New York Times, Monday, March 11, 2019

Perhaps some will say this theme is OLD NEWS. Others may say it is AWFUL GOOD. Either is a DEFINITE POSSIBILITY. When I sent in the FINAL DRAFT of this puzzle, I thought it had REAL POTENTIAL, but likely faced EVEN ODDS for acceptance. So I was TERRIBLY PLEASED when I got the good news it would be in the New York Times. NOTHING MUCH beats that feeling. I'm FAR CLOSER to where I'd like to be as a constructor thanks to the expert guidance of Will and his team. This is BITTERSWEET for me since my father Ron passed late last year before he was able to see my puzzles published in the Times. GOOD GRIEF was he a SERIOUSLY FUNNY guy.

I like the challenge of constructing Monday puzzles because it's HARDLY EASY to make them clean, interesting, and accessible to new solvers. ONCE AGAIN, it's a privilege to have the chance to give you a moment or two of entertainment as you start your week. I hope you enjoy the puzzle. I have a FEW MORE on the way.

Also, I got a puppy since last you heard from me. His name is Donut. He is far more entertaining than any crossword puzzle could hope to be. My kids are trying to make him Instagram-famous. Follow him if you like! @mydonutlife #shamelessplug

This puzzle is no GENUINE IMITATION! Wait. I didn't mean to say that. Or maybe I did. I'm such an (oxy)moron.

Four (awful) good oxymorons featured today. It's tough for me to get excited about straight-up oxymoron themes, given how many puzzles I've made about them, and how many people have asked me for help with their own oxymoron puzzle. There are tons of lists out there, chock full of hundreds of oppositional phrases, including one that's my go-to.

Although I liked the four Trent chose, I did hitch on FOUND MISSING, as it made me think right away of pictures on milk cartons. As a parent, I don't want any hint of that in my five minutes of recreation. (It was also on the aforementioned list, so no points for freshness, either.)

Execellent execution on the grid. It's rare that I fly through a Monday so quickly; such buttery smoothness. Even after a second pass, I couldn't find anything even minorly objectionable in the fill. It's common to have just one or two blips but to have zero deserves high kudos.

And jazzy long fill, too. LIP BALM and WAR HERO are excellent. STATE LAW and MONEY PIT! Even NO DICE and FUDGED were fun. The added spice was much appreciated, especially given my oxymoron burn-out.

Check out what Trent did with his themers. Instead of alternating left-right-left-right, he has two on the left, then two on the right. That often makes for a tougher construction job. Here, it (indirectly) led to having to segment the grid up into a top mini-puzzle and a second bottom one. Not ideal — solving flow is compromised.

It also made it tougher to work in long downs, since it's much easier to have a long down go through just one themer rather than two. I bet Trent could have worked in even more long bonuses — and even juicier than the ones he had — if he had used standard themer alternation.

Overall, nice work. I'm always happy with a smooth, well-crafted Monday grid. I bet most newer solvers won't have encountered oxymorons as much as I have so the impact may be stronger for many.