I see you decided to GETSERIOUS. I don't do Saturday Stumpers so this might as well be the hardest themeless I've ever finished. For reference, my time was over SIX times slower than what your published NYT Saturday took me. The only bits I could fill in rather early were ABITDISHOGEEADOSEVS, a few scattered terminal "S"es, and ARO which I knew could also be ACE. I admit I should've seen WIKIS waaaaay earlier than I did. But the grid opened up bit by bit starting from the middle. Overall a satisfying solve, my favorite clue was BEN (& Jerry's, I assume). Honorable mention to BARCAR, I made the ice-rocks connection pretty much immediately but I was thinking of "rolls" as food.
The AMRADIOS clue got me thinking CHATBOTS (y'know, AI generated conversations). I wanted JOHN for "head overseas" but I guess that's not just British English.
As a math student I'm familiar with MATRICES as the plural of matrix but Merriam-Webster backs you up on that one, so nothing wrong there.
WOW that was challenging! (I'm curious on the "rating"… rating-1800-up leaves a lot of upside!) The only way I finished (let alone in this time) was liberal use of checks. But I kept coming back and finally got to a completed grid! And while there were some uncommon phrases, I think the difficulty was primarily from the crafty cluing (as it should be). All that said, I look forward to more!
AuLeaf 47:30 · 2024-03-20T04:27:50.397Z
Nice puzzle! Took a couple checks at the end there `^^
rating-1800-upleaves a lot of upside!) The only way I finished (let alone in this time) was liberal use of checks. But I kept coming back and finally got to a completed grid! And while there were some uncommon phrases, I think the difficulty was primarily from the crafty cluing (as it should be). All that said, I look forward to more!