New York Times, Wednesday, March 31, 2021

This puzzle dates back to summer of 2019. I have found that I enjoy constructing puzzles like this one which are built around groups of letters in some configuration relevant to the theme, rather than a handful of the usual long theme answers. It's an enjoyable challenge to figure out how to incorporate the groups of letters in a way that allows the surrounding fill to be both interesting and lively, and often can provide some interesting opportunities for stacks of longer answers.

With this grid, I started in the lower left, and was pleased to not only find a nice stack in GRIMACE / BIBLICAL / UNIONIST with clean crossings, but also to come up with a nice fill for the symmetrical corner. Though it's not always seen as a requirement for this type of puzzle, I was pleased to be able to place all of the shaded blocks in a completely symmetrical fashion.

Some clues of mine that I'm glad made the cut are those for 17- Across, 74- Across, 7- Down, 13-Down, and 49- Down. My favorite here is probably my clue [Like Sodom and Gomorrah] for BIBLICAL– I find misdirections that are actually simpler than they appear to be interesting, and I wonder what other adjectives came to mind for solvers. I could see this being the basis of a personality test (but you would have to be sure to take the results with a grain of salt, of course).

Hope you enjoyed the puzzle!

It's a shame that this one was printed with shading instead of circles plus shading. The 2x3 rectangles are such perfect LEGO bricks! Perhaps Will Shortz realized that all of us parents would cringe, having stepped on roughly eight thousand of them last year. It's no surprise that LEGO is a four-letter word.

Such a neat visual, those bricks placed symmetrically around the perimeter. Great range of BUILDINGs, too. I wouldn't have guessed that there would be so many six-letter options available.

Will Shortz is shying away from fixed-in-place picture answers, due to the grid glue that they can require. Trenton is so strong with his gridwork, though, that I barely noticed any dabs. I paused on UDO, and EAT ON felt like a partial, but I'd expect way more than that with six sets of constrained chunks, plus a central revealer. Having to grid around six sub-regions and then stitch them all together is a maddening task, often leading to infinite restarts.

Such fantastic bonuses, too. I wouldn't expect to see nearly as much SLAM DUNK, COMMODES (places "to go," ha), BIBLICAL UNIONIST, even LET ME IN and DARK RYE. Most constructors would be happy to get a grid to work, period.

Amusing ADAM clue, too, being that he literally did raise Cain. And I enjoy learning, when it doesn't affect my ability to finish a crossword victoriously — picking up the trivia that ELTON John's middle name is Hercules was fun.

Maybe if my kids didn't fight so much over L-word blocks, or place them strategically where I'm guaranteed to impale myself, this would have been POW! material. Impressive visual, absurdly strong execution.