged through in my 50+ years of doing NYT puzzles. Today's was a breeze. But for language purists such as I, "snuck" makes my skin crawl. And for this retired Spanish teacher, I cringe when I hear "No problemo." It's PROBLEMA, dammit! Yeah, yeah, I know they're both idioms, but to me they're like chalk on a blackboard. And if I wanted chalk on a blackboard, I'd go back to teaching. Oh wait, there's no more chalk and no more blackboards. But at least the infernal conversational phrases I moaned about last Saturday were easy and legit. But overall, I enjoyed it.
6
Friday's puzzle vexed me, but I was on to the theme for Wednesday's pretty quickly and got it in 10:16
1
"It's PROBLEMA..."
Tamale trap!
(I submitted a reply with a longer quote from the post ... which may have gone into the emu trap.)
3
@Times Rita
I went back to school (at the tender age of 60) to earn a teaching certificate and wound up teaching High School Math & Sciences classes for five years. It was a little “different” than the High School I remember from the 50’s!!
If you DO ever get the urge to go back to teaching, CALL me and I’ll talk you out of your insanity!
5
I believe this is the first time I solved a Saturday puzzle without going to Google or other sources to look up the answers. This was an enjoyable Saturday morning treat.
9
I’m just going to say that although M. HP did say SACRE BLEU, his usual phrase was “Nom d’un nom d’un nom!” something which I’m guessing Christie’s governess or somebody used to say. Maybe any French speakers could weigh in.
The puzzle was good. I really wanted to get kinky in for twisted. Right under SUPERFREAK that would be awesome.
4
All I can say is: "I HAD A BLAST!"
5
Fun times -- let me count the ways. SNOOZEFEST, NO PROBLEMO, I HAD A BLAST, SUPERFREAK, SACRE BLEU, IT FIGURES, STANDING O, ZORRO MASK, ATE IT.
Jank lite, lovely clues for WOMAN [Amazon, e.g.] and PAS [Hearing aids, in brief]. Some may nit about I, I'M, and another I'M leading off answers, but not me. I was having too much fun. Much gratitude, Neil!
5
Northeast was tricky. I had totalBORE for a long time. I thought NOT US but i had that error in the crossing. In the end IHADABLAST but was really surprised by ADELE. I thought about all the wonderful women artists and wondered how far back the top 10 went.
1
@Elke I too was surprised that it was someone so recent.
This played like a typical Saturday for me. I loved seeing ZORRO MASK although I can't remember the last time I saw ZORRO on Halloween (or any other day for that matter). I tried to fit Earl Grey Tea into 60A but came up short.
1
@Paul ZORROMASK came to me immediately because that character was my first-begat son’s favorite at age 4, when in a streaming cape and black sombrero he wore it riding his super- trike in the local parade. He wore ONLY an eye-mask, though, because he wanted a mom-painted mustache. That “boy” is pushing 60 now, but I can see the same thrill on his face when he has a big success of any kind.
4
IT FIGURES that if I find a Saturday puzzle to be quite a smooth solve, most everyone will have found it very easy, but I'm not complaining at all. I really enjoyed this and loved all the expressions.
Oddly, one of the fills I had the most trouble with was 60A; I wanted to shoehorn Earl Grey tea into that spot. I never drink it, or any kind of tea.
Thanks for a very enjoyable Saturday puzzle, Neil.
2
@suejean They let you live in the UK without drinking tea??
SACRE BLEU!
2
LETTER BOXED THREAD
Lots of possibilities today. Here are a few:
D-L(9), L-G(4)
L-S(5), S-C(8)
P-S(8), S-G(5)
... all 13!
YESTERDAY:
PHOTOBOMB BREWSKI was my only (and the NYT's) solution.
2
Yesterday, I only had the second and part of the first word within my 15 minute rule. Knew it was some kind of bomb, but I bombed instead!
Today, pleased to escape with a two word solution in my quarter hour: U-P (6) P-S (9). If I had known the crossword would take less than half my time limit (I did it later in the day), I might have given Letter Boxed a few more.
Mari, you are a word machine!
Mostly a real smooth one, in contrast with the crazy Thursday. But I was stuck for about 30 minutes trying to find one one wrong letter. it finally occurred that while click bait can be used to tempt, AD BAIT is not a thing. The D seemed to work with a personal audio device...
1
First Saturday ever!
No lookups. Okay, I did go through the alphabet on the T cross of ALANPATON and UTNE (two proper nouns?), but at least I knew it was that cell.
I can’t believe it, it was out of body watching myself come up with the longs out of nothing. SUPERFREAK was my starter. What is SACREBLEU? How did I guess that? I got the longs to help with the short crosses. I’m a Tuesday level solver.
I’m so amped. I don’t care if it was “easy”. You never forget your first...
It was interesting how the O in 16A and 34D were 90 degrees from each other. Same for the I in 3D and 53A. And they were all bordered by Ts. I am guessing by design.
Can’t stop smiling...
28
Congrats!
5
@Newbie
There's nothing quite like that first successful Saturday solve... I never thought of crosswords as being something that you could "learn" and improve upon the more you solve them. So glad I was wrong about that! :)
2
@Newbie
Woo-hoo! Great to see someone having fun on Saturday.
2
SPELLING BEE GRID
Nov 9 2019
O G H I L T W
WORDS: 25, POINTS: 80, PANAGRAMS: 1, BINGO
G x 4
H x 4
I x 1
L x 6
O x 1
T x 5
W x 4
4L x 15
5L x 4
6L x 5
8L x 1
4 5 6 8 Tot
G 2 - 2 - 4
H 3 - 1 - 4
I - 1 - - 1
L 3 2 - 1 6
O 1 - - - 1
T 4 1 - - 5
W 2 - 2 - 4
Tot 15 4 5 1 25
46
@Mari missing W6 got the tree.
@Kevin Davis silly me, we’ve had that one before. It’s an exclamation of excitement. Pangram is something dull or disappointing. Everything else we’ve had previously.
4
@Kevin Davis Yes - quick and easy today again. 2 exclamation words, W4 and W6, as you have found. A very large G-number, seen previously, an ice-cave and a male 'escort'.
6
10 minutes faster than yesterday.
16A came to me quickly, as I'd just rewatched Terminator 2 (in 3D on the big screen!) in prep for Dark Fate.
I think the clue for 59A should end in a question mark, guess I still don't understand how those are used in clues.
1
@Bill in Yokohama this are bendie folks!
“Over all, I hope this turns out to be a clean, crunchy and enjoyable solve! “
2 out of 3 ain’t too shabby.
Demolition workers have a blast on the job.
(They deserve a raze.)
10
Super Freak figures prominently in Little Miss Sunshine, in a beautifully subversive way.
Oh my gosh. 24 minutes. I finally finished a Saturday!
9
@Clare One of my favorite movie scenes. Here's the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtVmfXnJM80
..
4
Trying to appease me for yesterday's hardest puzzle ever? This was not quite a Monday, but 31:58 is less than half my reported Saturday average.
I think this was the first time I have ever completed a puzzle in 25% of the average for that day. Was expecting the happy music to be played by an OCTET
4
@ColoradoZ
In your honor then, a little Mozart for wind OCTET.
https://youtu.be/Qgp3zHeGvIA
5
@vaer
Thanks. That's more like it. Would be nice if that were to be played each time
3
@ColoradoZ
Thanks. I think it's just a bit too long for every day use. Some people apparently complete puzzles in less time.
1
(Regarding the picture), anyone else wonder why the government would grant a patent to an automatic eye gouger?
5
Anyone put ENEMY for "Them"?
2
@Steve L
Yep! - - - But it didn’t last very long.
"Stan Dingo" would make a great porn name
17
First Saturday gold!
7
My first ever Saturday gold star!
18
Saturday was easier than Friday which was easier than Thursday
16
My experience exactly. Today was barely longer than my Thursday average. This despite a pretty empty grid after my initial Across and Down passes. Maybe it was because each long success helped so much?
2
@Austin Friday was a relative breeze for me but Thursday was a real struggle and definitely the hardest one this week.
@James Jacobs
I don't understand why so many found Friday easier than Thursday. Thursday took a long time, but I finished it. Spent a half hour longer on Friday, and finally gave up!
3
OK, SO...relatively quick for a Saturday.
It wasn't a SNOOZEFEST, nor would I give it a STANDING O. I wouldn't say I'M OUTRAGED either. The long stacks were very fresh, certainly not UTTER BORES. For the most part it was NO PROBLEMO.
But the glut of informal phrases may be a little off-putting for some. Phrases like OK SO, NOT US,OPT TO, I'M UP I thought a tiny unfair to have so many. In this puzzle though, the interesting longer entries made those a little easier to forgive.
The SNOT and ATE IT crossing in the lower right corner BEGAT some remembrances of my kids' younger days...
8
@Wen
Mix this with Thursday and Friday and you might have a great puzzle. I liked it but I finished thinking, “Oh great, Sunday’s puzzle will be a POW!” because I didn’t think this one would due to its seeming lack of Saturday bite. But ALAS, Jeff POW!ed it. I know, I know, Sunday’s can still be great, but it’d be nice to anticipate a Sunday POW!
1
@Puzzlemucker
I don't know. Any puzzle with SUPER FREAK in it deserves POW consideration. :)
4
@vaer
True! What was I thinking. SACRE BLEU, what SACRilege. It occurs to me that SUPERFREAK is to us what a song like “Wonderful World” was to our parents. Here’s a country version by Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby (with some great BANJO):
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AHPhZwZKvzk
2
ALAS, I prefer a crunchier cookie than a creme-filled OREO. Fast, fun, but now I'll go into to the archives for something SUPERFREAKy. Happy weekend!
2
@Ann
Happy hunting. I confess to having had more than enough crunch yesterday, when I had to use check puzzle a bit to make sure I was on the right track. I'm off to find The New Yorker weekend puzzle, which is somewhere in my emails.
1
@Ann I wonder how many different ways the (un)official cookie of crossword puzzles has been clued. This particular cluing reminds me of a time when my daughter had to tag along with my husband and I to a rehearsal. It pushed our lunch time later than usual, so we were all feeling a bit hangry. Afterward we asked her, "What would you like for lunch?" To which she snarkily replied, "Dirt." We ended up at a barbecue restaurant that offered "dirt " on the kids' dessert menu, so she did indeed get to have dirt.
Wow! It's been said before, but to be redundant... This was no SNOOZEFEST, 'cause I HAD A BLAST!
😁
5
IT FIGURES, so many Saturday PRs, and for me too.
For everyone who didn’t PR today: feel free to reply “OK SO” to all these self-congratulatory posts ;)
5
I thought Poirot's exclamation was "No monsieur, I am Belgian."
Enjoyed the puzzle, many thanks, Neil.
11
@Wags
Someone I know was looking for some interesting reading while recuperating from some serious surgery. So I recommended a good author I know and turned him onto your Rick Montoya series.
I have a feeling they'll be "downright therapeutic".
3
@Wags
Someone I know was looking for interesting reading while recuperating from serious surgery. So I recommended a good author I know and turned him onto your Rick Montoya series.
I have a feeling they'll be "downright therapeutic".
@Leapfinger Those look interesting!
1
Nice puzzle. Much easier for me than either Thursday or Friday this week. Not that I'm complaining.
3
I didn't even try.
@K Barrett
I almost had the same reaction. Had very little filled in after one pass in each direction - and I didn’t “believe” in a couple of my answers.
But I had another go at it - - and VOILA!
If one does not “exercise” that thing between one’s ears, one never develops crossword skills.
1
@K Barrett why was that? I ask because I didn't either. This one was the most difficult ever for me! I'm surprised by all these comments on how easy it was. What's wrong with me? :D
@Nora K Nothing's wrong with you! Sometimes the puzzles click; sometimes they don't. This one was filled with slangy informal chat, and that can be particularly difficult for some (like me).
1
Whoa, personal best Saturday! Either I’m getting better or the puzzles are getting easier, but IHADABLAST. I’m a bit disturbed that my first thought for 5A turned out to be right. Perhaps there is a crossword brain virus, and I might have it.
6
@Dave M You and me both on 5A!
1
Fastest Saturday ever! Nice to get an easy one now and then.
10
After a Friday puzzle on Thursday and a Wednesday puzzle on Friday, I had hoped for a Saturday Saturday. While this one was no SNOOZEFEST it was definitely NOPROBLEMO, but I won't say IMOUTRAGED. I'd call it an easier Friday than Thursday.
8
@Barry Ancona
I flew through this in Tuesday time. This week has been so confusing!
SUPERFREAK, super fast. 13 minutes is a fairly quick Saturday.
3
@Mr. Mark,
Yes, "fairly" quick. I once (ONCE, mind you, in decades) racked up a 14-minute Saturday and almost folded up in hypoglycemic shock.
Nice work, M. Mark!!
1
Zippiest Saturday in ages. It sang to me: SUPERFREAK, HELLO. Definitely not a SNOOZEFEST. No complaints, except an unusual-for-a-Saturday “I want more!”
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So much faster than yesterday's puzzle for me! Sometimes the Friday puzzles really do me in, but I can rebound on Saturdays. It helped that I knew SUPERFREAK (and now I'll have that as an ear worm for a while). I thought 18A might be a PROSPECTOR who has to prove a claim, but ALAS, no. I'm not a big fan of the conversational entries, so that dampened my enthusiasm for this puzzle.
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Same! Set a new Saturday PR and did it all in one go whereas yesterday’s took several revisits to fill it all in.
@Liz B @Katie
I second the rapid motion. Within seconds of my PR.
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