New York Times, Monday, February 6, 2023

Great to be back in the Times! Truthfully, I don't remember much about constructing this puzzle other than it was made during a time I was obsessed with hidden word themes. Part of it may have been conceived while visiting family in Montana. All I remember is when I stumbled on 9-Down, I felt it would make for a perfect reveal.

I also want to encourage everyone to head to www.gridsforkids.com and check out this charity puzzle pack that just went live a couple of days ago. I'm honored to say I was part of the editing team for these puzzles and also a contributor. Thanks!

I found the perfect song for today's puzzle: now hear this, EARTH angel on the rise!

Let's clear the air first. "Hidden words" puzzles are overdone these days, so I give a lot of sympathetic "sorry to hear that" to rejected constructor friends. It takes something extra to help one rise (sorry) above the rest. Evoking that stunning image sure helps!

Taylor chose his themers well, all of them colorful and interesting. I HEAR THAT, HEART HEALTHY, SPEAR THROWER all debuting today — FRESHER is right! That's especially important because Mother EARTH has been played upon many times, like with MIDDLE EARTH and EARTH SHATTERING. Those common letters make it so easy to break EARTH across entries like NOW HEAR THIS, CLEAR THE AIR, and SORRY TO HEAR THAT.

Throwing shade onto the EARTHs within the themers gave away the game much too easily. It's better to err on the side of making sure solvers figure out what's going on, but once you write in two EARTHs, you can fill in the others, and EARTHRISE falls into place. Give solvers some credit!

Although the solve felt over before I'd hardly started, Taylor kept me engaged with great bonuses like GRINDR, AT LARGE, and a Q that didn't make this solver SQUIRM at its surrounding fill. DEAR GOD, that's good stuff! Minimal dings, too, only a NETI net price for the beautiful MOON placement in the lower left.

Given that there are so many ways to break EARTH across words, I would have loved a smoother path for the EARTH rise. Move the third EARTH up one space, and the arc is so much prettier. BEAR THE BLAME or FEAR THE WORST could sub right in.

Not an earth-shattering "hidden words" theme, but great job mimicking that awe-inspiring picture.

The music key F-sharp major (at 13-Down) sounds odd to modern jazz musicians, especially keyboard players. G-flat major is far more common, it's identical (at least for keyboard players), it's slightly easier to notate, and it's a favorite for many pianists, including me. There are philosophical differences between the two essentially identical keys that matter greatly to some people. Some classical composers, including Bach and Chopin preferred F-sharp.

The Great American Songwriter Irving Berlin famously could only play in only one key: F-sharp major! He had a special piano built so he could transpose to other keys by manipulating a lever that shifted the whole keyboard lower or higher.