New York Times, Friday, September 24, 2021

Since I often start themelesses now with a single seed (in this case, BOX BRAIDS) instead of two or three, I'm really pleased that the editing of this puzzle left much of the "me" in the clues intact, since you can't necessarily tell that this puzzle is a Stella just from looking at the grid like you can in some of my other themelesses. The most obvious example is my cluing LOAD with reference to weightlifting, but others are TURTLE as a mythological bearer of the world and Milton Friedman as my chosen ECONomist.

Whoa! Stella is flexing with those gigantic upper left and lower right corners. Almost mirrors the keg she's holding in her profile picture. [What's not to like?] indeed!

The knock on quadruple stacks (no matter what their length) is that it's extremely tough to fill them with both color and clarity. BETE NOIRE (with that genius [What's not to like?] clue) is an excellent way to kick things off, and BOX BRAIDS feels fresh. I didn't know the term, but this is the kind of learning that I like in a crossword — two words that I can easily piece together.

INTERIOR doesn't do much except take up interior space, though. Foreign rivers like ELBE are called out on most editors' specs sheets as to be avoided.

The opposite corner wasn't as strong. It is squeakily spotless, but there's nothing flashy to anchor it. I don't love an AMBULANCE over a REARENDED vehicle. A MONOPLANE is a real thing, but I'd bet a minority of editors would count it as an asset. I doubt many would tick it into the liabilities column, but I couldn't say the same for GIROS.

Much more eye-catching: ARMORED CARS and IMAGINE THAT. Fantastic answers, both laden with imagery, fun, and even wonder.

Some constructors have posed the theory that themelesses don't need to shine in their grids but can stand out through their cluing. No doubt, [Dance around?] is cleverly repurposed for the circular HORA dance. I enjoyed IDIOMS clued as lessons for an advanced lessons learner. A TURTLE playing Atlas in Iroquois stories is cool trivia. I still would have liked more pizzazz in the grid entries themselves, though, especially for a 70-word solve.