New York Times, Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Some puzzles can truly be characterized as "inspired." This one, however, came from my "I really ought to compose a puzzle" muse. That said: daily crosswords in most markets carry no titles; consequently, constructions utilizing a "reveal" entry appeal to me because they offer the solver an "aha" moment. "Reveal" entries are sometimes as long as the theme answer phrases. For example, the theoretical-but-probably-not-useful reveal AFTERMATH could be a hint for the same-length answer MAJOR DOMO (as in MATH MAJOR) as well as unrelated answers like SYMBOL FOR LEAD and TEST MARKET.

Casting about for ideas for this puzzle I thought of IN BUD, which is apt for springtime. Then I found four suitable long entries that seem to be first-timers, which is always fun: BUms arounD, BUrma roaD, BUll-noseD, and BUttonwooD.

As to the development of the grid: I don't remember what I had for lunch yesterday, so other than making sure the reveal was in the grid — near the bottom to delay the "aha" — I honestly don't recall if there were tricky regions of the construction. The grid design has lots of relatively isolated areas with many options everywhere. I knew I was aiming for Monday-Tuesday difficulty and tried to keep the fill on the straightforward side.

I like a puzzle that reminds me spring is around the corner (fingers crossed). A real treat to see crocuses starting to emerge as I go for long runs, so a puzzle themed on IN BUD was very welcome. Four phrases are (sort of) IN BUD, i.e. they have the letters BU and D at their ends.

BUMS AROUND is a great answer; snazzy stuff. And I smiled at BUTTONWOOD — it's a nice enough entry in itself, but it made me think how incredible this theme would be if there were four entries which satisfied the BU*D pattern AND were actually things that were currently in bud? Anyway, too much to hope for, methinks.

interesting layout today, one which sort of segments the grid into nine subsections. I don't mind the NW and the SE, but generally I think it's best to avoid sectioning off the NE and SW so severely. To me, it takes away from the overall flow of a crossword, choking down to a single entry which must be figured out (ON A BET or UPTICK) to move through that necking point.

I also found the placement of revealer a bit inelegant, as it's in a random-ish spot of the grid. I would have preferred IN BUD to be where UMPED is, for example. This is simply a personal preference — having a revealer with no symmetrical entry is perfectly fine but feels so much cleaner if it's in a margin or at the final across entry.

Not a lot of long fill today, but COOKBOOK carried a nice clue to it, and PARDON ME could only have been made better by referring to the old Grey Poupon ad. (I can't tell you how many times my brother and I have giggled over that old commercial.) And BEAN BAG is a great entry in the grid.

The short fill... usually short fill is like a chief of staff: the best you can hope for is you don't notice anything. If the chief has done his/her job well (see: Doug Stamper on House of Cards), everything runs like a machine, no knocks or pings. Today, I would have liked to see the west section smoothed out (ILIA and ANIL); same for the north (AGIN). Sometimes a constructor puts in "weird" entries on purpose (Tracy Gray's PLAGE for example) which I find perfectly fine — one of those here or there is acceptable, even desirable. And while both ILIA and ANIL are generally things one sees outside of crosswords, when seen together, they stick out (in my opinion).

Anyway, nice themers today, I really liked BULL-NOSED too (I have many pairs of BULL-NOSED pliers; they're extremely useful) and BURMA ROAD was a fun one to look up.

Spring has sprung! (as I sit in a coffee shop looking at the cold rain)