Cool game, some references made it a bit hard for me like the Brady Bunch one or the cost to call someone who cares, but I don't know to what extent there's a culture barrier vs a generational one
For me too. It's both cultural and generational, I guess. It's pretty hard to find references that are widely understood. One usually writes from one's own frame of reference; knowing what others know isn't easy. Just like I don't know the names of Saturday Night Live hosts (something that slowed me down in an NYT puzzle recently), a puzzle maker in New York has a hard time imagining the things I do know about (in this case) US culture.
Across ages might be a bit easier, because there's more material at hand in your own language, but I do notice a considerable distance between me and my daughter in all kinds of knowledge. E.g., I haven't keep up with pop since ages.
I think the format here is pretty brilliant, because you can look at what's outside of the brackets to try to fill in a reasonable answer. The Brady Bunch one was followed by ]orian, which made for a useful hint.
But there are few of those that are so cleanly nested. I know where it’s going, but the requirement to solve every individual step slows you down.
Of course, I’ve been a steady cruciverbalist for 35+ years, so learning a new puzzle style will always take a while. Do agree that until OP settles into a smoother rhythm, adding the length of the solvable answers would help.
Across ages might be a bit easier, because there's more material at hand in your own language, but I do notice a considerable distance between me and my daughter in all kinds of knowledge. E.g., I haven't keep up with pop since ages.
But it's a nice, and nerdy, game format.