TO-DO LIST

Laura Taylor Kinnel, of Newtown, Pa., teaches math and is the director of studies at a Friends boarding school near Philadelphia. Since her last puzzle appeared in March, she has spent lots of time with colleagues developing best methods and new processes for remote teaching.

Laura remarks that she now sits and conducts classes from home in the same spot where she normally makes crosswords!

I love the long entries across the middle row of this puzzle. Fun to debut 69-Across! And back when I submitted the puzzle in January, I had no idea how relevant the question mark at the end of the clue for 66-Across would prove to be.

My daughter Eva was among those who graduated from high school in this unusual year, and at about noon on what was to have been the day of her 66-Across (which she was letting pass without comment), it occurred to me wonder aloud what she'd think of a do-it-yourself version. She loved the idea, and her would-be date—the one person outside of the family who had recently visited after weeks of isolation—was also game, so Eva and I started hanging up lights while her older sister planned a menu, went to the grocery store, and began cooking. Eventually, we all dressed up in finery from previous events, Eva's date appeared bearing irises from the family garden, and friends and family joined via Zoom as we served the honored guests at a card table and did the Cupid Shuffle together in the living room.

I envisioned an answer key as has been produced, but had not planned to include any visual cues in the puzzle itself, so those of you grateful for the extra help provided by the squares within squares can thank the editorial team!

Finally, although 45-Down is not well known in the US, his appearance today is timely as he's celebrated with a national holiday in the Czech Republic on July 6.

I love lofty attempts to do something new and cool in a Sunday crossword. Those five little boxes baffled me, the tricksy crossings remaining opaque until I hit the apt revealer, TICK ALL THE BOXES. A-ha! BOX in the Across direction, and TICK in the Down. Clever!

I appreciated the quality of the Down theme answers. I'm sadly familiar with PUTting LIPSTICK ON A PIG, as my daughter and book agent like to point out. TICKLE THE IVORIES, now THAT'S THE TICKET! And even though STICKY SITUATION and CARROT AND STICK use TICK in too similar a way, they're both fantastic entries.

The puzzle fell too quickly once I hit the revealer since once you figure out how one rebus box works, you can fill in the rest right away. That bothered me less than usual, though, since the rebus was complicated. What sense of relief to finally see the light!

I wonder if using an assortment of Across rebuses would have alleviated that issue? Aside from TICK, there's CHECK, X, MARK … SLASH? I'd have preferred the variety, but I can see how the notion of a rebus that works differently in Across vs. Down is hard enough for most solvers.

A bit too much dependence on usual crossword glue such as RIAS, ERGS, ORO, STLO, ALL, NNE, SENS, EPI, etc., but most of them are minor enough. Toss in the tougher HUS and LAE, though … I'd have asked for a round of revisions.

Thankfully, Laura worked in a couple of great bonuses. HERDED CATS is fantastic. NO RELATION, too, along with its mystifying clue on Elizabeth Warren vis-à-vis Earl Warren. SENIOR PROM as the "last dance" and SEAHORSE with a neat piece of trivia on males carrying the babies, and it's starting to feel like Laura had the HOT HAND.

The puzzle didn't 100% hit for me because of the repetitive nature of those five boxes, but I love Laura's audacious target and sizzling themers. I'd love to see more NYT Sunday puzzles aim this high.