New York Times, Thursday, June 9, 2022

I'm thrilled to be making my NYT crossword debut! This puzzle was inspired by the March 3rd, 2021 crossword as I started thinking of other phrases that could be interpreted in a similar way.

Attempts 1-5 had the revealer THE BIG SHORT with 4 squares with the rebus entry BIG. This had some entries I liked (BIG BOXS TORES, BIG MAC), but some duds (IN A BIG WAY) and I didn't like having the revealer include the rebus square.

The next few iterations had the theme PIXAR SHORTS with the rebuses WALLE, CARS, UP, and COCO. This also had some entries I liked (OS[CARS]NUB) but some that fell flat (LEATHER[WALLE]T).

Once I realized that changing to SHORT FILMS could expand my options, I had a few grid attempts with COCO, TRON, BIG, and UP. I liked things like GAS[TRON]OMY, but the grid was too constrained and the theme set wasn't very tight.

Eventually finding IT and US as options was great, but the other true 2-letter movies are far less well known. I bent the rules a bit using ET (it's officially E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) and did the majority of my construction attempts (another 15 or so) with the theme set in the final puzzle.

Hope you enjoy the puzzle!

SHORT FILM (title)S indeed! I've seen ET and UP, and I know of IT. A decade ago, Jill attempted to break me of my horror movie horror, but IT resulted in a fetal position I've never recovered from.

I hadn't heard of 2019's US. Not surprising, given that I've been housebound for approximately ninety years. I wanted to learn more because I like Jordan Peele, but I quickly stopped after "… when their doppelgängers appear and begin to terrorize them."

Although, my identical twin and I do tend to terrorize innocent bystanders. Like when one of his babysitters saw Jill and me out on a date and was horrified that Alex was clowning around.

It could have been the clown suit I was wearing.

I wondered what other two-letter film titles could have worked. AI sort of fits, but only in the ET way. Also, it was terrible.

Other oddballs: EL, IN, MA, ME, PI, SO, YO. Given their obscurity, those would probably all be NO GOs.

Maybe not Oscar-worthy gridwork, but a People's Choice award might be in sight. Rebus squares ought to be incorporated into long, colorful phrases, and MEETCUTES, RADIO EDITS, SUPERSTORM, SOUL MUSIC play their roles extremely well. Great to get above-average crossers, too; AHI TUNA is an excellent way to use a shorter slot.

I'd have loved an additional layer, given how much flexibility there is, working with easy letter combos like ET and IT. Perhaps the long phrases could be related to their movie? Maybe incorporate DOUBLE FEATURE to help rationalize rebusization?

As is, though, it's a solid debut, with the four rebus squares incorporated into snazzy phrases.