Monday December 31st 2018, NY Times Crossword

Time: 6:05
Monday Average: 8:30
Best Monday: 4:10

GEE WHIZ, this is exactly what you’d want from a Monday puzzle, especially if you’re waking up from some New Year’s Eve Eve hanging out with a mild hangover and just want to close out the year without saying I’M TOO OLD FOR THIS. I enjoyed the triple O (OZONE) theme and am impressed with how natural most of these phrases are. The only exception might be HAVE NO OOMPH, but it sounds like something my dad would say, so I’m OK with it. BOO OFF STAGE and IT’S A ZOO OUT THERE are definitely normal phrases that fit the theme, so I’m in.

The only place I got stuck was the cross of TOERAG (“Scoundrel, in British slang”), SHARI Lewis the puppeteer, and the age old question of whether it’s going to be oRS or ERS. Of course, there’s ENRON in the puzzle yet again.

I think it’s time that I NURSE this hangover a bit more so that I can be prepared for another New Year’s Eve. WAIT HERE and I’ll be back in 2019.