New York Times, Thursday, May 7, 2020

BRUCE: This puzzle started out as a Sunday attempt named "Flips," with entries like STATE OF MY OWING, MERE DEAD WHEAT (crop circles), and HAVE ME WET BEFORE? (imagine your own clue here). Will liked the two 16-letter ones that appear today but was not keen on the rest. I spent eight or ten hours searching for one more, and with Pete's help we finally came up with one.

It didn't dawn on us until after the acceptance that Pete went to the University of Michigan, and I went to the University of Wisconsin — what a wild coincidence! I decided early on it would be nice to put M's and W's in the grid — we asked Will if he could make two of them red and white and the other two maize and blue, but he did not promise anything. We decided putting FLIPS or SPOONER in the grid was not worth the price of admission.

I always enjoy working with Pete — he and I were childhood friends growing up in the Midwest, and he mentored me when I first started constructing puzzles. As you can see, he is still mentoring me now — thanks Pete!

PETE: Bruce and I go way back. Before he started constructing, he'd occasionally send me theme ideas. Finally, I encouraged Bruce to try his hand at building puzzles himself, and he's never looked back. He's a master of using black-square art as part of his gridwork — as in today's floating Ms and Ws. Our first collaboration (another Bruce brainchild) used black squares to depict a kite and two lightning bolts.

I'd love to know what percentage of the NYT solving population realized that the grid art was supposed to be Ms and Ws. Anybody? Bueller? I love grid art, such fun ways to snazz up a solving experience, but the M / W thing didn't dawn on me until long after I filled in the last square.

Reminds me of an M / W puzzle Alex Vratsanos and I did years ago. So many people asked me, what's up with the weird chunks of black squares?

(sigh)

(Yeah, looking at it with fresh eyes, I don't totally see it either.)

There was a lot to love about this theme — once I figured out what was going on. I'd have never thought of spoonerizing M / W phrases! Even if I did chance upon the concept, I wouldn't have had the foggiest on how to find appropriate themers.

Okay, I did think of a way, after prolonged rumination. I enjoyed the challenge.

The first and last themers worked wonderfully. "But wait there's more" to BUT MATE THERES WAR? Hilarious! "Care to make a wager" to CARE TO WAKE A MAJOR? Equally uproarious! Delightful base phrases and even more delightful results.

The middle one wasn't as strong. MEN'S DAY WARNING didn't make me laugh, instead making me wonder what a MENS DAY might be, and why it might require a warning. Frat-type hazing? Then, the base phrase confused me. Wednesday morning seems arbitrary.

Ah, there's a Macklemore song called "Wednesday Morning". I probably should be embarrassed, given Macklemore lives maybe 15 minutes away from me.

Even more embarrassing: I also missed that "Wednesday Morning, 3 a.m." is Simon & Garfunkel's debut album. Drat.

As much as I enjoy grid art, these M / Ws let the puzzle down. It'd be one thing if they screamed M and W and thus felt worth it, but 1.) I doubt many people will notice them (we've highlighted them below to make them stand out), and 2.) they forced so many compromises. Crossing CAEN with CANA is deadly, not to mention ETERNE, EPHEDRA, ACH / HUTTON, etc. There's a lot of great material, BEST BUD, MUST HAVE, ROAST PIG, but I'd have enjoyed the puzzle more with no grid art and smoother fill.

Fun to see a concept I'd never have come up with on my own, though.