New York Times, Monday, February 3, 2020

I'm thrilled to be making my Times debut on a Monday. Thanks to Will Shortz and his staff for reading through all of my submissions, especially the terrible ones. This was one of my earlier attempts at crossword constructing (followed by approximately three or four dozen rejections before my next "yes"), and the feedback I received with each of my submissions has been crossword gold, helping make me a better constructor.

Although this is my debut with the Times, it's my eighth publication. One puzzle that was especially fun to make was a 15x pangram with grid art that folds into an origami butterfly (thanks to Jane Rosemarin at The Fold for editing my illustrations).

I hope today's puzzle made for an entertaining start to your crossword-solving week.

Animal themes have been done ad infinitum in crosswords, so an extra layer is essential. Thankfully, that's what Michael has given us today. Note that it's hardly a loosey-goosey (ha) set of themers, but nice and tight — every phrase is an animal's part, expressed in a possessive format. I enjoyed the 50/50 approach of having two themers as "X OF THE Y," and two as "THE X'S Y."

Outstanding debut gridwork, too. Monday products ought to be newb-friendly, with the potential to convert those on the fence. One major tenet is to make your short stuff unnoticeable, allowing a solver to breeze through without having any needle-scratching-across-a-record moments. There were two blips in ALEE and ORY (the latter heavily globulous), but that's an admirable result for any constructor, much less a rookie.

I appreciate that Michael didn't try to do too much. Stick to 78 words your first couple of times, so you have the best chance of coming through with a beautifully smooth early-week product. Toss in a pair of bonuses like HEAR ME OUT and MY MISTAKE, and call it good. If you can insert a bit of SHA NA NA, DRY HEAT, and a Z in BREEZED, definitely do it! As long as you can do it with minimal compromises, that is.

Too often, experienced constructors hear the call of the dark side, aiming for an audacious product that newer solvers might end up cocking their heads at — or worse. Today's is a perfect example of a welcoming gateway; a crossword with a simple yet novel theme, and a grid that allows for a fist-pumping victory. Bravo!