CLIMBING THE CORPORATE LADDER

One of the advantages in doing this puzzle was that I was that working with a true word count of 144—not 137—since seven across answers are unclued and don't figure in the end total. The areas around the turns can be thorny, but the extra wiggle room is definitely noticeable throughout the rest of the grid. Because of the depressed word count, I made an effort to keep it at 137 rather than going to 139, which splitting up SUGARLOAF and STITCHING would have done. It seemed better to use cheaters to keep the fill clean and push the word count a little lower with those open corners.

Wow, my clue for HOLY WATER ([Liquid harmful to vampires]) is dorky. Really dorky. I can't think of another good way to clue it, but that's pretty embarrassing. Thank God there's not another entry in here with a clue that points towards too much time having been spent in high school playing D&D-based video games ...

... Except for POLEAXE. Son of a #*(!*&. Why should anyone who isn't a military historian or a knight at Medieval Times know that poleaxes and halberds are similar weapons? Great question.

Can I disavow authorship of those two clues in exchange for arrogating to myself credit for the clue for SEXOLOGY? ([Study for a Masters?])

Here's a gratuitous Seinfeld reference for Jeff:

Although, one wonders if "War and Peace" ("Voyna i MIR") would have been as highly acclaimed as it was had it been published under its original title, "War, What Is It Good For?".

I enjoy when a theme catches me off guard. I was well past the point of frustration when I finally figured out what was going on, but the a-ha moment made me happy I stuck with it. Very rewarding. For the longest time I couldn't see that the themers don't start from the companies ... the companies are in the middle, with the themer "climbing" through them! I highlighted them below to make it easier to see.

I pondered why it took me so long to figure out. A previous puzzle, similar in nature, was easy for me to cotton to — perhaps too easy. So why was this so much harder? Maybe it's the fact that this one defies the normal top to bottom, left to right reading pattern I'm used to? Whatever the reason, it made the solve very tough and the payoff feel like I had really earned it.

Impressive how much strong material Tim worked into the grid. With a whopping 17 long slots (eight or more letters), it often means that they get filled with neutral or bleh material. Tim's list of long fill reads like the inventory of a great themeless: HOLY WATER, IDLE HANDS, PENNY ANTE, RICE CAKES, SUGARLOAF, TEA TASTER, and more. Of those 17 slots, I'd say Tim converted about 90% of them into zippy entries; amazing efficiency.

And such a high degree of smoothness. Bending themers cause all sort of problems for constructors, forcing constraints around those bending points. But Tim finessed all of those regions nicely. Check out the two TRUEFA/ALSET/TESTS bends, for example. It's not easy to fill around that F-A-L bend. Yes, there is an EFT, but what else? Often, those sections propagate glue throughout. Not today.

I debated whether to give this one or MAS's Friday quad-stack the POW! Ultimately I decided this one was a bit too frustrating for me through the first 30 minutes, but looking back on it, it could easily be deserving. Good idea, solid choice of themers (very hard to do with their need to bend symmetrically!), and very well executed.

P.S. Yuri Testikov may be turning over in his grave, but I'm laughing my head off.