New York Times, Monday, October 18, 2021

So I was in the gym one day (this was pre-COVID), and a chart on a wall of 33A vs. age that I had not paid much attention to previously, suddenly struck me of having an interesting property — and a puzzle was born. It was serendipitous that it developed into different ways of looking at ART.

With 69 letters dedicated to the theme, there wasn't much room left for bonus material, so the goal was to make the fill as smooth as possible.

As usual, the NYT team much improved the clueing — kudos for 46D, which was new to me.

Constructor logs: puzzle was submitted in Feb 2020, and accepted October 2020.

Artistic, those shaded square patterns. I see a face. Ominous clouds. The Grim! A duck melting into a clock.

Not sure what those Rorschach test results say, but maybe I should stay inside today.

I admire this ART FORMS experience. I see soooo many anagrams these days that it takes a lot to keep me engaged. Sitting down to calculate the number of possibilities you'd have to search for — two ART anagrams (6 permutations x 6 permutations = 36) — counts as engaged. Diving into programming would count as obsessive, so to no one's surprise, I got coding. Thanks a lot, Freddie!

Particularly strong find in TARGET HEART RATE, featuring three ART anagrams. It was deep in my language back in my triathlon days, and it comes up in an opposite sense, when I try to remain calm after one of the kids spills milk down my boxers. Accident, my (wet) ass!

Excellent craftsmanship. Apt to deftly weave ART FORMS through two themers. IM A GONER is a great bonus, too. It'd be fine if the rest of the grid filled cleanly, but Freddie went out of his way to work in EUREKA, APE MEN, TEACUP. A corner like the lower left is not easy, since 1) it has to mesh with two themers, and 2) it's a big 'un. I'd usually shy away from this kind of situation. Great result on a high degree of technical difficulty.

It's a mark of professionalism when you can't figure out how a complex sculpture was put together; no seams or fasteners showing through. Along with a theme on a higher plane than yet-more-anagrams, this one received POW! consideration.