New York Times, Wednesday, March 17, 2021

This puzzle started with TED DANSON. I've been a fan of his since before his "Cheers" fame. That reminds me — I should go back and re-watch "The Onion Field" and "Body Heat."

Since this submission was accepted, JANET YELLEN has been elevated to a cabinet position. I was glad to get that little injection of currency in the puzzle. A counterbalance to MICHAEL BOLTON, perhaps.

A little over four years ago, I started writing a crossword puzzle for a local monthly publication called Groundcover News. A couple of years ago, I recruited crossword constructor, editor, New York Times staff member, and fellow Ann Arborite Tracy Bennett to split the duties with me. So now we alternate months, with Tracy often co-constructing with Vic Fleming. What is Groundcover, you ask? From their website, they are an organization "founded in April 2010 as a means to empower low-income persons to make the transitions from homeless to housed, and from jobless to employed." Groundcover vendors can be found on street corners and in front of shops in and around downtown AA. The puzzles that Tracy and I construct are originals, with an NYT Monday/Tuesday level of difficulty. Occasionally the themes are Arbor-centric, but most are accessible to a wide audience. So, if you happen to find yourself in our town, pick up a copy. If you'd like to subscribe or make a donation, visit Groundcover News here.

-ON and -EN celebs, reimagined as -IN' verbs. I listen to a fantasy basketball podcast where the host uses a fake MICHAEL BOLTON intro so that one doubly amused me. Funny to imagine Michael Bolton boltin' across the basketball court.

Neat to see JANET YELLEN featured, the first woman to be Secretary of the Treasury and also the first woman to be Chair of the Fed. It's also fun that she hardly seems like someone who would be yellin'. It's the kind of humor where you call a bald dude Harry. (Or Jeff.)

Loved the clue for PINATA. We had another delightful clue for PINATAS earlier in the week, and this one amped up the deviousness. "Hanging around at a party with swingers" is so clever!

I didn't get the STOAT clue's wordplay at first because I have a hard time keeping straight animals I never see in real life. Nice a-ha when I looked it up, recalling that the STOAT is a relative of the weasel. What a weaselly pun!

I appreciated that Pete kept the names in the fill to a minimum. I often see a ton of (really angry) complaints about name-based themes, that it's not a crossword but a trivia contest. More names might have helped Pete fill certain regions more smoothly, the SW corner, for example, but I like the trade-offs he made.

It would have been great to see at least one minority, so at least this minority solver could develop more of a connection to the puzzle. It's hard to say how difficult it would be to think of one with an -EN or -ON ending that transmogrifies into a workable -IN' ending, though.