New York Times, Wednesday, June 3, 2015

This crossword theme evolved from truck brands to typical pickup lines to what you see today. The puzzle was initially rejected because of theme inconsistency. Will liked the re-imagining of the pickup lines but not the entry COME HERE OFTEN, an actual pickup line that was originally at 52-Across. Seeing a glimpse of interest in the emailed rejection, I asked if he would accept a revision. Fortunately he said yes and I sent 2 new versions. Will chose the one that he preferred (I know — what other one would he choose?) and suggested a few minor changes to the grid. I clued it up and the puzzle was finally accepted on September 17th.

It was nice to see this reject become a yes!

Five "pick-up lines" with five different interpretations. I like the variety of applying this phrase to a hitcher, cleaning one's room, a pick-up truck (the Ford F SERIES — I had to look it up too), resuming a conversation, and picking up a phone. Neat to see such diversity.

This type of puzzle can be difficult or frustrating since the themers are opaque for such a long time (quote puzzles work like this too), so I'm glad Herre worked in a lot of colorful material to make the solve easier and more fun. I watched a ton of LAVERNE and Shirley when I was a kid, and it amused me to no end thinking about how ga-ga they went over BEEFCAKES. You heard it here first: the "sticking your knuckles in your mouth when you see a beautiful person" gesture is going to make a comeback.

Some fun vocab in the clues, too. ORATE is a neutral entry, but when you use "stemwinder" in the clue, that spices things up. "Matryoshka dolls" does the same for NESTS.

Small nit, I might have chosen ATE instead of AVE, since there was already some PEI STE EYER kind of glue already, but with a small number of gluey bits, I'm fine with the decision to add one more. It's nice to get a V to add a splash of color to the puzzle, too.

Finally, a great clue for COMA. Because I had the ending A fixed into place, I thought the state had to be IOWA. What other four-letter states end with A? WA is a state of course, and IO … Illinois? India? Geography is one of the many weak spots in my knowledge banks, so I choose to continue believing that IO is the postal code for Idaho.

Well, it should be.