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As with all of Brad's themeless puzzles, this one is jammed with lively vocabulary. My favorite entries here are BLUE CRAB, LOW-FAT, OIL SHALE, TORT REFORM, PATRON SAINT, E L DOCTOROW, I'M RUINED, BEER CAN, LBJ RANCH and SMELT ROE. That's a lot of great stuff.

– puzzle by Brad Wilber

Some of the entries I like here are SQUABBLE, JAMCAM, TIP SHEET, KIDULT, WUNDERBAR, EXQUISITE, K RATIONS, UTTER ROT, NOOGIE, EAT IT UP, COULD BE, ALL-STAR, ONE MORE and TO TASTE. And there's almost nothing that's bad. That's fancy puzzle-making.

– puzzle by Tom Heilman

A fresh theme, elegantly done. DATEBOOKS did give me pause, because I'm just barely familiar with the usage of "book" meaning "to leave" — but it's legitimate. You might be interested to know that the constructors' manuscript had F-BOMB at 1A, which I edited out. It was a close call, but I wasn't sure this met the Times's standards of good taste.

– puzzle by Andy Kravis and Victor Barocas

I don't usually run punny themes on Mondays, but this one felt simple enough to still be appropriate for the easiest day of the week. Apparently, John Lieb expected this puzzle to appear later in the week, because the clues he submitted tended to be on the hard side. As a result, most of the clues here are mine.

The Monday-Thursday puzzles this week appeared last Saturday at the Arlington Puzzle Festival in Arlington, Va. The 2013 results should be posted soon.

– puzzle by John Lieb

Paula's grid has a surprisingly low word count (74 entries) for a puzzle with this much theme material. As a result, the corners are quite chunky — which is great. Among the nontheme entries I particularly like SCREWY, SHU MAI, ANTINUKE, WINNIPEG, and I'M BACK.

– puzzle by Paula Gamache

This puzzle has a fresh, terrific theme, and I like some of the fill, too, especially GHOST TOWN and ANY MINUTE.

– puzzle by Jacob McDermott

I'm guessing this puzzle is a little hard to break into, but once you catch on to the theme, it goes much quicker. It's a lovely theme idea. Also, I like the entries AUDIOBOOK, STEAMPIPE, and RETURN FIRE.

– puzzle by Alan DerKazarian

All the long answers in this puzzle are quite nice. I wish, though, that some of the shorter answers (like KNT, RTS, EFS, and especially ASDF) hadn't appeared. And it's not so elegant that the grid has three SEEs. Overall, though, I hope this is fun to solve.

– puzzle by Alan Arbesfeld

I've known Michael for almost 35 years, ever since my days at Games magazine, where he created the double-crostics. He still does, in fact. A few years ago we met up again in Arizona, where he now lives, when I had a speaking engagement there. This puzzle is a good, solid themeless, with a great 1-Across. That's Mike's clue for it, too.

– puzzle by Michael Ashley

A literary theme like this is always appropriate. The Times crossword has more of this flavor than most other puzzles, which is one thing, I think, that sets it apart from others. Among the nontheme entries here, I especially like CREPE PAPER, SPIKE JONES, and FLIPBOOK.

– puzzle by Elizabeth C. Gorski

67A is a mean trick to throw in a Tuesday puzzle. Still, the theme is otherwise straightforward, so Tuesday feels right. I tried to make the lower-right corner as easy as possible. Not surprisingly, the clue for 60D was my addition.

– puzzle by Mike Doran

It's not often you get a recipe in a crossword puzzle. And I love the low 72-word word count. That couldn't have been easy to do.

– puzzle by Jean O'Conor

For some reason, this puzzle could have had a lot of cross-referenced clues, like REPS/DEM/ROMNEY, ALIAS/AKA, APPTS/TRYSTS, AGE/ERA, and others. But since the four theme clues "cross-referenced" themselves, I thought it would be distracting to have cross-references elsewhere, so I didn't use any.

– puzzle by Tom McCoy

This is David Woolf's debut. All three 15-letter answers are particularly nice. OSCAR WAO was new to me, but I've read up a little on the book since accepting the puzzle, and the entry feels eminently crossword-worthy.

– puzzle by David Woolf

David Steinberg continues to amaze me. I accepted this puzzle last year, when David was still only 15. On top of that, how does he even know the things that are in his puzzles? For example, I'M TOO SEXY, which is making its debut today, came out four years before David was even born. The grid is packed with good stuff, including DOUBLE BED, FORCE-QUIT, BAD ADVICE, ZAP COMIX, and OH BABY. I did have to be careful editing the lower-left corner, which has a pile-up of proper names at 23D, 35D, 36D, and 37D. So I tried to clue the crossing answers more helpfully than I usually would on a Saturday. You're welcome.

– puzzle by David Steinberg

While this theme is a variation on a familiar one, it has a fresh twist and is consistently done. The vocabulary is easy, too. So ... a good Monday. Among the nontheme entries I especially liked AMOUR PROPRE.

– puzzle by Edgar Fontaine

David is a master at theme interlock. 3D and 31D each cross two other theme entries — very elegant. R E LEE (56D) is a happy thematic bonus. The fill is pretty clean, too.

– puzzle by David J. Kahn

Peter's puzzle fits into a whole lot of special categories: Puzzles with circles, Puzzles with unusual symmetry (in this case, left/right), and Puzzles with unchecked squares (although, technically, "E" and "F" here aren't really unchecked, because they're part of the theme). Maybe a new category should be added — Puzzles that form pictures when they're done. Besides the theme, which I love, the fillers OLD GLORY, CORN SILK, MOONBEAM, and SLOW ON THE UPTAKE are particularly nice.

– puzzle by Peter A. Collins

This puzzle went through three versions until Jules finally got a set of four theme entries that were true and natural-sounding "comforters." The extra effort paid off, resulting in a nice Thursday challenge.

– puzzle by Jules P. Markey

It's hard to add a new superlative to Patrick Berry's work, for its smoothness and liveliness, so I won't try. Suffice it to say this puzzle is a typical beauty from Patrick. I'll take the credit (or blame) for the clue at 18A, which is drawn from the show's pilot episode.

– puzzle by Patrick Berry

My favorite entries here are JUJITSU, JAZZ AGE, TAKE AIM, NEAT IDEA, HANG TIME, GUESS SO, FAST CAR, BLITZEN, and ZANZIBAR. That's a lot of great stuff. There are some minuses, too (the obscurish PIAS, the variant TABUS, and RESHOES). But overall, very handsome. The constructor, one of many Canadians who contribute crosswords to The Times, hails from Port Coquitlam, B.C.

– puzzle by Frederick J. Healy

Kevin's puzzle has a completely fresh theme idea that makes me laugh. He knows I'm perennially short on Monday puzzles, too, which is why he geared this one for this day of the week.

A special comment about PLEB (10D): I often read comments on the crossword blogs that a somewhat uncommon word like this is "not a Monday word." I don't happen to think that every answer in a Monday New York Times crossword has to be common. Times readers are intelligent and well-educated. They're perfectly capable of handling an occasional bit of new vocabulary. PLEB is a useful word. All the crossings here are easy. So in my opinion it's suitable even for Monday.

Whew! I finally got that off my chest.

– puzzle by Kevin G. Der

An etymologically related theme like today's, is always welcome. The resulting theme answers here are a lot of fun, too. Among the nontheme entries I particularly liked SCOOBY-DOO, TOO TOO, OAXACA, and IT'S A GO.

– puzzle by Don Gagliardo and Zhouqin Burnikel

Even though THANKSGIVING DAY is tomorrow, this holiday-themed puzzle feels more Wednesday-ish, so I scheduled it for today. Don't look for another Thanksgiving puzzle tomorrow. This one is it.

– puzzle by Jules P. Markey

This is Loren Muse Smith's first New York Times crossword, and what an auspicious debut. The theme is ingenious, and the construction is handsome, too. Did you notice the unusual-sized 14x16-square grid? Loren is only the second West Virginia crossword constructor I've published in my 20 years at the Times. The other, Pamela Amick Klawitter, is also a woman with a three-word name. It's noticing little things like this that keep me amused.

– puzzle by Loren Muse Smith and Jeff Chen