New York Times, Thursday, November 5, 2020

I love the chance to defy solver expectations in crosswords. Instead of going the usual rebus route by squeezing POUND or NUMBER into a rebus square, I found it more fun to create the # symbol from an intersecting pair of symbols. I'm hoping the puzzle creates a satisfying "aha moment" when the combo of double-I's and equal sign jumps out.

For the "=" part of the hashtag, there's a decent list of possible answers that include the word EQUAL. For the possible double-I entries, the list is considerably short. And because the grid's real estate between horizontal "=" entries is super tight, the best-fitting vertical themers are ones with a double-I near their centers. Which led to ruling out answers that begin or end with "II", like I INSIST or POMPEII.

Ultimately, puzzle construction was far less bumpy when nailing down four horizontal themers with "=" symbols symmetrically placed in the grid. Doing so made the tiny set of possible vertical themers easier to wrangle into the mix.

Happy to see my clue for 1-Across making the cut, "Product that's available on tap?". I'd like to think A ___ might dupe some solvers into plunking in ALE instead of APP. I also really appreciate the Times editors' revision of my clue for ALL THINGS BEING EQUAL. That was irritatingly difficult to clue. I submitted "Assuming no other issues come up…". But updating to the straightforward clue "Translation of the Latin phrase ‘ceteris paribus'" works perfectly.

Hope you enjoy the #ThursdayTrickery!

I love every aspect of this crossword, a beauty that ticked all the boxes. Like Jeremey said, it's not just another rebus, nor is it another play on the pound sign (a.k.a. the octothorpe); it's so much more. Even having a strong feeling that some rebus-like element was in play, it took a long time to piece together the concept: overlaying the equal sign = on top of capital II to form #. What a delight when that finally clicked into place.

Sometimes a rebus gets boring when you repeat it; multiple instances of the same thing over and over, but I was so tickled by the deconstructed HASHTAG idea that it made me smile every time I put it in.

Other aspects of the puzzle felt hard in the right way, too. Little esoterica or crazy dictionary definitions; most of the difficulty coming from wordplay clues that gave me head slap moments:

• If you still don't understand Jeremy's APP clue, think about physically tapping your phone screen. Groanworthily great!
• The sun and Sunoco have in common … the letters S U N? And gas — that's hydrogen gas, for the sun.
• [Thank you for waiting]? The clue is talking to me? Ah, it's a TIP, a "thank you" gesture for someone waiting on you.
• This MBA knows a thing or two about divisions in board of directors. Not quite as much about SAWS creating divisions in literal boards.

And some great fill in GET IN GEAR, MESH TOP, OH LOOK, MAD MEN, NOGGIN, US VETS? Totally worth some DO BE, HOO, IM IT, SMU. Note how all of these, save the last one (Southern Methodist University), are easy to figure out.

GEM, indeed.