Randy had such nice consistency in his themers, always using exactly one overlapping letter in the clue. WILDER + RAYBURN = WILDERAYBURN -> two Genes put together, or SPLICED GENES. Get it?
What, you don't know who Gene Rayburn was?
Huh. That makes it harder to figure out.
I vaguely recalled his name from my youth, watching hours of afternoon TV as a latchkey kid. It didn't matter how bad a show was; it was better than not watching TV at all. That says a lot about "The Match Game" (and me, too, sadly).
It's not the tightest theme since there are so many synonyms for "joined." ASSOCIATED PRESS, MARRIED MEN, JOINED HANDS, etc. could have all worked. Not every theme needs to be tight — a set of four examples is perfectly fine — but tightness does add elegance.
A 68-word grid like today's destroys elegance. There's no doubt that it makes for a harder solve (which is what Will wants above all else in a Thursday puzzle), but no one likes to run into A FUSS of DESTE, ENOTE, UNARM (disarm), KTS, RFD (when you have to say "outdated" in the clue …), SRTA, TSE, and on it goes.
I did love getting GAL GADOT, who looks awesomely bizarre as GALGA DOT, as well as LEAD FOOT, SIDEBURNS, even CONSULATE. That's a good amount of colorful bonus material designed to elevate the quality of a solve. However, you can do still do that and a also achieve a much, much, much smoother grid, by sticking to a more traditional layout. Even going to a 72-worder (without stacking themers), could have been fruitful.
Now, the puzzle does have many entries that aren't seen every day — the mid-length slots in particular — so one might think it would lend a feeling of freshness. It's so hard to fill big swaths of white space with sizzle, though. It's not worth putting solvers through such a rough experience when all you have to offer them are neutral words like ADDUCE, and iffy ones like MOSHER.
Will Shortz and I have a fundamental difference about what makes for an entertaining low-word-count themed puzzle. I'd have sent this one back for a redo.
I did appreciate exchanging emails with Randy about this topic. It's good to hear that he's constantly struggling to find the right balance between his needs and those of solvers.