New York Times, Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Hello again from London. It's nice to be back. I hope this puzzle finds you safe and well wherever, ahem, UR.

Although I'm only a couple of years into constructing US-style puzzles, I'm already no stranger to the all-too-frequent "Simpsons Already Did It" moments that come when you discover that your latest theme idea has already been covered elsewhere. At the time of construction, I couldn't find anything to suggest that the UR/you are homophone trick had been done before. 18 months on — and with better sources of info at my disposal — I still can't find any to show it having been done as a rebus, so hopefully, this one felt relatively novel.

My earlier attempts at creating a grid involved trying to cram as many UR squares in as possible, but I eventually settled on mainly trying to distribute them within the longer answers. The end product is what the team described as an "entry-level rebus puzzle" (from someone I would describe as an entry-level constructor!)

Clue-wise, I'm glad to see a fair few of mine survived, though my ongoing attempt at getting some British slang into the puzzle has failed again. One day. And spare a thought for Fred Durst. I'm sure he's never forgiven me for the letter I had published in a 2001 issue of Q magazine saying how much I didn't like Limp Bizkit's music, and he was edited out of 19A here.

Happy solving, and stay safe.

YOU ARE HERE is a fine rationale for rebusizing UR. Along with strong theme entries in TURKEY BURGER, RESTAURATEUR, and NEUROSURGERY, there was a lot to love about the solve. It made me want to look up what other double-URs were available. Turns out there's a ton of options — AMATEUR HOUR, TURN OF THE CENTURY, YOU'RE SURROUNDED is my favorite — but Ali picked some goodies.

I did wonder why two URs in each long one? That's a bonus that Will appreciates, one that I tried hard for way back when. Part of the appeal is that it packs the rebus squares in, so you can have even more elsewhere. It also tightens the constraint, making the themer finds seem that much more interesting. There are thousands of single UR options, not nearly as many double URs.

Will also asks for rebus squares to be everywhere; no one grid region overlooked. That detracted from my experience today, however, the UR in HEURE causing much gnashing of teeth. I took five years of French, yet I had it in my head that the word was "heur." I imagine non-French speakers will be even less amused.

Can you hear my French friends down the street rolling their eyes with exasperated sighs?

The center UR is integrated more smoothly, but being within two shorties (TAURUS and LAURIE) goes against the standard Will has established, where rebus squares should be within the puzzle's longest answers. It'd have been great to open up the middle, instead of 5 squares by 5 squares, moving to 7 by 7. That would have allowed for snazzier material like ABSURDUM, FUTURIST, IMPURITY, OR NURSES, TOFURKEY, etc.

Overall though, Ali did a great job of delivering a straight-over-the-plate rebus, making it (mostly) enjoyable to locate those squares. Along with super gridwork and clues — HEAD CHEF is a top-notch entry already, and playing on "Director of many courses" made it even better — I gave it some POW! consideration.

Oh, the ZEROES clue! What a way to spice up an otherwise neutral entry. 75% of 1,000 means that 3/4 of the digits are ZEROES.

PEEKABOO as a game played with the fingers delighted as well. I'm impressed with Ali's ability to entertain.

A couple improvements here and there, and it could have been an exemplary rebus.