Kate Hawkins’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap

NY Times crossword resolution, 12 3 22, no. 1203

Okay! That settles it. Yesterday’s puzzle took me nearly 50% longer than this one, so I hereby declare that the Friday and Saturday slots had been switched.

I actually loved this puzzle. Such a enjoyable vibe all through, with JUMPY, the nice APOLOGY TOUR, “NO TAKE-BACKS,” ASMR, a HOLE-PUNCH clued as [Inefficient confetti-making tool], quaint JOLLITY, “COULD IT BE…?”, an arts & crafts PIPE CLEANER (I’ve half a thoughts to order myself a bunch and begin making little homunculi), EVEN A LITTLE, PATSY Cline, the outdated SWITCHEROO, GET THE NOD, and MARASCHINO. Lots of vitality within the vocab.

That stated, if I by no means noticed IN A PET once more in a crossword, it might be high quality by me. [Where the coins surgically extricated by a veterinarian had been]?

Three bits:

• 31a. [Wild side?], WEST. A bit on the indirect facet. The Wild West was a factor, and you’ll have a west facet, however couching it within the completely idiomatic “wild side” is tricksy.
• 42a. [Empty bottles?], TOPE. I entered a plural S on the finish of the entry earlier than I believed higher of it. Emptying bottles of booze and consuming is toping, so “empty” isn’t an adjective on this clue.
• 46a. [“I hold it to be the inalienable right of anybody to go to ___ in his own way”: Robert Frost], HELL. This is a terrific quote.

4.25 stars from me.