New York Times, Monday, May 9, 2016

Who knew that there were so many phrases that include a two letter state code AND the nickname of that same state? And that they broke out symmetrically? When I first submitted this puzzle, Joel and Will liked the theme, but felt the fill was too bland, so this version is an extreme makeover. From my perspective, landing DONHO atop ALOHASHIRT was well worth the extra effort.

It's hard for me to believe this is my 20th puzzle in the Times. A long-time solver, I started constructing several years ago after attending a workshop given by Andrea Carla Michaels at the late, great Silicon Valley Puzzle Days event. Andrea demystified the process and encouraged those of us who were intrigued with the idea of constructing to give it a try. When my first puzzle was accepted, she was almost as thrilled as I was. Since Andrea is one of the great constructors of Monday puzzles, it seems karmatically correct that #20 for me is also a Monday — a symbolic 15x15 tip of the hat to a terrific mentor. Many thanks, Andrea!

Easily the best Monday puzzle I've done all year, and perhaps one of my all-time favorites. Dan has such an interesting idea — phrases where the first word is the nickname of a state, and the second word contains that state's abbreviation. The SHOW ME state (Missouri), gets its MO in SHOW ME THE MONEY. What a great find! And being from CA, I loved GOLDEN State's GOLDEN CALF. Simple idea, yet innovative, interesting, and accessible to solvers of all levels. Just perfect for a Monday.

I also appreciated that Dan added in long bonus fill, even though he was working with a fairly theme-dense puzzle. PARTY HOP and SEQUENCE in the across direction, and a bit of PLAYDOH, SO TRUE in the vertical, added even more spice to my solving experience. A bit of ACHE FOR and RANG IN ain't bad, either.

BAY MARE (Massachusetts, the Bay State) was a little mystifying to me, but some research shows it's a real thing. It's pretty impressive that Dan found a themer that worked in so few letters.

And Dan did all of this with meticulous care in his short fill, just a minor ADM and EDS. Such a smooth solve, exactly what I want out of a Monday.

What to even point out, in the name of a balanced critique? Maybe the revealer could have been worded a little better? I had to read that a few times before understanding the gist of it. Maybe a final revealer could have helped — STATE NICKNAME, perhaps?

So well executed on all levels: theme, long fill, short fill, puzzle flow. I'd give Dan a gold star and a trophy if I had one, but he'll have to settle for the POW! If I had a POM (Puzzle of the Month) like Matt Gaffney, this one would easily be in the running.