Heh I like the concept of a space-to-senate pipeline 😂

It's real! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronaut-politician :D

Be Thou My Vision was my grandfather's favorite hymn! nice

tough! I don't know any hymns, not really. Had to use the crossers and check grid. But got there in the end. Thanks!

Hymn Sing

Gaelic Symphony

I learn something with every puzzle. Sometimes from filling in other clues. Other times, Wikipedia...

Happy to be a source of continuing education! :)

Tilting at Windmills

Thanks! I had this idea for a while so I was glad when it finally came together :)

Amicus Curiae

wait so ALOO GOBI isn't just a weezer song

Is that the one that goes "Oo-wee-oo I look just like Aloo Gobi / Oh-oh and you're Garlic Ginger Naan / I don't care what they say about us anyway / Indian food's the bomb"? I don't know a ton of Weezer songs.

Huh? Thought you guys were kidding and this was a Weird Al song. I heard the lyrics in my head to the tune of Weezer's Buddy Holly (subs Aloo Gobi).

I just made aloo gobi for dinner earlier this week! One of the few things everyone in my family likes.

Took me a while but that was fun! Not a good one to try and solve in downs only mode 🤣

Impressive downs-only considering 3 out of 4 clues referred to an across!

Whoops, meant my comment to be a reply to Mike, haha.

My love of all things Indian food has paid off. To say my sports knowledge is lacking would be an understatement, so ALOO GOBI was my saviour. 🙏

how did you put this together??!?!? I am in awe. I think minis that hang together (ie related words/clues) are TOUGH to make (maybe I am wrong, I'm not a published constructor. Also LOVE the representation. Also I AM HUNGRY NOW

Haha thanks! At this point I've conditioned myself whenever I think of a two-word phrase to check if they would fit together in a crossword. This crossword in particular was constructed immediately after ordering Indian takeout :D

Who's Hungry?

Awesome puzzle! WAVE was one of the last I figured out but it seems so obvious in retrospect 😂

Thanks! I think that's the best kind of clue, so I take it as a compliment :D

Fun, I got more than I thought I would! The square I got wrong was one I thought I knew (not Alan Menkan...)

Yeah that corner seems to have caused a little trouble for quite a few people! Thanks for the compliment :)

after all your minis, I was kicking myself at going over a minute... I'm pavlov conditioned to see "sommersmith" and think "SPEEDRUN" lol loved it.
This was an accomplishment to get so much relevant content (and acceptable fill) in such a small package
Also some great cluing too

Thank you, I had a lot of fun constructing this one so I'm really glad it was fun to solve too!

The first time a shoe brand is ECCO and not Aldo! I just left my job there this month :') It was really hard solving all the award winners, I gave up lol.

And the Winner Is...

SO close to down-only - but two letters in CUDDLES were beyond me.  10A would be IA IN or IL, and only C went with HAFF, but what are Quakers good at giving? The best answer would be Queries - but it was impossible. Gah! Glad you have a friendly Friend in your life. :-)

Round and Round

Nice one! I like how you worked in the hints for FLEA and EDGE - kind of reminds me of Jeopardy cluing

Thanks - I hadn't thought about it that way but you're right!

5A - and who gen-zers don't know at all apparently

After a teenage obsession and a subsequent 20+ year break from U2, I've been starting to listen again, mostly because I love the "Dublin Delay" preset in Logic and I kept thinking about them every time I recorded something. The Joshua Tree is a disgustingly good album.

I feel like you created this one just for me 😄

Rock and Roll Lifestyle

Amazing feat! Thank you for sharing all of these wonderful grids with us - I can't wait until number 261 😉

The last thing to correct was 8A, which I'd decided *must* be 'onarous'!

Awesome grid, fill, and clues! I'm going to count 19D as a TMBG reference ;)

That's where I first learned the phrase! :D

I didn't know this was a TMBG reference! I knew this one as the name of a French art supply wholesaler...

Great puzzle, great theme and fill, and most importantly, congratulations!

Congrats on 50!  I always enjoy doing your puzzles and am looking forward to more.

nice, there were 2 I just couldn't get the right idiom

Congratulations!  A new career awaits - oh, wait, you want to make a living.  Never mind.  Be that as it may, thanks for the puzzles, and stay sane!  (At least no less sane than usual.)

Thank you, and you're welcome! And I _think_ I've got a reasonable hold on my sanity, though that may be slipping as I do more and more full-sized puzzles... :)

Congratulations on the milestone! Your puzzles are always a fun solve.

The Big 5-0

Fun!  It's nice to have a brief interlude between tasks. :-)

Very nice, very smooth. 4D was completely new to me, so the FAST-SLOW combo took me an extra couple of seconds to figure out. Great stuff!

Sommersmith

@sommersmith