He might not have liked today's puzzle, but he seemed to me to express himself politely which, as you imply, isn't always true. Perhaps his vacation mellowed him. At least for the time being?Glimmerglass: My test for a great puzzle is that it's timeless. By this test, a great puzzle today should be great in 100 years. So to me, references to pop culture, be they to older or newer culture, result in my opinion to degrade the puzzle. Not that I don't mind some of the references. I just apply the judgment of "great" objectively, not subjectively. That's not at all a comment or judgement on your opinion. Some people interpret that type of comment to be a ding on them. I only opine on my own way of looking at the puzzle. QuasiMojo: The problem is that there is a requirement that 5 puzzles every week including the Sunday puzzle must have a theme.