New York Times, Thursday, April 22, 2021

Hello Crossworld! (How I've longed to say those words!) I'm a word-loving high school senior with an interest in languages and linguistics (currently studying Latin, Russian, and for some reason Welsh). I submitted my first puzzle to the Times when I was 14, hoping to get a crossword published before the end of high school. 32 rejections later, and with only two months until graduation, I was surprised to learn that this was actually going to happen!

The idea for this puzzle came to me when my dad suggested that I create a James Bond-themed crossword. It occurred to me that "007" could be converted into a rebus, and I immediately set about creating the grid. I think I got a bit overexcited by the idea, as I submitted the first draft without really considering how gluey it was. It took another five drafts and countless failed iterations before this puzzle was clean enough for publication. I still don't love SCI ILE NLER, but the fill is light years better than it originally was, and I'm pretty pleased with the result overall.

Thanks to Wyna Liu for remaining patient while I struggled to remove the OCAS SOOTS VOOM CKS UNROOF ESTAS ALADY DIR SFC etc. which populated that first grid, and for her incredibly helpful cluing suggestions. And thanks also to the editing team for spicing up my clues (I love the Amanda Gorman reference). And for keeping "Page break?", which I'm particularly proud of.

Oh, oh, I know what the theme is!

Most of the time, I like overt revealers in puzzles, something like JAMES BOND or DOUBLE-O SEVEN to make sure no one misses what's going on. Today, though, this James Bond fan appreciated the more subtle approach.

That said, I'm sure I'll get a slew of mail, even after people read DOUBLE-O SEVEN in the above paragraph. Even after I point out here that the double-Os are formed in the shape of a 7. (I didn't notice that until Jim Horne highlighted them, see grid below. How cool is that?)

Some excellent fill by today's debut constructor, especially considering the constraints forced by the OO placements. Strong work, incorporating one OO into UBER POOL, a lively and current entry. COOKIE TIN is colorful, too.

Even better, such great use of non-theme-dense areas like the southwest corner, where Jem had a ton of flexibility. IN A TIZZY is excellent, and POWERADE gives an interesting fact about FIFA World Cup sponsorship.

With all the thematic factors constraining the grid, I'm impressed with the low amount of partials (I DON'T), abbrs (NLER, SCI), and only-in-crosswords (DCTEN, usually DC-10).

I've seen a lot of James Bond puzzles over the years, so it's tough to wow me, but that 7 formed by OOs was eye-popping (once I noticed it.) It did feel odd to get a random subset of Bond actors, though, and it's a shame that IDRIS ELBA didn't make it in.

Just sayin', at 9 letters long, he perfectly matches JAMES BOND ...