New York Times, Monday, May 28, 2018

Unlike most puzzles where the creative process begins with the theme and theme entries, this one started with the central grid art. Making grid art is a nice diversion from typical crossword construction activities, and every once in a while I experiment with different block configurations to try to create something puzzle worthy. Even moving just a couple of black squares by a single space can often completely change the resulting picture.

Once I had the basic smiling face in place, I went looking for appropriately happy 15-letter phrases to accompany it. Although three theme entries is a bit low for a themed puzzle these days, the constraints imposed by the grid art made that choice the most promising. Likewise, because I wanted the grid art to stand out, I chose to leave large areas of white space around the edges of the puzzle. I would have preferred to leave off even more of the black squares, but I couldn't get the grid to fill as cleanly without them.

For experienced solvers that breeze through Monday offerings, I hope they enjoyed uncovering the six non-thematic NYT crossword debuts (SCHOOL DANCE, CAPITOL DOME, SO CLOSE, POOL TOY, PALAK, and GROWL AT). I think that's the most non-thematic debut entries so far this year in a Monday puzzle.

Finally, I was particularly happy to position BREAK INTO A SMILE so that it "breaks into" the central smiling face. I hope at least a few solvers notice and appreciate this touch.

So pleasant to start the week with a smiley face. Alex did a great job with his grid art, that grin coming right through, along with easily recognizable eyebrows. The black bars on the sides of the puzzle even look like rosy cheeks!

No?

Use your imagination, people!

I don't mind the thinnish theme, as all three were grid-spanners, all three were apt, and there was excellent grid art. The theme left me FULL OF GOOD CHEER.

What did not was the fill. Even on Mondays, I think it's fine to give solvers something to learn. If you don't know PALAK paneer, you don't know what you're missing, people!

But you can't cross that with DACHA, leaving a high chance that solvers will get that square wrong. I wouldn't blame them for complaining.

Similarly, see the AILERON / ALY crossing. Oof.

RECTO … this writer learned the term from crosswords. Not as tasty as PALAK, but hey, learning is good for you, right? At least the crossings felt fairer.

There's rarely a crossword that doesn't force constructors to make trade-offs. I understand why Alex decided to leave wide-open swaths of space all over the puzzle, as it made for beautiful grid art. However, the straightforward Monday theme wasn't served well by the fill that was so unfriendly to newer solvers. I would have much rather taken some compromises in the grid art, to produce a Monday-worthy fill.