Saturday, July 17, 2021

It's a Saturday New York Times crossword, which means that the glove are off, the gauntlet's been thrown down, in short, the puzzle was tough -- amusing, but tough. The grid itself was built to challenge, divided into 4 largely isolated quadrants. Jean had trouble keeping her footing in the center of the crossword, with 26A, Break down for closer analysis, as data, SLICEANDDICE, not immediately clicking, and 30A, Iconic iPhone addition of 2011, EMOJIKEYBOARD, also causing grief. Mike, meanwhile, simply could not believe his eyes at 10D, Having a gap, HIATAL, and his reaction was best summed up by the adjacent 11D, "Whoa, _____!", NELLIE. So, a tough but fair crossword, with plenty of fun clues, we give it a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale.We love feedback! Send us a text...Contact Info:We love listener mail! Drop us a line, [email protected], we're on FaceBook, so feel free to drop by there and strike up a conversation!