New York Times, Monday, May 4, 2020

I'm sure we've all been using a lot more FOWLLANGUAGE while dealing with this pandemic GOBBLEDYGOOK. So I hope this puzzle provides some much-needed distraction!

And on a personal note, as a New York City healthcare worker, I just want to say thank you for the outpouring of support and love over the past weeks. It's meant the world to my colleagues and me.

Stay safe, everyone.

I love clues that whip my brain around in unexpected ways. 7-Down asks for the name of a Pro Bowler. Wha???? It's bad enough that I'm supposed to know the names of NASCAR drivers and Mel Ott's teammates, and now I need to be familiar with Professional Bowling? On a Monday?

Oh, that kind of professional bowler. Oops. Nevermind.

Raise your hand if you think Jim Horne should take over with commentary. I was laughing so hard I nearly spit-took my CAWfee!

Fun start to the week. Emily's FOWL LANGUAGE might make some squawk, but I enjoyed the groaniness of the revealer.

My first reaction to the theme was that there wasn't enough consistency. QUACK stands on its own, PEEP sort of does, and GOBBLE and HONK are part of longer words. I've come to realize, though, that the key issue is whether or not solvers get what's going on. Each of the four sounds is clearly identifiable, so ultimately, who cares about consistency?

Except for us dumb clucks, that is.

I would have liked FOWL LANGUAGE better than USE FOWL LANGUAGE. The former would make gridwork much harder, since a 12-letter revealer forces much AWKwardness, but it's still doable. (AWK is the noise a parrot makes. Sez me.) FOWL LANGUAGE could match with GOBBLEDYGOOK, and you could replace QUACK DOCTORS with something else — that'd be another improvement since most people call bad doctors QUACKS, not QUACK DOCTORS.

While I enjoyed some of the upscale feel of the fill — ALDO Gucci, impressionist paintings set in ARLES, Christina RICCI's films — they made the solve a bit tough, especially when concentrated in one region. It didn't help that CELLOPHANE looked so wrong to this cello player that I had to force myself to buy it.

Along with a few other entries that might trip up newbs — only the crossworld recognizes ONEK (it's always "1-K," and 1-K races are rare) and ECOLES is tough (although my French crosswording friends down the street will love this!) — I would hesitate to give this puzzle to a newer solver.

Overall, though, some fun wordplay. Maybe even worth writing a 140-character message about.