New York Times, Friday, August 24, 2018

This puzzle was constructed in May 2017 and accepted for publication in July. This version is my fourth attempt at this grid.

The bottom stack was established in the second attempt — the top stack took three versions to nail down. An early version had CATCHER IN THE RYE in the top stack, which has appeared previously in crosswords, but not in recent years. This is a red flag I didn't pick up on until I realized (too late) that this answer cannot be clued properly without using the word "the".

As usual, Will et al. did a fine job with the clues. I chuckled over REFRIGERATOR CAR (1A — Coolest thing about a train?) and CHIN (50D — Hitchcock double feature?).

Sometimes a single feature entry can make an entire themeless worth it for me. ACE UP ONE'S SLEEVE did the trick for me!

Thank goodness I do a lot of puzzles, or I doubt I would have ever broken into the top triple-stack. Being able to remember that [Bundle of nerves] has to be the bizarre RETE = such a huge advantage in these wide-open themelesses.

Weird to say, but RETE was the secret ACE UP my SLEEVE!

Another solving trick for these wide-open grids: something like [Amenable sorts] will almost always end in -ERS. I was 90% those letters were right, and they helped me break into A SEED and TSARISTS. AGREERS is not a good entry, but I do like finishing puzzles, and when bizarre entries like this help get me across the finish line, I tend to look at them a little less unfavorably.

A little.

I did have an error, at CHARLOTTE AMELIE. Should I have known the 1978 Grammy nominee was Chris REA, not REE? Hmm. HMM, I say! I understand that this is supposed to be a hard puzzle, but I'm not sure that this is a fair crossing, at least not as clued.

Some fantastic entries worked into the stacks, CARLOS THE JACKAL TEETERing ON THE EDGE, an ALL AMERICAN HERO on his tail? There's a good story in there somewhere.

As with most triple-stack puzzles, I wanted 1.) more out of the rest of the puzzle and 2.) less crossword glue. But with triple-stacks, there's an unholy trinity: it's nearly impossible to hit those two criteria while also featuring sparkling 15-letter entries.