Wednesday 6/11 #nytxw by Sam Koperwas & Jeff Chen has a cute geography theme that feels familiar - has it been done before? - but it is nicely done. Easy solve.

Thurs 6/12 #nytxw by Daniel Bodily has a familiar theme & a revealer that gives it away by directly pointing us to the affected downs. Why do that late week? Would’ve been more challenging if those letters spelled something but no. Nice attempt but too easy imo. YMMV.

Friday 6/13 #nytxw is a debut by Evan Mulvihill who is also a reviewer on the Crossword Fiend. Nice to see his byline here! It’s an excellent themeless Friday w outstanding entries & snappy clues & multiple stacks all over. Hope for more from you Evan!

Sat 6/14 #nytxw by Barbara Lin is tough & satisfying as you hope a weekender will be. Good stacks, tricky, misdirecting clues. Unconvinced that 5D is a thing but I inexplicably knew that hedgehog if not how to spell it. Crosses helped. All in all a very good puzzle. #NoKings

Sun 6/15 #nytxw by 2 of my faves, Adam Wagner & Rebecca Goldstein. 12 themers in a sharp grid, w perfect revealer I wrote in from just the last 4 letters. Fun to decipher their usual funny/tricky clues &I learned a thing or two. Loved it, Adam &Rebecca! (Missed the bonus though!)

Monday 6/16 #nytxw by Jill Rafaloff & Michelle Sontarp has a sweet theme that warms this grandma’s heart. Straightforward solve to start off the week. Nice.

Tues 6/16 #nytxw by Tarun Krishnamurthy, a high school student, has a clever meta theme. I would’ve preferred it w/out the circles so you had to think a little to solve it. Or don’t have a revealer. But it’s solid and well constructed, if easy even for early week.

Wed 6/18 #nytxw by Eli Cotham filled in easily but w/out getting the theme. Then I hit the revealer which is completely unknown to me–never heard of it. I got that one by crosses & a few educated guesses, then the gold. Streak is intact but this one is not for me.

Thurs 6/19 #nytxw by Hannah Slovut-Einertson has a classic replace theme— clever but the clueing is backwards. Following the instructions should yield the correct answer—replace A with B but you have to do that in your mind. Make it a rebus or rework. Editorial error IMO.

Friday 6/20 #nytxw debut by Adrianne Baik is a solid themeless featuring 6 snappy gridspanners including several colloquial expressions. All of that white space looked daunting at first but you chip away and find the answers. Very nice debut.

Saturday 6/21 #nytxw by Christina Iverson & Doug Peterson has an uncommon shape that facilitates sparkling longs. A slow start but then it explodes with 4 great gridspanning entries like 4D & sharp clues like 9D. Fun solve.. Thanks Christina & Doug, collaborators supreme!

Sun 6/22 #nytxw by Ruth Bloomfield Margolin & Hannah Margolin (her debut) combines a classic June theme with a classic pun theme & it works. Cleverly done with a sense of humor. Nice Ruth & congrats Hannah!

Friday 6/27 #nytxw by Carolyn Davies Lynch is a very nice themeless. Usually I like more pushback on Friday, but I enjoyed this easy solve with excellent long stacks, good flow, & lively clues. Nice one. (And I’ll be catching up on this hot week’s posts, if anyone cares!)

Tough Saturday 6/28 #nytxw by Jesse Guzman had a lot of good stuff but a 1A Mario entry followed by a 2nd one is off putting for me. But I persevered & was happily surprised when I got the gold. Good Saturday challenge.

Sunday 6/29 #nytxw by Mike Hobin has a cute theme with punny answers that reveal the circles, so the themers are their own clues. Easy, but a stretch here & there. Had to laugh at 63A. Pretty standard Sunday fare, fun to solve.

Monday 6/30 #nytxw by Dena R. Verkuil & andreacarla michaels is a tight, excellent start to the week. Funny themers, pulled together well. This one hits the mark on what is sometimes a too easy day. Well done, Dena & Andrea!

Unsurprisingly, I love the Thursday 7/3 #nytxw by Adam Wagner. Brilliantly constructed with his customary sense of whimsy. Lots of theme with a gimmick that works across & down in slightly different ways. And the payoff graphic when you get gold is perfect. Thank you Adam!!

Wednesday 7/2 #nytxw by Dan Caprera is easy to solve & hard to describe: an exposition of clues that inform & define the answers in a meta way. You see? Fun & clever.

Tuesday 7/1 #nytxw by Adam Aaronson & Michael Garbus has tasty wordplay in an offbeat theme. A tight set, easy solve. Good early weeker.

Still here, keeping my #nytxw streak going uninterrupted from the Cape but taking a break from commenting. I’ll be back here—maybe catching up, maybe not, maybe a few posts on some notable past puzzles. Then back in the groove. I’m sure my readers have done just fine without me!