New York Times, Thursday, May 14, 2020

I got the idea for this puzzle after a game of Monopoly with my children. I thought I could shorten the phrase GET OUT OF JAIL FREE to 15 letters or less with some type of FREE-themed rebus puzzle. When the phrase FREE SPACE came up, the puzzle mutated into a Bingo theme. I submitted my original manuscript in October of 2018, and two trips through the mail and several more revisions later, the puzzle was accepted last September.

My Scrabble clue made the final cut, but the other three themed clues were toughened up (originally "'Bingo,' in a preschool"; "Bingo, on a card"; and "'Bingo!', on trivia night"). I love the editors' clue for 3-Down. I'm glad that my clues for 26- and 32-Across and 39-Down made it. I had hoped that my original clue for ROSS, "TV painter with the line: We don't make mistakes, just happy little accidents," would get in, but ALAS.

Today's puzzle is a curious mix of "disparate definitions of a single word," rebus, and grid art. Let's look at them individually.

Disparate definition themes often flop because the grid entries sound like dry dictionary definitions. Phrases like GAME IN A HALL and DOG IN A NURSERY RHYME? Yuck! I appreciated that Michael steadfastly held to in-the-language themers. ABSOLUTELY RIGHT that NURSERY RHYME is a much better entry than DOG IN A NURSERY RHYME!

Also nice: the four definitions are so different from each other — term from Scrabble, dog from a song, the Bingo hall game, and an exclamation. I've thought about many words that could lend themselves to "disparate definitions" themes, but Bingo never crossed my mind. Surprising that there are four different ways to get at it.

Putting the word "Bingo" in the clues, though, gave away the game right from the get-go. Hiding the theme until the end, with BINGO as the last across answer, could have generated a solid a-ha moment.

Although, if you had already figured out the FREE rebus, you would have already known what's going on.

Hmm.

Rebuses with only one instance aren't common, and they can be hit or miss. The question is always, is it worth the potential solver confusion? Today, I was plus/minus on it. Yes, it did hint at a Bingo card, but only one of the four themers was about the game of Bingo.

It's also strange to work FREE into such a long piece of fill, GLUTEN FREE CEREAL. I love that entry, but I spent some time wondering how this, the longest phrase in the puzzle, was related to Bingo. Something like MR (FREE)ZE is equally fun, and it wouldn't muddy up the thematic waters. Even better, it would make grid construction easier.

Finally, the grid art aspect. I loved the visual of a Sunday Bingo puzzle from more than a decade ago, because it went whole hog. You want Bingo? You got the B I N G O, along with a whole bunch of numbers and a FREE space!

Interesting mix of thematic elements today. Not completely successful, but I liked the attempt to create something fresh.