New York Times, Friday, July 7, 2017

I wrote this puzzle the day after I saw MOONLIGHT, which instantly became one of my favorite movies. I submitted the puzzle to Will shortly after the film won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture — Drama (and Mahershala ALI was nominated for Best Supporting Actor); I guessed that if and when the puzzle were published, both MOONLIGHT and ALI would get Oscar-related clues.

I'm glad some of my favorite clues made it into the puzzle, including [Where to stick a needle] for SEWINGKIT, [Business meeting?] for NETWORKING, and [Dimensions without planes] for NOFLYZONES. Some of my other favorites were deep-sixed, unfortunately: [Maria Bamford, for one] for COMIC, and [One of four in Mississippi] for TITTLE. I liked the new clues for ENFORCING [Putting teeth into] and for BOT [What may have a strong net effect?].

My original clue for TONGUE was [It may be silver or sharp], which I wasn't particularly attached to. I was surprised to see that the new clue for TONGUE included "Mandingo," especially given the negative associations with the word, and that "Mandinka" seems to be the preferred name for the language and still does the punny work of starting with the same letters as "Mandarin."

Second indie constructor in a row! Andy and Erik both wrote puzzles for the Indie 500 this year, a crossword tournament I desperately want to attend at some point. Stupid kids. (Mine, that is.)

A couple of fresh entries today, VAGUEBOOKS and INSTA not familiar to me, but perfectly fine. VAGUEBOOKS is like … when someone posts BOMB DIGGETY NEWS UPCOMING! or something like that?

I can just hear the millennials groaning.

INSTA is what the kids say for Instagram, is it?

*grOOOOAAAAN!*

NO FLY ZONES was the highlight of the puzzle for me. Not only is it a snazzy term in itself, but what an amazing clue, so innocent without a telltale question mark. [Dimensions without planes] had to be some geometry term, said this geometry buff. No, it's the flying-type plane, not the 2-D type plane. Brilliant wordplay from Andy, lifting an already great entry into the fourth dimension.

I'm a big fantasy basketball guy, but I had trouble with ALL NBA TEAM. NBA All-Star Team, yes. All-NBA First Team, yes. But NBA ALL TEAM clanged on my ear. It is legit, especially back when there was only one ALL NBA TEAM. Now that there's the first, second and third teams — HOW CAN STEPH CURRY ONLY BE ON THE SECOND TEAM $@#@! — it doesn't seem quite as shiny an entry. Again though, it is 100% in the language.

(Okay fine, James Harden was pretty good this year.)

RISK PRONE also made me pause. I've heard a ton of risk-based phrases during my MBA and finance work, but it's usually "risk-seeking" or "risk averse." RISK PRONE again seems to be perfectly legit, just not something I'd strive to use in colorful conversation.

Overall, super-smooth construction, just an A DUE. Excellent craftsmanship. Along with some fun entries in SEWING KIT, a great triple in NAIL SALON / INVIOLATE / MOONLIGHT, SKYLAB, it was more than enough to keep me entertained. It's a shame that some entries didn't resonate with me as strongly as I would have liked, though.

P.S. Will and Joel, how about an "Indie constructor theme week" next year? It'd be awesome to get seven fresh voices lined up.