New York Times, Monday, August 10, 2020

Not a whole lot to say about the puzzle — a pretty common theme type. I think what elevates it somewhat is the lost-and-found element, which came to me only after starting the grid.

True story. Just last weekend my husband and I were leaving the house when we both saw that our front door keys were missing from our keychains. We mainly go through the garage, not the front door, but still …. We looked in the obvious places to no avail. For months we'd procrastinated about making an extra key, and now we didn't even have one. Would we need a locksmith to come put in a new lock? Well, needless to say, I found both keys. And then this puzzle pops up. Very timely.

It's a joy to get stumped on my "Name That Theme" game on a Monday, if I slap my head at the end, knowing I should have gotten it. Organ KEYS, the Florida KEYS, KEYS in an Atlas, lock and KEY. D'oh! Masterfully done, baffling me until the last grid entry.

"What simple concept ties these things together?" themes are some of my favorite. This one inspired me to brainstorm what else would have worked. There's the KEY on a basketball court, but that could have gotten lost on non-sports fans. (It's the painted floor area around a hoop.)

What else? A cryptography KEY, but that could have also gone over solvers' heads, especially newer ones.

The only other one I could imagine was an answer KEY, although that would have been tough to work in. Perhaps with a TEACHERS GUIDE?

No, Lynn did a masterful job of picking ones that displayed a wide variety of KEY meanings, while making each obviously accessible to a broad solving audience. Well done!

The fill had an older feel to it, though. Once you start with ATLAS ROCKET (from the 1950's), include GARRETS (a term for attics), BABY BONNET, and PRAY DO, you end up with a quaint sort of feel. The FLORIDA ROOM apparently is "retro" now, so that sort of helped? Maybe hurt as well? Not sure.

The clue for KEYS felt off-pitch (that's my terrible pun for you ORGAN players out there). I get what it's going for, riffing on the issue that KEYS seem to eternally walk away, but these KEYS aren't "lost" in the entries, moreso hinted at. A more straightforward clue would have worked better.

Solid concept overall. I especially appreciated that ORGAN DONOR innocently misled away from the musical instrument, adding to my bafflement and thus heightening my a-ha when the light finally snapped on.