"LOOKIN' GOOD!"

Emily Carroll, of New York City, is a 2016 medical school graduate who just finished her residency. She is applying for fellowships and expects to get news (fingers crossed!) around the time this crossword is published. The genesis of the puzzle was 41-Across, with its unusual letter pattern. Part of that pattern led her to think of 110-Across, which became the puzzle's "revealer" entry.

This is Emily's 10^th crossword for The Times and her second Sunday.

I wanted to find a way to get BOYZIIMEN into a puzzle because I think the "YZII" is such a fun, bizarre string of letters. Initially, I was going to attempt to do so in a themeless puzzle, but as I was trying to work it into the bottom of a stack the idea of something being "on the eyes" came to me so I went in this direction instead. Will Shortz had the suggestion to make EASY ON THE EYES one of the answers when I originally had it as the title, which I think is a great tweak that makes the puzzle much less obvious and hopefully more fun for solvers!

If I were to go back and do this again, I'd probably get rid of one of the theme answers to let things breathe a little more. As it stands now, I think there are some pretty rough spots in terms of the fill.

I love it when constructors give an honest critique of their work. So many pat themselves on the back, saying how proud they are of the product, while only paying lip service to the flaws. The ability to step back and objectively point out what one could have done better, pulling no punches, is essential for moving to the next level. Saying "myb" is hard, but important.

Ah, the older generations probably don't know the new slang, "myb." It's a nonsense syllable, pronounced "meeb," which needs to be trilled in an ululating, high-pitched scream, lasting at least five seconds. It's best used as a surprise exclamation, to catch people off guard. Try it out so you can finally be cool, like the young kids!

(It's short for "my bad.")

I enjoyed the crazy letter patterns today. Not only was there the curious -YZIIM- string, but catching all those Zs was anything but sleep-inducing. All those rare letters made Emily's task of producing a smooth Sunday puzzle even harder — plural OZZIES crossing ECKO and LOLZ might have been a killer for some — but it's an interesting trade-off between snazzy and smooth.

Back to MYB, Emily debuted a good handful of entries to the Shortz era. I was on the fence for MYB, since I fear many solvers won't get it, but I loved MD PHD, an audacious joint degree for docs who want to do research. I wasn't so big a fan of STEPA, since instructions are usually given in numbers, not letter steps.

Fantastic clue for GNOME! [Part of a short race] had me fixated on relay races, perhaps the 4x100. GNOME is already a fun entry, and the clue makes it sizzle.

Overall, I enjoyed the overall concept, but it would have been much better in a weekday 15x15 puzzle. Once you get the theme, the EZ/IIs quickly got repetitive; not so easy on the eyes. Moving to a 15x15 grid would have also allowed for a much cleaner, more polished overall product.