New York Times, Thursday, November 19, 2015

This puzzle was submitted in two versions — the version here, and one in which you got the full name of the theme entry. I really preferred the more tricksy version here, so I'm happy Will did as well. Some may grouse that the type of auto isn't consistent (that is, I have makes and models freely mixed). Unfortunately, it was either that or a puzzle without enough theme density for my taste. REO was originally part of it, but Joel and Will asked for all the cars to be modern; OLDS, as a short form, didn't cut it either.

A concern in construction was that the solver had to have enough left in the grid so that you could figure out what the full phrase was, and GTO was particularly problematic — almost anything ending in "-ING TO" for the first word like COMING TO could conceivably stand alone as a slangy version of that word (e.g. "Comin'" or "Lyin'"). I wanted to find an entry in which, even as a standalone, it was clear you needed to tack on GTO.

The big shock for me in previewing this was that roughly 75% of my clues remain more or less intact, 22A and 5D being my favorites.

A playful, though perhaps dark element in this puzzle, is that AUTO, by becoming "automobile," is rendered no longer automatic. Machines can complete our thoughts for us, before we even know what that thought is. So if you don't know entries like "HELP ME RHONDA," you can type in "HELP ME R," and the search engine autocomplete will do its thing, unlike in earlier times, when you might never have found out, unless you asked someone, or browsed your local record store...

I loved this concept, AUTOCOMPLETE interpreted as AUTO-COMPLETE. Just delightful to scratch my head, knowing that SOLAR PLEXUS had to fit in somehow but unsure how to accomplish that. Great finds in KATHIE LEE GIF(FORD), SOLAR P(LEXUS), HELP ME R(HONDA), ANNO DO(MINI).

I unfortunately didn't care for STRING T(RIO), as it 1.) wasn't a general car make like the others (Kia is the make, Rio is the model — what, no SLOVA(KIA)?) and 2.) I grew up playing cello in STRING QUARTETS. I can't remember ever playing in STRING TRIO — classically, it's so often two violins, a viola, and a cello. STRING TRIO is a valid thing, but to me it's just not nearly as strong as the others.

BELON(G TO) was also weaker in my eyes, as I felt like that entry didn't match the snazziness of SOLAR P(LEXUS) and the others. And as Andrew mentioned, the mix of makes and models felt inelegant.

That said, I still loved this idea and most of the execution. It would be so cool if electronic solvers had the LEXUS automatically filled in upon entering the SOLARP string!

Pretty darn good execution, too. I liked getting FAN CLUBS, SPONGE BOB, and especially TOPIARY. [Clip art?] might be one of my favorite clues of the year. Nice to BEEF UP the puzzle with a dash of long stuff.

Some will grumble about the ENIAC / NOYES and HOLI / ILE crossings. The ENIAC was an important part of computing history, and NOYES is a famous author, so that one feels perfectly fine to me. Having a lot of Indian friends, I'm very familiar with Diwali, but HOLI is tough. I had to concentrate on that one square, wondering what the Marquises were. Thankfully, only ILE looked reasonable, so in the end, I thought it was fair, too.

A few minor hiccups in choice of themers for me, but a huge thumbs up to such a cool idea, well-executed.