New York Times, Friday, August 26, 2022

This one started one day when I randomly ran across someone else's grid design and noticed all the 4-letter slots were downs and all the 5-letter slots were acrosses. Of course, my little nerd brain kicked in immediately: "Wonder if a grid like that's been done before? Wonder if it can be?" I thought I might be on to something when the answers came back — surprisingly: "Not that I can find" and "Yup."

Theme development is my constructor kryptonite, but even I figured out pretty quickly that — while a nice technical feat in grid design — as a theme goes, I've had more substance in hospital broth. And that was the end of it. I put it away.

But then the fill. It started to call out to me. Unbidden. At all hours. I realized I had never actually tried to fill that beautiful grid. It's only seventy words. No theme required. Maybe if I just see how clean I can get it...

When all that positivity popped up, my mind started wandering to retirement spots on alluring tropical islands with rum, pirates, sheepdogs, and sappy 1960s television... I knew my soul was home. I hope you found a little comfort as well. Cheers!

Much gratitude to my mentor, Jeff Chen. I wouldn't be here without his support, patience, kindness, and sage advice.

Jim here, sitting in for Jeff Chen, who is herding his pet nanobots.

That's a weird-looking grid layout. It reminds me of diagramless puzzles like this one or this one. There's a specific reason diagramless grids look odd — they try to disguise how the answers interlock as long as possible. But what basis might a standard Friday themeless offering have for looking like this?

It's unclear until you get to the revealer (a revealer on a Friday?) at the bottom right. Until then, you can enjoy it like a standard themeless, and it has plenty to enjoy. Then the EVEN ODDS answer explains the constraint that forces the grid shape into contortions. It's more a curiosity than a theme. It certainly doesn't help you solve, but it's a satisfying way to uncover the layout mystery.

Davy Jones (not the one of locker fame) was indeed, along with Peter Tork, Micky Dolenz, and Michael Nesmith, a MONKEE. This constructed-for-TV group was one of the best-selling bands of the 1960s, even though everyone knew the actors didn't actually play on the recordings. Here's the great Cassandra Wilson showing how The Last Train to Clarksville can sound in the hands of master jazz musicians.