Awww...

What a sweet and romantic puzzle! Wesley Johnson's Monday NYT lays it all out: four 10-letter entries—FALL IN LOVE, GET ENGAGED, GET MARRIED, and SETTLE DOWN—culminating in the central crossing pair of MOM and POP. (We'll assume that BILLS and DEBT aren't necessarily part of the storyline.) If November 21 happens to be Wesley Johnson's parents' anniversary, he definitely wins crossword son of the year. There's also a (presumably unintentional) crossword constructor mini-theme, the symmetrically located Peter ABIDE and Harvey ESTES.

Gary Steinmehl's NYS puzzle, "Child's Play," made me nostalgic for the days of playing tag. I think Peter Gordon got the days mixed up this week, though—the Tuesday puzzle went way faster than the Monday.

NYS 3:55
LAT 3:02
CS 2:55
NYT 2:52