New York Times, Friday, February 17, 2023

If this puzzle is any indication, I'm a big fan of Scrabbly letters. I enjoy filling puzzles with as many of these oft-neglected consonants as possible — –they frequently present unique gridding challenges, which call for creative problem-solving. And I feel like they force me to improve the quality of the surrounding fill — –if the fill isn't good, then how can you justify squeezing an extra Q in there?

I started this puzzle with the central stair-stack and quickly settled on this pattern for its plethora of Zs. The bottom half proved fairly easy to complete, but I struggled with the northwest — –ironically, the only corner of the puzzle without any Js, Qs, Xs, or Zs. This remains the corner I'm least happy with: the entries aren't as lively as I would like, and 28-Across is not ideal (although, since I'm studying both Russian and linguistics in college, I'm happy the editing team clued it the way they did).

Thanks to my parents for test-solving and for suggesting some clue improvements. My mom came up with ‘The "king's" speech?' for 20-Across, but the editing team sadly passed on it.

I'm obsessed with PUZZLE BOXES. Whenever Mr. Puzzle or Chris Ramsay drops a new video, I go hide in the bathroom so I can watch it in peace (so what if my kids think I have intestinal dysfunction?). I read a ton of middle grade lit for research into my own middle grade books, and The Blackthorn Key — featuring an incredible puzzle box from centuries ago — blew me away. PUZZLE BOXES are so captivating that I've been trying to write a book about one for a year now. Maybe with eight or nine more revisions, it'll even be readable.

There's also something so captivating about rare letters in a themeless. They can be difficult grid around, but when done right, they dazzle. Five Zs and an X, all integrated with no RELAXED principles around smoothness? Well done.

And two more Zs in PINT SIZE / SLEAZEBALL? ACS is not a good entry, but if that's the only price to pay, WON A PRIZE is right.

This puzzle played Saturday-hard for me. I enjoyed the touches of wordplay, like [Whistler on the (kitchen) range] for KETTLE, but I've seen that angle many times before, and there wasn't much else. Stumper-like cluing made for such a tough solve: TSE as the Russian letter. Not knowing my rappers, like EARL Sweatshirt. LAD as a "gossoon." I had a few cries of dismay, and they weren't ACK.

Thankfully, some other clues punched things up, like AFFLUENZA's fresh [Ennui + wealth = ___], and LEGO's "Brickipedia" reference. My son the LEGO fanatic might as well be named Brickipedia.

Standard "stair-stack" themeless grid, but well-executed. With more playfulness and fun in the clues, I'd have given it some POW! consideration.