The character has received positive reactions from critics and fans. "Yahoo! News" called Mrs. Puff "the most famous driving teacher on the planet." Fashion designer Peter Jensen, who designed a line of sweatshirts inspired by "SpongeBob", called Mrs. Puff his "absolute favorite" character in an interview with "Women's Wear Daily". In 2004, "New York Times" chief film critic A. O. Scott named Mrs. Puff as one of his favorite characters on "SpongeBob SquarePants", along with Squidward Tentacles and Sandy Cheeks. Mrs. Puff was ranked second on "Chilango"s list of favorite cartoon teachers. KSL-TV listed Mrs. Puff in their countdown of "13 teachers from pop culture you can't help but love". Andrew Whalen of IBT Media called Mrs. Puff's role in the "Doing Time" episode "a series highlight". The "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette" reported in 2002 that episodes about Mrs. Puff's Boating School were fan favorites. Scott Lecter of "DVD Talk" said that Mrs. Puff, Sandy and Squidward "make for some of the biggest laughs in the episodes".