New York Times, Friday, May 29, 2020

A standout themeless is so tough to make nowadays. Increased diversity in constructors has brought more to the table in terms of interesting fill, and word lists continue to be expanded and optimized. There are so many weekend-level puzzles I review and set aside, noting something along the lines of: "This is a well-made puzzle that I'd probably enjoy solving ... but is there room for it in our files?" We simply can't accept them all.

Lately, I'm thinking more than ever about cluing, which I genuinely believe can add just as much to the solving experience as the grid itself. A constructor's ability to write clues might serve as the tiebreaking factor for my final vote, though I'm also talking about "cluability" — can these answers get fun, imaginative clues in the first place?

This sort of mindset has gotten me more interested in mid-length stuff like THRILLER, SYMMETRY, TROPHY, TRENDS, ANIMAL, CLENCH, etc. along with a short fill buildup like HIM / SOLE / CULT / SCAN. It's not that I'm anti-name in any way — look, I started this puzzle with TYREKE, and as a solver, I love when I can resonate with a puzzle's references — but I believe that a preponderance of names leads to cluing inflexibility. The same for crossword-y mainstays like VIE and RNA; perfectly cromulent, sure, but there's only so much you can do with them. I'd place ON A (partial phrase) and HUD (abbreviation) in a slightly higher tier, as they can at least get fresh angles in their clues.

The art of making crosswords is one giant balance. I find my philosophies behind it to be ever-evolving, so I'm eager to engage in these discussions with solvers and constructors alike. Hope you enjoyed the puzzle, and thanks for hearing my thoughts!

P.S.: In case you haven't heard, you can now submit your own Times crosswords digitally. Find out more here.

THEODICY looks so much like "the idiocy." I think Sam is making subtle commentary about religion, but I'm too much of an idiot to figure out what.

Three fantastic marquee answers, NIGHTY NIGHT, STAIRMASTER, and WORLD ATLAS firing on all cylinders. Not only are these fantastic phrases in their own right, but each is screaming to take a clever clue. The first has all sorts of potential around "retirement," the second was clued just as sneakily a few weeks ago, and WORLD ATLAS has plenty of plays on "country" available. Yes, yes, and yes!

AT THE HEART … not so much. The knock on it is that it wants so desperately to be completed by "of," so you have to include that in the clue. Makes it edge toward partial-land.

Sam debuted a few entries today, but that's not always a good thing. NIGHTY NIGHT, absolutely. TYREKE Evans? I've had on my fantasy team many times, so I know his name. I don't think it's fair to expect non-NBA data crunchers to know him, though.

Along with AT THE HEART, there's RUNS A LAP. I thought about it for a while, deciding not to ding it. It's not as strong to my ear as RUNS LAPS or TAKES A LAP; however, it'll do in a pinch.

CYBERLAW is a thing, but I doubt I'd ever drop the word in conversation, especially not with my neighbors who work at Twitter and Slack. I already had this happen:

"SLAC! Neat, you work at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center?"

"Uh …" (eye roll emoji tweeted)

I enjoyed many clues, some of which could use some explanation:

• "U and I" have SYMMETRY in common? Yes, mirror SYMMETRY, my favorite type!
• CANNERY is a "bean plant" … d'oh! Not a bean plant plant, but a bean canning plant.
• [Flat part of a flat] had me thinking about musical flats. Then residential apartments. Finally, the SHOE (a flat is a type of shoe) dropped. Hopefully, the cleverness here didn't fall flat with you.

A lot to love in this solve. Some beautiful feature entries, excellent supporting cast, and nothing that stuck out too much. A couple of wrinkles ironed out (THYMES plural, I see you) and it would have gotten some POW! consideration.