Thursday

Pat Merrell's NYT was...surprisingly easy for a Thursday. Will has trained us to expect gimmicks or rebuses on Thursday, but unless I'm missing something, this is more of a straightforward crossword. (Nothing wrong with that.) It's a wee 14x14—is that the Thursday twist? There are plenty of slower-than-usual applet times, though—was it the theme entries, or a fruitless search for gimmickry that slowed folks down? I always like the chatty fill, like YES LETS and SEE YOU; SHOOFLY was nice, too. (But what's up with the various constructor Pats including PAT in the middle of their puzzles?)

Robert Wolfe's Themeless Thursday in the Sun gets bonus points for the blog blocks of white space, the pangramitude, CHIP SHOT, JUST FOR MEN, and EXTRA FRIES. It seemed a tad dry, though, with entries like MADE REAL and CRESTLESS and EROSIONAL; of course, I haven't even attempted to make a themeless myself, so it's easy for me to say (and hard for me to top).

Updated:

I enjoyed Paula Gamache's CrosSynergy puzzle, "All in Good Measure," which gives a shout-out to some of our lesser-known units of measure. Good theme, in my opinion. I preferred it to the embedded-AKA theme in the Sabins' LAT puzzle, anyway.

NYS 5:56
LAT 3:39
NYT 3:35
CS 2:56