New York Times, Saturday, September 28, 2019

In the aggregate, I spent more time creating this puzzle than any other I have ever made — by a significant margin. Since I first started working on it in January of 2017, I estimate I spent well over 100 hours (and probably more than 200 hours) working and re-working this idea.

As originally submitted, the puzzle had SWISS ROLL at 1-Across and DESSERT CASES in the last row. It also had a much more aggressive grid pattern, with only three blocks in the lower right corner and only nine 3-letter words along the width of the outermost spiral (as opposed to 12 such words in the final version).

The major breakthroughs that finally enabled the fill to pass muster with Will were (1) scaling back the lower-right corner (turning that corner with 6 blocks is much easier than with only 3); (2) replacing DESSERT CASES with the shorter PATISSERIE (or PATISSERIES in some incarnations); and (3) moving the thematic content to places that were easier to work with than the top and bottom. I also spent a lot of time minutely adjusting the shape of the spiral in different ways. Even moving a single block by one space often greatly changed the fill possibilities. And due to the extremely high level of interlock, replacing even a few objectionable words typically required reworking the entire puzzle.

The caliber of fill cleanliness that the NYT requires for a Friday or Saturday puzzle is extremely high, and it was quite difficult to pull off this grid shape and mini-theme to that exacting standard. During the revision process, I would sometimes put the puzzle away in frustration for months at a time before crawling back to it again. I'm not sure why, but I really wanted to get this one over the finish line.

I love "The Great British Bake-Off," where SWISS ROLLs have been the subject of many challenges. The basic recipe is simple, but seeing the imagination and creativity bakers inject (sometimes literally) into their creations can be mind-blowing. There's so much artistry involved, trying to figure out how to pull of a wild design, while living within the main criterion: above all, it must taste delicious.

When judging SWISS ROLLs, Paul Hollywood has no hesitations when pointing out the imperfections. Consistency of layer thickness is one of the most common issues. Not today! Such a regular layer of jelly inside, no thin or thick spots, the entire roll three or four letters wide.

Only three letters wide didn't provide for much flavor, though. One of the rules of thumb for a themeless is to minimize your short fill, since it's generally not that interesting and can chop up a solving experience. I was sure my stop-and-go solve would point to a large number of shorties, and indeed — 16 3-letter words and 13 4-letter ones. Not ideal.

I also wanted more spice. SECRET WEAPONS and BEER BARRELS, yes! WALLACE STEVENS and LEGISLATORS, though — that part of the sponge didn't rise as much as it should have, falling flat. A grid like this has such a limited number of long and medium slots that it's critical to use every one to its fullest potential. STIRRED, CLEAN UP, SIMPSON, and the long entries along the bottom … unfortunately not as en fuego as EN FUEGO.

A serviceable themeless with a pretty visual and not many outright technical flaws (aah, perhaps AAAH). Style over substance, though; not nearly enough overall to garner a Jeff handshake.