New York Times, Saturday, August 25, 2018

NO SIR. IMS. PRELIM. ASAP. SAND PILE. WIN. The clues for these answers are all Will's; I can't take any credit for them outside of giving my thumbs-up to the guy while editing together. They're much better than my originals.

AERIE. DOYLE. MY FAIR LADY. IVIE. The clues for these are my own, but after coming up with replacements per Will's thoughts:

• [Aptly named clothing line from American Eagle] felt a bit too similar to recent clues for AERIE, even if this was a lively angle.
• ["A Scandal in Bohemia" was his first short story] seemed like a better clue for "Arthur Conan Doyle" rather than just DOYLE. Would you ever refer to him by only the final part of his name?
• [Musical whose main character has a Cockney accent] for MY FAIR LADY, on a Saturday? Too easy!
• [Good name for a botanist?] just didn't quite nail IVIE, which was crucial for such a weirdly spelled name. There had to be a better profession to associate "ivy" with.

All the remaining clues are either entirely my own or were slightly tweaked for style/clarity (like adding "in the 1960s" to the NEODADAIST clue, changing "sweet, spicy" to "sweet-and-spicy" for BBQ WINGS, etc). I'll call it all a major constructing 59-Down!

This is all to say, I've learned by now how rewarding a concerted cluing effort can be ... and how much the results can elevate the puzzle no matter which day of the week it falls on. While lively, fresh vocabulary is what makes a grid sing on its own, sometimes clues can come in and turn otherwise normal entries into highlights for the solver.

Perhaps the EAU clue elicits a memorable "aha" moment, or native New Yorkers enjoy the fresh take on METS. Those "Coiner of the word ___" clues, like the one for CARROLL, tend to be interesting. Notice how none of these involve question marks, either; fresh, smoothly executed puns are a welcome sight, in my book, but they're just one way to enliven the solving experience.

I'll hop off my soapbox now. Here's hoping you solvers aren't a tough crowd!

That SE corner is brilliant. RADIO WAVE cleverly disguised as an [Air traveler?] + I CALLED IT! = OH HELL YES!

Something fun about that BBQ WINGS / PINTO BEAN combo, with GOON SQUAD up in the NW, too. (I wasn't sure what a NEODADAIST was, but what an interesting word.)

Along with some YAKETY YAK, PLAYS GOD, LOINCLOTH, MY FAIR LADY, man that's a ton — er, TONNE? — of good stuff all throughout.

I haven't DNFed (did not finish) a Saturday puzzle in a long time, but I was sweating it today. PERF is what the kids say today about … something PERFect? Huh.

There was a FDR JR? It looks like he was indeed called FDR JR by his family, so it's a fine entry, with an awesomely bizarre string of five consonants. Not knowing him was on me.

A couple of other toughies though — NEDLOW, SEA CHART, SAND PILE, PLAINTS? NEDLOW can be chalked up to my ignorance, as it's NED LOW, apparently a high-profile pirate of the "Golden Age of Piracy."

The others though, felt a tad off. I've seen plenty of tide charts, nautical charts, depth charts, but never heard them called SEA CHARTs.

SAND PILE is … a pile of sand?

PLAINTS? Like (com)PLAINTS? Hmm, maybe there's a crossword theme in there somewhere!

And the cluing for some of the short common answers. I think this puzzle was correctly placed on a Saturday because of all of the tough entries, but it's not much fun to wrangle with ["Who ___?"] just to struggle into ISN'T. Or "Ooh-la-la" for I LIKE? I don't like!

How is WIN the 1 in 1-9? Took me a lot of thinking post-solve (and a sheepish query to Jim) to figure out that it probably is the number of wins in a win-loss record? As in 1 win, 9 losses? What a bizarre clue.

A curious mix of delightful entries and Saturday-ed clues, making for a very tough solve. Such a feeling of relief to finally fill in the last box!