THEY ALL LAUGHED

Jacob Stulberg, of Otis, Mass., is a second-year law student at New York University — currently taking classes remotely. He's been making crosswords for The Times since 2013.

Jacob is a longtime fan of the publication mentioned in 101-Across. When he was 11, he wrote a letter to the editors, which they published, correcting their use of the term 'gluteus maximus."

The idea for today's theme came to me while I was constructing a different puzzle and looking for a fun way to clue AL JAFFEE. That puzzle never came to fruition, but my search led me to Mike Sacks' entertaining interview with Jaffee in a 2009 collection called And Here's the Kicker, where Sacks mentions Jaffee's uncanny knack for predicting real-life inventions.

Thanks to Will and Sam for the additional MAD-themed clues at 44-Across and 50-Down. (For the record, the latter's clue was originally the same as 65-Down's.)

I used to be such a fan of MAD MAGAZINE. It'd be the first thing I picked up at the library when I was younger, and even in college, I'd go to local bookstores and chuckle at the political spoofs instead of doing my poli sci reading. It was so irreverent, so playful, so much pure entertainment.

I don't remember AL JAFFEE nearly as much as Sergio Aragones, but I was able to claw out a few memories — he's the guy behind the iconic fold-in! Art imitating art.

Neat that he wrote gags about all these things that came true. I wish the predictions had been amazing, though, like "The Simpsons" predicting Trump's presidential win. Foreseeing SNOWBOARDING or a THREE BLADE RAZOR isn't nearly as jaw-dropping.

AL JAFFEE OF MAD MAGAZINE felt like an oddly-connected revealer. Why not use the two of them as separate entries? They both stand nicely on their own.

Loved the clue for THE SMURFS — such a perfect repurposing of "blues ensemble." JOB INTERVIEW also shined with its punny [Hire calling?]. Great way to make your longest bonus fill shine even more.

As I expect from Jacob, solid gridwork, but I wished the entire solve had been kookier, side-splitting, more devilish — more like MAD MAGAZINE. There were so many dry clues for dry entries that the entire thing bogged down. It's so important for any Sunday puzzle to contain at least half a dozen wicked-sharp or smile-inducing clues to keep a solver's interest through the experience. For a Sunday puzzle built around the craziness of MAD MAGAZINE, it's that much more critical.