New York Times, Monday, April 13, 2020

Constructing early-week crosswords is fun. It can be tricky to find straightforward concepts that haven't been explored; this is one of a handful of progression puzzles I was pleased to be able to create. I hope you got a "rush" from solving it! (P.S. Did you notice the little bonuses in the first and last across entries?)

To any crossword constructors — especially newcomers — who have a puzzle to submit to the New York Times, but are out of stamps, are immunocompromised, or just not wanting to risk a non-essential trip to the post office, I'm happy to print and mail in your puzzles for you. I have a postal scale, I have envelopes, and I have lifetimes worth of stamps, so please feel free to get in contact with me. Contact me via Instagram (@thepostlandia) or Twitter (@evanpostlandia).

Definitely follow my Instagram if you want to see hundreds and hundreds of post offices from across America! I've been to 10,000 of them. That's not a typo. I also sometimes post photos of cats. The world can never have enough photos of cats.

DROPS to TRICKLE to STREAM to RIVER to FLOOD to OCEAN … sounds like the dream I had last night (after drinking a big mug of tea just before bed). Great progression that felt almost exponential. Ooh! Wouldn't it be interesting to plot the volumetric flow on a log scale?

Well, you're no fun.

I appreciated the consistency of TRICKLE, STREAM, RIVER, and FLOOD, all being part of a longer word. Evan could have relaxed his constraints to use RIVER RAT or FLOOD PLAIN, but those wouldn't have felt as elegant. I also liked how this methodology helped to disguise the theme a hair. Not enough so that newer solvers wouldn't figure it out, but enough to please more experienced puzzlers.

Such newb-friendly gridwork. Evan has put a lot of time and effort into honing his craft, and it shows. I can't point out a single entry that would prevent me from handing this over to a newb. The DVRS / VENTI cross could be tough, but it's fair.

I did have a couple of false starts, kicking things off with DRIBS and then DRIPS instead of DROPS. That's not a great way to start the puzzle. As cute as it might seem to relate the clues for DROPS and OCEAN — [Minute bits of water] and [Massive body of water] — a more straightforward clue for 1-Across would have been better. Who calls a drop a "bit"?

I also tripped on TALL ONES, first entering PITCHERS, then TALL BOYS. Similarly with HAIRLOSS, where I first put in HAIRLINE. I did enjoy so much great fill — HEDONISTIC HAN SOLO! — but sometimes I wonder if too much of it on a Monday can be overwhelming; a flood of riches.

I was mixed on the DROPS / OCEAN bookending. They did help alert me to the progression, but they took away from the theme's consistency. TRICKLE, STREAM, RIVER, FLOOD are integrated into longer words, so having DROPS and OCEAN as stand-alones felt dissonant.

Sometimes extras can muddy the waters. They can even make you take a BATH.

Hey, what's BATH doing in the middle of the puzzle? SEAS of confusion ...

Okay, I'll turn off the faucet!

Despite my feeble attempts at humor, this is an excellent Monday offering. On some weeks, I'd give it the POW!