New York Times, Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Many thanks to Will Shortz et al. who gave me a chance to fix and resubmit this puzzle after the initial draft I sent in a few years ago had a bunch of 3 letter bird names which were correctly adjudged "too short to be interesting." Also for improving my clues as usual. I wish I had thought of that clue combination for 68- and 69-across, but at least anyone who doesn't read these things will be fooled into thinking I'm that clever.

One thing I learned through making this puzzle is that the word RAVEN will not flip itself into GARDEN VARIETY no matter how long you stare at it. I also had ideally wanted to squeeze in an additional theme answer (GREBE/CANDICE BERGEN) but couldn't make it fit. It was probably for the best, though, because I think HERON, EGRET, CRANE work well as a trio since they all fit into the "skinny birds with long necks but aren't storks" class in my layperson taxonomic system. I'm sure there's an ornithologist out there scoffing at my bird ignorance.

Emily FLIPPED us THE BIRD today, hiding a reversed HERON, EGRET, and CRANE within themers. Cheeky idea, especially for the NYT!

ENARC within GOLDEN ARCHES = perfect! A long string, spanning the two words of a phrase that most everyone will have heard of = yes yes yes!

TERGE within POLTERGEISTS is a notch lower since one-word theme answers tend to be less interesting than multi-worders. Still, POLTERGEISTS is a neat word, filled with spookiness. I ain't afraid of no POLTERGEISTS!

Okay, I am. I still have trouble opening the fridge door at night.

NOREH within PIANO REHEARSAL … I like that it spans a two-word answer. That answer seems a touch arbitrary, though. Would GUITAR PRACTICE be acceptable? Or BANJO TUNING? In the service of this theme, PIANO REHEARSAL gets a pass, but I wouldn't be as lenient otherwise.

I had the same hesitation about LOW SNAP. I was so excited to put in BAD SNAP, such a great entry! LOW SNAP is a real thing, but I usually hear "the snap is low."

But I did enjoy ERROR-FREE, TABLE LAMP, CHEAP SHOT, KILL TIME. Four out of four winners!

Ah, those "parallel down" structures, though. It's so tough to fill around two long pieces of bonus fill right next to each other. That lower left corner especially suffered: BYS, SEPTS, ERE. I wouldn't mind this trade-off if you look at the isolated corner, but with other dabs of crossword glue in the puzzle — OPES, TELE, WELLI, etc. — I'd have preferred a less ambitious approach, for a more elegant overall finish.

It's tough to work with a 14-letter revealer since all the theme answers get squished together toward the middle. (The revealer has to go in row 12, instead of row 13 like usual.) I have a feeling pinching POLTERGEISTS and GOLDEN ARCHES one row toward the center might have helped smooth out the grid, but of course, that would have called for a complete redo.

Loved the [Cutting class?] clue for SHOP. It just takes a handful of clever clues like this to make a puzzle shine. And defining PRENUP as a "union agreement" = delightful!

Strong idea and I appreciated the level of difficulty of using all five-letter birds. If the grid had been polished, this could have made POW! consideration.

I have to stand up for PIANO REHEARSAL. It's a thing. Just before opening night, opera or Broadway singers will get a chance to rehearse with the full orchestra, but until then, they have to settle for piano rehearsals. They're cheaper (obviously) and it's much easier to start and stop to polish tough sections.