The New York Times Crossword 01/09/2024

Me solving The New York Times Crossword for 01/09/2024.

I started solving this on paper when I was out for a coffee after a morning bike ride. Got about a third of the way through and wanted to film my solve given the unique numerical theme.

It was very breezy for a Sunday, avoiding the pitfalls that I find with most Sundays with multiple short proper nouns for which I end up having to run through simultaneous alphabets before the completion jingle to chime. However, as you will see, I got hung up on the central theme. Initially I couldn't remember if it was FRESHMAN 15 or FRESHMAN 30 but the real issue was not understanding what numbers were required for the 'TIMES SQUARE' grids. I really think this could have been better signposted; for example making it clear that only one integer could be in each square rather than the Rebus; as I was trying all sorts of combinations using a calculator off-screen. A shame because the implementation is rather neat and I am once again finishing a crossword on a bit of a sour note.