New York Times, Wednesday, March 28, 2018

The idea for this puzzle came while testing a hangman book for Puzzlewright. The answer to one puzzle was LAST BUT NOT LEAST, and when I noticed that each of the four words ended with a T, I thought I could maybe make a theme out of that. I tried to find other letters that ended all the words in a four-word phrase but got nowhere fast. So then I went back to T and tried to come up with three-word phrases with the same trait. Having three three-word phrases followed by LAST BUT NOT LEAST, which describes itself, felt quite apt.

Having no other T's anywhere in the grid was, I felt, important. Will Shortz wasn't particular about that, but asked if I could make every clue end in a T. Having made a puzzle where every clue was a double dactyl, I figured (correctly) that making one where all the clues ended in a T would be no sweat. Using no other T's in the grid was a much tougher constraint. But for the clues ending in T, I had the additional self-imposed rule that all of the T-ending words had to be different. With that rule, it was no easy feat.

I had KEGEL (Exercise-developing gynecologist) at 32-Across, making 21-Down ASOK (Intern in "Dilbert") and 33-Down LAT (Muscle next to a delt). I prefer the ASOK/KEGEL crossing to the partial at 21-Down, but "chacun à son goût," right?

Here's a little puzzle to think about. When a puzzle gets collected into a book, a title often gets added, so I like to suggest a title when I submit it. Can you guess the title I have in mind for this puzzle from this hint? Take the last name of a U.S. president. Add a space so that the last four letters are separate from the first. Still don't have it at this point? He's a president who likes to tweet.

Who knew there were so many phrases where each word ended in T? Who would have even thought to search for those? I can imagine a constructor coming up with it if there was an actual term like FINALTIES. (T RUMP isn't bad though!) So kudos to Peter for uncovering a nice concept.

Oof, I had issues with the gridwork, though. I did love KNEE BRACES, SCALE MODEL, GOES STAG, even APOGEE. Great stuff, helping to enhance my solve.

But it's so tough to fill a themeless-level grid (72 words) with regular theme density, color, and smoothness. It's an unholy trinity — you can pick two of those, but you can't achieve all three. I thought the puzzle suffered in the smoothness category.

The worst for me as the LILMO / ADELEH crossing. I guessed correctly at this square, but I can see a case for many other letters seeming right.

(Jim thought ADELE H ought to be a gimme, a famous work of one of the most impactful movie directors in history. So perhaps I ought to have known that one? Still undecided.)

Then there was ASON. SESS. IAL. AGUE. FARO crossing KAHANE.

Constructors have to make trade-off calls on every puzzle they build. Going to a low word count didn't work for me in this one; the high prices to pay = not my cup of T.

BTW, all the clues end in T. That didn't do much for me, since lots and lots of words end in T, making the feat not so impressive.

But I did enjoy the themer findings, the concept itself a delighT.