This is the crossword puzzle thread

Rex Parker OTM about today’s NYT puzzle:

This is a puzzle with a dense, multi-layered, architecturally impressive theme, and I viscerally disliked almost every second of solving it. Torture.

I stopped doing Sunday puzzles a few months ago. It's been a freeing feeling.

Such a slog, even when I got it down to under ten minutes for a while- and still wasn’t competitive!

Rex Parker in hate-solving shocker.

I'm still all about minis/variety puzzles/cryptics, although lately I've been on Nikoli kick.

Heh. Rex Parker a lot nicer in real life but yeah.

I had a tough time but eventually finished. If I'd thought to look at the title I would probably have gotten the theme significantly faster - but then I'm pretty used to solving conventionally before seeing the themey stuff.

Rex isn't my bag at all, so I try to not take too many cues from him. Today WAS tough, but I enjoyed it! I felt like I earned that A-HA. I think Jeff Chen had a good idea about ways that could've improved the execution, though.

I Like Sunday for basically just being 4 Mondays sellotaped together.

Heh. Good description.

The first of the black boxes that I got was FLU, and I thought each one was going to be a different illness for which there's a vaccine. As high concept as the theme was, I was disappointed when that didn't end up being it.

Yeah the theme would definitely have made more sense if I'd known the title beforehand. I had SET, FLU, and RIM and saw nothing that could link them.

In fairness, I don't think I've ever heard of 'set shot' before?

it's a basketball term

I did not like Thursday's, especially since I got stuck and left it and completely forgot to try to finish it, thus ending my nascent streak.

Is today's NYT puzzle a themeless, i.e. not a rebus? I'm getting naticked, AGAIN.

Today has no rebuses, no. The long answers are multi-word, but not unsolvable imo

I didn't know 32A or 56A but the downs worked

I had an error elsewhere yesterday which I finally caught. Streak still intact, with minimal cheating.

Today's another hard one, but I liked the bottom half a lot. The cluing for the NW felt too slippery for me, though.

today's NW featured a word i was wholly unfamiliar with -- which, fine, i learned something new -- and a form of a common word that i don't believe anyone has ever used. all of which really exposed my supernatural-teen-drama-protagonist weakness. probably spent half of my total time in that corner

feel like a real crossword guy now that i've developed a STYE

The clues today are really hard, especially that NW.

When both Jeff Chen and Rex Parker sing the praises of a puzzle, you know you've got a good one. Really good fill and cluing today, if on the easy side (I set a personal best for a Saturday).

So you are saying I should come out of hiding and try to solve

i liked it. many cheesy jokes. 38 down questionable. 22 across ok i’ll allow it. 56 down the kind of boiled down essence of what you’re going for on a saturday, kudos.

12 down was a bit of Leo pointing at the tv

I didn't even know Across Lite and .puz had gone away.

Gone off the internet because of clues.

Hated yesterday's, nearly broke my streak of 200+.

agreed

yeah i didn’t care for it either, lots of annoying fill/cluing. i was particularly annoyed by the clue for 41-across, which i didn’t understand at all. that punny use of “natural” seems pretty obscure to me?

Same here. The entire puzzle is a pile up of obscure cluing and/or answers, NE is absolutely heinous.

So are y'all using the app, web and/or phone? Does it affect your solving speed or do you care?

App is my only access and I usually do the easier ones in bed when I wake with raging anxiety. I make so many typos I reckon it adds 10% to my solve times tho.

I guess the way you can switch between the phone app and web app is nice.

Probably best for me not to worry about time for the time being

I use all "three" (really, it's just mobile vs. web IMO), though tellingly, the only time I posted a sub-4:00 solve was on web (via laptop).

mostly use apps these days. i did just do that super-mega crossword from the NYT puzzlemania insert the other day in pencil, but it’s not like i had any other choice. i do enjoy the physical act of writing in letters but apps are just more convenient for how i solve in everyday life i guess

I usually do the daily NYTs on the website via laptop. The app is frustrating because it's hard to see the acrosses and downs at the same time. I can do a Monday on the app because it is literally just typing, but past Wednesday I need more information before committing to an answer.

Fireballs I print out and do in ink on paper.

For the Bee I use the app until I get to Genius, then I need a different window for the Forum hints, which are usually required to get to Queendom.

Another nice thing about the web and phone apps is that they are integrated with other things so clicking on a date or link in xwordinfo, say, brings up the puzzle in question.

I like printing em out, idk

Probably for the best. B-b-but then you don't get the instant gratification of e-checking! Oh wait.

When I'm working on paper and finish a New Yorker or Fireball, I am starting to hear the NYT "finished" noise in my head

I let my Fireball subscription lapse finally, despite the flood of emails Peter sends to remind me what I am missing

yeah I let fireball lapse this year too. still subscribing to avxclub and the great aries themelesses.

Oh yeah, Aries. Does he still do the Rows Garden?

yeah I think so. didn't keep up with those, but they're a cool puzzle.

Okay, I like Wednesday’s gimmick.

Okay, so do people generally like the default setting that when you are done with one word you skip to the next, or does anyone switch that off, like me?

Anyway, Stella's Saturday Stumper for Newsday yesterday was reallly good.

under ten minutes for the nyt saturday this week is close to a record for me, think it was an easy one tho