Got them all right, but I took almost 8 minutes.
― Kim Wipers - Youth in America (Leee), Thursday, 6 October 2022 14:47 (one year ago) link
Today is quite clever.
― Fartleby the Scrivener (Leee), Sunday, 16 October 2022 16:54 (one year ago) link
Boswords: Weeks 1-3, clean sheet, but not so Week 4. :(
― Fartleby the Scrivener (Leee), Tuesday, 25 October 2022 20:08 (one year ago) link
I did good on Week 4, but felt like I was totally guessing on a few crosses. rn I'm 4th overall in the Choppy rankings...this is before a bunch of the solvers have even finished, so I'm sure I'll get knocked down a few spots, but I think this is still as good as my competitive solving career is ever gonna get
― symsymsym, Wednesday, 26 October 2022 00:57 (one year ago) link
did thursday's late last night and couldn't parse the mechanism at all, but it's a good one
― symsymsym, Friday, 28 October 2022 16:23 (one year ago) link
Interesting grid today, though I'm of two minds on the fill.
― Rabbity Gainsborough (Leee), Friday, 4 November 2022 18:12 (one year ago) link
Awful SW corner today, I had to brute force my way through it.
― Rabbity Gainsborough (Leee), Sunday, 13 November 2022 16:34 (one year ago) link
Like VU ref today
― Meet Me in the Z'Ha'Dum (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 24 November 2022 17:48 (one year ago) link
And Bad Company reference.
― Meet Me in the Z'Ha'Dum (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 24 November 2022 18:48 (one year ago) link
Really enjoyed this Friday puzzle by Simon Marotte.
― Meet Me in the Z'Ha'Dum (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 25 November 2022 18:12 (one year ago) link
Fri and Sat puzzles were good but they were both too easy. I spent no more than 20 minutes on the two of them combined (and I wasn't even speed-solving). I need more resistance, this is getting ridiculous. I habitually set aside 30 minutes to do the Friday puzzle and 30 more for the Saturday puzzle but I feel like I'm getting ganked.
― Josefa, Sunday, 27 November 2022 01:53 (one year ago) link
Maybe, but wasn’t Thursday a little more dit than usual?
― The Dark End of the Tweet (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 27 November 2022 02:58 (one year ago) link
Difficult
I don’t do the Thursday ones. Maybe I should start.
― Josefa, Sunday, 27 November 2022 03:01 (one year ago) link
i thought Thursday's was medium-ish, tough going at first but fairly easy once you figured out what the trick was.
― Roz, Sunday, 27 November 2022 05:12 (one year ago) link
the Thursday reminded me of why I fckn hate the Thursday ones.
― assert (matttkkkk), Sunday, 27 November 2022 06:21 (one year ago) link
I think on Thursday I got 15 across, and then combined that with the fact that 10/11/12 "down" were such standard NYT filler, which clued me in quickly.
― Andrew Farrell, Sunday, 27 November 2022 11:00 (one year ago) link
breezed thru fri and sat too. today’s was a bit of a slog tbh.
― donna rouge, Sunday, 27 November 2022 19:19 (one year ago) link
Today’s was painful yes
― The Dark End of the Tweet (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 27 November 2022 19:36 (one year ago) link
yeah Sunday was horrible, after that weirdly easy Saturday
― assert (matttkkkk), Monday, 28 November 2022 18:05 (one year ago) link
...and then today felt difficult for a Monday - I finished it of course, but it had some kinda thorny cluing.
― Godley and Creamsicle (Ye Mad Puffin), Monday, 28 November 2022 19:29 (one year ago) link
Yeah, Naticky around 21A, and it took me about a minute and a half longer to solve than the last several Mondays.
― Rabbity Gainsborough (Leee), Monday, 28 November 2022 19:33 (one year ago) link
I also found today’s a slog for a Monday, although I at first thought it was because I am out of practice.
― The Dark End of the Tweet (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 28 November 2022 19:42 (one year ago) link
remarkably easy wednesday
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 30 November 2022 03:10 (one year ago) link
Just did the Tuesday a few minutes ago so will have a look-see now. Maybe my LL reminder will also serve as an Xword reminder.
― The Dark End of the Tweet (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 30 November 2022 03:22 (one year ago) link
You are correct, sir, felt like a super-easy Monday level puzzle.
― The Dark End of the Tweet (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 30 November 2022 03:44 (one year ago) link
thursday’s 28D is straight-up wrong iirc
― mookieproof, Thursday, 1 December 2022 23:39 (one year ago) link
That’s really weird.
― The Dark End of the Tweet (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 1 December 2022 23:45 (one year ago) link
Wikipedia doesn't contradict 28D though -- what am I missing?
― Rabbity Gainsborough (Leee), Friday, 2 December 2022 17:57 (one year ago) link
TS: ACT vs. NSW
― The Dark End of the Tweet (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 2 December 2022 18:00 (one year ago) link
Ohhh, the clue was correct on the web version, which left me very confused.
― Rabbity Gainsborough (Leee), Friday, 2 December 2022 18:08 (one year ago) link
changing it without noting the correction? where is the journalistic integrity
― mookieproof, Friday, 2 December 2022 19:06 (one year ago) link
Saturday’s puzzle fun but pretty easy?
― Soda Stereo Total (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 4 December 2022 00:21 (one year ago) link
41D and 42A ludicrously weird I thought. And a few difficult refs for a foreigner.
― assert (matttkkkk), Sunday, 4 December 2022 02:12 (one year ago) link
Another too-easy Fri/Sat but yeah, Sat had some weird entries.
― Josefa, Sunday, 4 December 2022 02:33 (one year ago) link
I've definitely seen both of those before in there.
― Andrew Farrell, Sunday, 4 December 2022 12:30 (one year ago) link
How about this Thursday’s puzzle?
― Soda Stereo Total (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 9 December 2022 14:32 (one year ago) link
not a fan
― mookieproof, Friday, 9 December 2022 14:43 (one year ago) link
Trying to decide whether it was clever or ugly. Jolie laide maybe.
― Soda Stereo Total (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 9 December 2022 14:48 (one year ago) link
On a Thursday you expect there to be a gimmick. This had three different gimmicks. The one with circled letters forming an appropriate word? Very nice, very layered. A good three-tier visual joke.
The one where a letter gets skipped in a humorously appropriate way? Very good. I generally like that kind of play on Thursday.
The third gimmick - with the shaded letters - was comprehensible in retrospect. I'll allow it (in the spirit of expanding the playfulness possibilities of crosswords), but it was not as elegant as the other two gimmicks.
Overall, refreshing. If you want hard themeless puzzles with no rebus trickery or whatever, go to Friday/Saturday or seek out the Fireball equivalents. If you start a Thursday NYT you should just accept that there's probably gonna be some hyjinx.
― Cirque de Soleil Moon Frye (Ye Mad Puffin), Friday, 9 December 2022 15:21 (one year ago) link
I actually didn't understand the circled letters at all? I understand the shape, but not why that word is within them.
― Andrew Farrell, Saturday, 10 December 2022 14:51 (one year ago) link
Hooked hand. FLUSH is a poker hand
― Soda Stereo Total (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 10 December 2022 14:58 (one year ago) link
Thank you!
― Andrew Farrell, Saturday, 10 December 2022 15:00 (one year ago) link
First Sunday I’ve actually enjoyed in a while.
― Soda Stereo Total (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 11 December 2022 01:51 (one year ago) link
it’s just . . . recipe ingredients? wtaf
― mookieproof, Friday, 16 December 2022 00:01 (one year ago) link
Yes just the ingredients alone would be a boring theme, but the revealer is a resplendent word, difficult for Americans to spell, and not a common crossword answer. I'll allow it. Difficulty-wise, it just scrapes into Thursday territory.
― Cirque de Soleil Moon Frye (Ye Mad Puffin), Friday, 16 December 2022 13:10 (one year ago) link
KAC with a tough but fair one today.
― Rabbity Gainsborough (Leee), Friday, 16 December 2022 18:26 (one year ago) link
Yeah. 16A, 17A, 58A were completely new to me. Finished in decent, but it took work.
I got 1A quickly but don't think I've seen it in a puzzle before.
― Cirque de Soleil Moon Frye (Ye Mad Puffin), Friday, 16 December 2022 21:23 (one year ago) link
3D, 10D, 30D, 52D were a bit of a stretch though. Leee's "tough but fair" is accurate.
― Cirque de Soleil Moon Frye (Ye Mad Puffin), Friday, 16 December 2022 21:25 (one year ago) link
Generally fine for me but I am heartily sick of slangy-nickname-for clues, the southeast had some near unsolvable crosses I had to guess/triangulate.
― assert (matttkkkk), Friday, 16 December 2022 22:02 (one year ago) link