It was a rough one but I'm glad that you're back to doing the full-size crossword!

this one was hard; proud of you! so glad to see the full-size crossword again!

Cranachan needs a fricative "ch" sound that you find in the Scots word loch or the German "ach"

This was closer to a Wednesday than a Tuesday puzzle tbf. A Tuesday and a half? I filled in the Ss, used the pencil, googled names/facts, and took a step away to get a grip on it. Have you tried the Friday puzzles in Easy Mode? It’s helped me understand the clue structures.

Aren't IPAs , India Pale Ales ? - they are in the UK They were specially brewed to mature in the cask on the months long voyage from the UK to India by sailing boat.

4 - 1 is 3 is what that clue was getting at

Almost 2 million people of new yorks 8.3 million population speak spanish! And that is the count of people who are fluent, many new york residents know the basic spanish used in these crosswords! Back in the mid 1900s the nyt crossword expected educated americans to know a good amount of words in german and french, but it has since changed to spanish as the number of people enrolled in spanish courses in highschool and college is greater than any of the other languages combined.