New York Times, Tuesday, October 2, 2018

The working title for this was Double Plays, of course. However, as I developed the theme, I decided to make it all musicals. So this title may have muddied the waters if the grid had run in the WSJ, for instance. I had DUETS in the central Across spot, with the clue, "Musical partnerships." I liked this as a revealer, but Will felt it wasn't necessary. I wrote this in 2016, when Frozen hadn't reached Broadway yet, but I felt confident it would. Thanks to Joel and Will for helping me improve the fill enormously.

Editors work mostly in the background, so we rarely know for sure what their contributions are. They select which submitted puzzles get published (the vast majority don't), they choose the day to run the puzzle on, they vet every clue.

Whether puzzle brilliance comes mostly from constructors or from the editor himself, at least we know that the editor has approved of the various decisions, and the decision today of how to reveal the theme is brilliant. Maybe.

"Megacorporation? [1996, 1970]" turns out to be BIG COMPANY. That's likely to be the first theme answer you uncover, but whatever does it mean? A quick scan shows there's no classic "revealer clue." There are lots of big companies and some probably have something to do with the listed years, but, uh, what?

If you love musicals, you'll get about halfway through the grid before the penny drops. Each theme answer is a combination of two one-word musicals, and the numbers are the years of their respective Broadway debuts. That revelation sneaks up on you and, if the light goes on, it's very satisfying. It's also a great nudge that the unnumbered GUIDE DOG and MAKE GOOD are not thematic.

But, if you're not a theater geek and you never make the connection, the puzzle won't be satisfying, and that's the crucial editorial choice. How do you balance a satisfying aha moment for drama nerds against the certainty that some solvers will be confused? Today, Mr. Shortz decided on the brave route. There will be letters.

Before I leave BIG COMPANY, those are both worthy of comment. Maltby & Shire's BIG was based on a hit film, but the play was a BIG BUST. Ah, but there's life after Broadway, and touring companies and regional theaters have turned it into a favorite.

COMPANY debuted to mixed reviews, but time has shown it to be one of the most popular and significant musicals, even plays, in American theater. Broadway tunesmiths had tended toward escapism, but Stephen Sondheim's musical (book by George Furth) took a gritty look at real people with real problems in real relationships. Once you open that Pandora's box, it's impossible to go back. I've seen at least a half-dozen different productions of this musical; all different, all revealing, all engrossing. A new gender-reversed production starring Patti LuPone recently opened. And now "Barcelona" is stuck in my head.

Jim is so diplomatic. I come down on the side of "Brilliant? Maybe not."

If I were a regular solver, I wouldn't have bothered doing anything after finishing. But I'll undoubtedly get questions today, so I felt I had to do further research.

I didn't enjoy trying to figure out if maybe they were all movies (BIG and FROZEN, definitely!) or musicals (WICKED, yep) or plays (NINE?). Or figuring out what the difference is between a musical and a play. Is one a subset of the other? If so, DOUBLE PLAY would have been a perfect revealer. Or, if Paul had chosen all movies, DOUBLE FEATURES!

I think there's a nice idea(s) in here, playing on DOUBLE PLAY or DOUBLE FEATURE. But I think "two musicals stuck together," without a revealer to tie things together, is a flawed concept.

Also odd: BIG COMPANY is a legit phrase, as is HAIR GREASE. Not WICKED NINE or FROZEN ONCE, though. Why not make all of them kooky, opening up so many more possibilities? Go BIG or go home!

Also flawed: going down to 74 words. I love that LOVE SEAT and LAKE ERIE, GUIDE DOG and MAKE GOOD jazz up the joint. But the prices of so many STERE ARIOT DONA (I flubbed, finishing with DOMA / USMA), ITISI EARED etc. Great to add something in for solvers who don't connect with the theme, but it's so important to do it in a way that isn't a net minus.

One thing I did love: the clue for MENU, putting the CARTE (the French word for card) before the course. Lovely wordplay! There's a crossword theme in there somewhere ...