Sunday

Mike Torch's Sunday NYT, "Word Display," was on the easy side, but I liked it. It was especially light on obscurity—I'm not positive I've heard of the "spinachlike plant" ORACH before; this herbal info about it is entertaining (it's good for "wandering pains")—and packed with straightforward clues and entries. Plus an accessible and amusing theme—my favorite bit was SERMON ON THE DISMOUNT. I wasn't sure I recognized the constructor's name, so I checked Barry Haldiman's site. Mike Torch also did last October 11's puzzle commemorating the 30th anniversary of "Saturday Night Live," which was fun; he previously had a Sunday NYT on February 27 of last year, featuring INSIDER IN CIDER and INQUIRE IN CHOIR.

Updated:

Brendan Emmett Quigley's Washington Post puzzle, "The Gods Must Be Crazy," is a lot of fun. Standard BEQ fill like KIELBASA, SULU SEA, and PD JAMES, clues like "joltless joe" (SANKA), and a theme centered on bad puns (and some good ones) involving the names of Greek, Roman, Norse, and Egyptian deities.

LAT 9:30—Liz Gorski fans, rejoice!
LA Weekly 8:34—A tax-related quip in a solid Hex puzzle
WaPo 8:05
NYT 7:58
CS 5:54—The Sunday Challenge is back, this week from Harvey Estes, and it's harder than the typical Sunday Challenge