New York Times, Monday, March 13, 2017

When I first caught myself idly musing about theme and good fill ideas, I realized I had taken the step from crossword enthusiast to wannabe crossword constructor. Sometime later I determined that the next step was to actually write down some of these ideas.

Among those things I wrote down were both BERMUDA TRIANGLE (because who doesn't love geometry?) and POINT OF NO RETURN, which can pair nicely, and are both 15s, and hey, there exist other types of POINTs that could be mined for more material!

The two remaining themers were not too stubborn in coming, and these are the same as those in my original submission, but the original grid was returned to me for a bit of a polish. So if anyone was hoping to see a spiffy clue for DOSSIER or TEENIER, today is not your lucky day after all. Blame Will for that.

I get nervous every time I see BERMUDA TRIANGLE in a crossword — it's been used so many times in various crossword progressions, often involving a square. What a pleasure to get the unexpected FINAL SALE next, and then TENNIS ACE. I enjoy when I can't figure out a Monday theme until the very end. POINT OF NO RETURN gave me a smile. What a fun way to interpret "situations where a return is not possible."

I also hesitated after uncovering ATTY, an abbr., to start the puzzle. But things turned around very quickly, getting YO MAMA / FUTILE / DOGSLED, all such fun answers. (I admit, I keep a spreadsheet of YO MAMA jokes that make me laugh.)

So much strong bonus fill past that, too. BLARNEY as an Irish term for nonsense, BRA SIZE, THIN AIR, THE FED, even GARGLE, such an amusing word. Don't forget the UNDEAD! Although there weren't any long bonus answers, Alan did so well by employing a huge quantity of mid-length bonuses.

And all of that with just some minor ENE, OCT, NOID! That last one stuck out more than the others, as "no I.D." feels shaky to me, but I do fondly remember "Avoid the Noid" commercials.

All in all, such an enjoyable Monday experience. A fun theme, a ton of great bonus fill, and not a lot of liabilities or odd entries to distract. Very well done, especially for someone still early in his construction career.