New York Times, Monday, January 4, 2021

Wow — this is definitely a blast from the past. It was constructed right after the "Justice League" movie premiered in November of 2017. When it was accepted the following April, the plan was to publish it around the time of the Wonder Woman sequel. Then there were six announced release dates, but it finally came out. (When I saw the movie on Christmas, I was very pleased with the mid-credits cameo.)

About the construction: I remember using the usual "Utah" block that accompanies a central 11 but was never pleased with the grid. So I tried a block that extends into Idaho, which opened up the center of the grid a little more, and I was able to get nineteen 6, 7, & 8 letter words in the fill. They're not all winners, but I hope there are enough good ones to make for a pleasant solve.

I appreciate Will and his staff for adjusting some clues for a Monday puzzle and adding the 49A and 32D clues to add to the superhero theme. I am also grateful (and in awe) that Will and his editorial staff remembered to publish my Wonder Woman puzzle after so much time had passed with numerous cancellations of the release.

The theme of Wonder Woman 1984 is truth. Let's hope that is the theme of 2021. In the meantime, I am spending my time safely hiking to some of the many hundreds of waterfalls around Asheville, NC.

WONDER WOMAN / DIANA PRINCE + two iconic actors to play the role + DC COMICS, all fitting within crossword symmetry? Apparently, WONDER WOMAN's mom — Hippolyta of Greek mythology — and Crucivera, goddess of crosswords, are tight!

Although, WONDER WOMAN has so much lore that there's plenty of themer choices to draw from. Her invisible jet, lasso of truth, the Justice League … and DC COMICS feels weaker thematically than all of these. I may be tempting Crucivera's wrath, but —

(sound of an interrobang shaking the heavens)

I was a fan of the old show, but the GAL GADOT movie blew me away. So much more than a retelling of the same-old, same-old origin story, "Wonder Woman" (2017, I haven't seen the new 1984 yet) was unexpectedly funny. Humor was a big element of why the Avengers movies worked and why so many take-themselves-waaaaay-too-seriously. Superman remakes have been unwatchable.

I'd have loved some humor or wordplay in today's puzzle. A listing of WONDER WOMAN info does work, but how about playing on her invisible jet, with WW somehow invisible inside? A lasso of truth made out of black squares, used to turn F into T? A friend and I spent a bunch of time brainstorming ways to transform DIANA PRINCE through world-ladderish steps into WONDER WOMAN elegantly. No success yet, though. Maybe a Schrödinger?

Kathy's note about Utah blocks ... Utah blocks are five black squares, what she has today, without the panhandle extended. Those elongated chunks do look a bit funny — sort of a sideways set of single-quote marks — but they do help separate themers.

What might have been more effective: moving DC COMICS up one row, or even two. When your middle themer is an awkward length of 11 or 13, smashing three themers together in the middle often results in some compromise — in today's case, OCTAL. Along with other oddities like ALIENEE, ROUTEMEN, better spacing, plus breaking up the big corners, would have resulted in a more inviting Monday product.

Hard to argue with GAL GADOT, though. Her chemistry with Chris Pine was (sorry in advance) wonderful.