Friday, August 28, 2026, Jack Hatchett

Today, it seemed to me as if every clue was either a trick I didn't get or something I straight up didn't know. When I did finally complete the grid, I had a FWOE that caused several problems, which I then rationalized away. One of the things I didn't know was the "Mythical figure in 'Doctor Faustus.'" After I got HAROLDRAMIS ("Frequent collaborator with Bill Murray" - a space into which Rick Moranis and Wes Anderson also fit, just FYI), I knew the answer started with an H. I guessed 'HadEs' and accepted the resulting Down answers because, from where I sat, aGIRLS was as likely to be correct as the actual answer EGIRLS. After that, I decided I'd ask Horace later why "Screen capture?" was dINT, then I cavalierly dismissed sEED because it *is* a valid word... Anyhoo, those of you who are following along at home know that 'HadEs should have been HELEN, 'dINT' should have been the clever and amusing LINT and that 'sEED' should have been NEED ("Sine qua non"). Derp. 

There were plenty of other clever QMCs, unknown answers, and multi-dimensional clues that contributed to the challenging nature of the puzzle. IMO, the best of the nicely ambiguous clues were "Step in the shower" for RINSE, "Certain elastic band" (SINEW), "Something read at a table" (TELL), "Spirit seen on el Dia de los Muertos" (MEZCAL), and the one that had me stalled for some time, "Jazz aficionado, e.g." (NBAFAN) because I couldn't give up on jazz-as-music reference. 

Some stellar QMCs were "Flame proof?" for ASH,  "Lightning conductor?" for THOR, and my favorite, "Unprofessional letters?" (DIY). Fill-wise, I admired RONALDINHO, AMALGAMATE, and SCREAMO. 

This solver is not a big fan of "quotation clues," as I call them. I never seem to be able to find the proper equivalents for the quoted phrases in question. There were at least five in this grid, which left me type-tied for a bit, but I did end up enjoying the answers WELLWELLWELL ("'Would ya look at that ...'") as well a sentiment that was not an apt representation of my solve experience today, ITSABREEZE ("'Easy-peasy!'"). :)

~Frannie.