New York Times, Saturday, December 12, 2015

This may be the most lightly edited puzzle I've had in the Times, so direct all complaints and recriminations to me.

The most interesting edit was for 6-Down. When I was originally cluing the puzzle (only a few months back), I checked to see how the Times styled said Angelina. She was generally just "Ms. Jolie," especially in her professional capacities. So my original clue was [Surname of six Hollywood scions]. But in the run up to her latest film, there was a long feature in the Times where she was now styled as Ms. Jolie Pitt. I shot Will and Joel an e-mail suggesting a change to the clue might be in order. Had I waited until after the film's release, I might have suggested ["By the Sea" bombmaker], but I'm guessing that wouldn't fly anyway.

The other major change was effected by the addition of a single word in the clue for 21-Across (JOHN MCENROE). That word is "American". Editorial Fairness 1, Constructor Mischief 0. (Oh well, there's always 1-A, 4-D, 17-A, 28-D, ...)

I'm guessing the most polarizing entry will be 5-Down (MY HUMPS). If it's not your dish of tea, there's always BRAHMS. The song itself is so annoying and insipid, but getting it and its deadpan clue into the Times ranks as one of my most cherished cruciverbal achievements.

Byron is one of the most creative constructors when it comes to new entries. So many of his puzzles contain phrases I have to stare at before deciding if I love them or think they're bizarre. Or both! I was worried to hit [Angelina of Hollywood] since I only know one Angelina. It was so curious to uncover JOLIE to start … and what a great a-ha to finish it with PITT. (She officially added his name after getting married.)

[Targeting the Fourth Estate] had to start or end in PRESS. ANTIPRESS ... huh. It's in the dictionary, but it gets very few Google hits. I do think it's fair — it's inferable from the clue and word etymology — but it didn't give me the same feeling of satisfaction as uncovering JOLIE PITT.

I worked out the end of [One of the currencies replaced by the euro in 2002] = POUND, but figuring out which pound was challenging. I was thankful for all the fair crossings + the neat trivia that Ireland used to have a distinctive pound currency. Such a shame to lose the beautiful artwork.

[Balcony address?] had to relate to "Romeo and Juliet," but I could not figure out where the opening O should go. So it was a disappointment to fill in ROMEO ROMEO and see that my "knowledge" yet again failed me. Or did it! I was happy to find out that I did have the quote right — and not happy to see ROMEO ROMEO as a snippet cut out of the full quote. Didn't seem like a complete phrase.

Love his innovative and colorful stuff like SCAMPER AWAY. POST SALES … not so much, not even for this capitalist.

Byron always has great clues. Here are my favorite today, which really pep up the short entries.

• [Skilled forger] makes you think about check fraud. Nope, it's a (metal)SMITH.
• STENO has an old-timey feel to it, but the [Pool party] clue is great (office pool of stenos).
• [New seal] had me thinking about state seals. Turns out it was a young PUP.