KARAOKE BARS

Matthew Stock, 24, grew up in Dallas and now lives in St. Louis, where he teaches ninth-grade algebra through an Americorps-affiliated tutoring program. He started constructing puzzles several years ago after he attended a crossword tournament in Boston and "had a great time chatting with puzzlemakers throughout the afternoon."

This is his third crossword (and first Sunday) for The Times.

So excited to bring you all a banger-filled 21x21 on 2/21/21! I made this puzzle this past August, and it was accepted in mid-December. The idea for the theme started with the clue-answer pair at 24-Across. From there, I wanted to make sure that I really stuck the landing on each themer — options like [Sand bars?] for MARGARITAVILLE or [Biker bars?] for THE CHAIN didn't feel like they worked quite well enough — and I ended up putting the idea on the back burner a few times before eventually rounding out the set with WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS. Once I realized that I could lay out the grid with the 17s and 15s interlocking, I was off to the races. My favorite clues of mine that made the cut are 74-Across and 110-Across, and the editing team delivered across the board — my favorites additions of theirs are 36-Across and 12-Down.

As is the case with almost every puzzle I'm proud of, I'm so thankful here for my friends Brooke Husic and Sid Sivakumar, whose feedback on early versions of this theme and grid were truly invaluable. I wholeheartedly recommend solving every puzzle that either of them ever makes, starting here and here. (If you're not all puzzled out by now, my stuff's over here.)

Lastly, I've learned a lot since making this puzzle in August, and if I were remaking it today, I would only consider theme sets with a wider variety of diversity among the ‘featured' artists. Our community has important work to do in diversity in inclusion, not only in puzzle content but also in terms of constructors (and editors). If you're a constructor from an underrepresented background in crosswords and want any pointers/feedback/other help as you make your way into puzzles (21x or otherwise), please don't hesitate to reach out.

Plays on KARAOKE BARS, phrases ending with "bar" punnily describing a song. Kicking things off with FLY ME TO THE MOON as "space bars," i.e., musical "bars" about space, gave me a friendly start. I'm not good with pop music, but I listen to a ton of old-school jazz. Sinatra doesn't exactly qualify, but I've played Count Basie's FLY ME TO THE MOON dozens of times.

Not so much luck with POUR SOME SUGAR ON ME or DANCING ON MY OWN, but the themed hints gave me a leg up. You might ask, who the heck pours sugar on candy? If you don't know, you don't have young kids. Although Robyn was new to me, DANCING ON MY OWN is perfect for [Singles bars?].

It struck me that all the featured performers are from pop — no R&B, soul, rap, K-pop, Tejano, etc. More pointedly, they're almost all white.

I figured there might be some reason I didn't understand, and I didn't want Matthew to feel called out — I worry that this tone of communication results not just in zero results, but negative ones, by making people defensive and thus causing them to entrench further — so I reached out to him. We had a useful discussion about the dilemma of being a newer constructor, trying to do everything to get published amid an ultra-competitive field. Sometimes that involves guessing at what might be deemed "mainstream" or "widely accessible" to Will Shortz, and going with what seems like the safest route.

Don't misinterpret my comments as absolving the NYT from responsibility. I think they should have kicked this one back, to better target a broader range of their solving audience. I'm only trying to help a newer constructor to not feel skewered, especially because he clearly regrets the issue, and to shed light on a common problem among newer constructors.

Additionally, Sundays are in such high demand; I'd encourage constructors to take chances. They won't always be successful, but constructors that keep to tried-and-true paths aren't memorable.

Some delightful clues, always such a benefit to help buoy oneself through a full 21x21 solve. WATER as something that's "well-kept," things you lose as you age as HAIR—I mean, IDEALS. And [Did a little lifting]! No giveaway question mark required, a mischievous misdirect toward pumping iron, away from PILFERING.

Solid debut Sunday. If he could do it again, I'm confident Matthew would choose a set of songs that tickled a wider range of solvers—or at least one tune that spoke to different customer demographics. Don't let that take away from his above-average Sunday gridwork: little glue, plus a few strong STAR PUPIL IM ALL SET bonuses.