New York Times, Friday, November 19, 2021

This puzzle started with another grid, with a third (!) central 3x15 stack. Here, I found the HATERS GONNA HATE stack, but with ugly downs like HANA and ITER. Luckily, I saw that the grid could be opened up to GHANA and LITER while creating the four longer down entries. I'm happy with the result!

The puzzle is a pangram, mostly an accident. It came down to JQA // AQUAS, SAX // XES at the very end, which I thought was the best fill, regardless of style points.

Quick hits:

• FUN SIZE is my favorite debut entry. The term comes from tiny chocolate bars, but I've heard it used cutely for any diminutive thing, including people.
• GTA is an interesting debut, in that GTE, GTI, and GTO have all been used before, despite being far less familiar to me.
• My wife Hanh and I ate CHILI VERDE for the first time in Santa Fe while road-tripping across the country this year.
• I wrote the clue for HOT TO. I had recently watched the reality show in question. This is also why I was happy to keep the long partial in the grid.
• The editors wrote the clue for AKA, my biggest surprise in the final proof. The list of AKA sisters is a real who's who that includes Kamala Harris, Maya Angelou, and Toni Morrison.
• Apropos of the MOTHERS DAY / DAD JOKE crossing in the puzzle, I'm doing some "long-distance calling" today.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed the puzzle!

SHIVER ME TIMBERS! Now that's a way to headline a triple-stack themeless. Bursting with imagery.

Even better is HATERS GONNA HATE — both as a marquee entry, and as a Zen life philosophy.

I was baffled by GARDEN ___. There had to be some kind of wordplay with both "digs" and "bed." GARDEN … APATHETIC? As in, someone who digs lazing in bed all day?

Turns out, I was equally flummoxed the first time this entry showed up. They say that short-term memory ... what was I saying?

I also had difficulty uncovering ETHNIC RELATIONS because I couldn't wrap my brain around that as a solid phrase. RACE RELATIONS, yes. ETHNIC STUDIES, sure. I did find "ethnic relations" in a Wikipedia article, but as part of race and ethnic relations.

A lot of strong material connecting the triple-stacks to the rest of the puzzle. I amused myself imagining IT HAPPENS started at 1-Across. Admit it, Long John Hawksley, that was on purpose! Completely worth the high price of HOT TO.

Triple-stacks have been so ubiquitous through the years that all three entries of each set have to shine. These didn't quite measure up, but there was enough elsewhere to keep my attention.