New York Times, Friday, October 20, 2017

It's pretty rare that I build a puzzle around a single, central marquee entry, but if there were ever to be such a case, GUYFAWKESMASK is about as good as I can muster. It must have been deemed too tricky for the Friday audience, but I had my fingers crossed the original clue of "Anonymous symbol?" would make the final cut. My clues have been saved on many past occasions by the editorial team, so I can certainly respect their judgment. Maybe this is a late makeup for my "Stone work" clue for JFK on a Thursday puzzle all those years ago...

Rest of the puzzle appears to hold up, even if the quadrants are a little closed off. They all feel pretty smooth, but maybe could have used another splashy modern entry or two. Perhaps a little more crossword glue might've done the trick. It's always tricky to strike the right balance. Hope it's a pleasant solve regardless.

Happy puzzling!

A few years ago, the movie "V For Vendetta" wowed me. Love it when you go in expecting very little and come out amazed. I was vaguely familiar with GUY FAWKES MASK beforehand, but now I think about it all the time. Must be the times we live in …

Enough of being a downer! Great themeless, with feature entries everywhere. BADA BING starts it off with a bang — a great expression, plus the name of Tony Soprano's hangout in "The Sopranos." EPISODE I was such a terrible movie that the entry was almost depressing for me to see (*shaking fist at George Lucas*), but BODY SURF and ARMS DEAL helped redeem that top corner.

(Something amusing about DIMWIT running through EPISODE I … where's the Jar Jar Binks emoji when you need it?)

Not being much of a TV watcher these days, HODA KOTB didn't come easily. But I do think she's more than crossworthy. And that bizarre -OTB ending makes for such an interesting grid entry!

USB PORT and GRAY AREA + BB SHOT and ODDS ARE … = excellent entries everywhere.

And Peter is so good about his craftsmanship, not willing to use any crossword glue if at all possible. I sailed through, coming away with a feeling of elegance in design.

The one hesitation I had before giving this the POW! was FAIR SEX. It's an outdated term and made me wince a bit. I appreciate the attempt at making fun of itself with the [Dated women?] clue, hinting at the old-timey, fustiness of the term. But I'd prefer to leave out of the grid completely.

All in all though, a highly entertaining solving experience. It's so tough to achieve both perfect cleanliness in short fill plus a ton (10+) of long, strong entries, but Peter hit both marks.