New York Times, Saturday, February 27, 2021

The seed for this puzzle was 1-Across; it's my life motto. When I originally submitted this puzzle, I was expecting a rejection because I thought that that seed might not be seen as in-the-language enough. In fact, I heard from another unnamed constructor that they had a puzzle a couple of years ago rejected with that same entry as a part of a seed stack for the aforementioned reason. Given this, I was pleasantly surprised to hear the good news.

PS: if you're a POC or are from an underrepresented group in crosswords and you have an interest in dipping your toes into construction, I would love to do what I can to help you get started! Whether it's discussing theme ideas, trading tips on grid construction, or collaborating on a puzzle, I would love to chat! You can DM me on Twitter @yacobyo or hit me up on Facebook.

Yacob! I've been so impressed with his work. He's won a POW! for an amazing 50% of his prior puzzles, and this one earned some consideration. He's been so humble, so eager to work on his craft, willing to listen to feedback. It all shows in his products.

I was on Yacob's wavelength for much of the solve, making for a fast and enjoyable experience. I'm big into fantasy basketball, Dunkademics, and the Professor, so BALL IS LIFE gave me a favorable bounce.

Then, that clue for ASCII ART allowed me to drop it in without any letters. Speaking of being on the same wavelength, I'd used the entry in a previous puzzle—in almost the same position! (The middle IIA string is tough to work with unless it's floating in the middle of a region, so the similarity is not at all surprising.)

Schroder and his TOY PIANO from "Peanuts," SOLAR CAR, FACEPALM all tickled me, too. I appreciate that "Peanuts" appeals to older generations while FACEPALM is more a millennial kind of thing. Something for everyone.

A common complaint I hear (a lot) about is names in crosswords. I don't think having exclusively non-proper-name words in crosswords is a great idea — how would we constructors get by without our crutches of ONO and ENO and REA and RAE? However, I can sympathize with the perspective that too much of it can make for a trivia contest instead of a word game. When there's so much of HAMM LEICA TRACI MR KITE ELY ALEC LANA ARON—that's just the Acrosses — it might feel like a flood.

I should explain two clues:

• DADAS change "didys"? That's slang for "industrial waste-filled poopsacks," something this dad knows way too much about.
• The [Atomic clock timekeeper] oddly isn't MALER. I reasoned, guys wield such a disproportionate amount of power; it's not a surprise that we control time, too? (A MASER is a physics device that can generate a precise frequency, or so I begrudgingly RELENT. Er, RESENT.)

Always great to get Yacob's byline. Some of the entries like ASCII ART and SOLAR CAR might be too niche for some solvers, but I enjoy when someone speaks to the nerd in me so strongly.