MADE-TO-ORDER

Trenton Charlson, 24, is a crossword constructor and Scrabble aficionado from Columbus, Ohio. The North American Scrabble Players Association currently ranks him No. 213 among all players and No. 5 in his state. Trenton's Twitter page declares that he's the founder of Z.J.X.Q. — Americans Against Accurate Acronyms.

This is his 23rd puzzle for The Times.

I don't remember how I came up with this theme, just that the concept came to me suddenly. (Perhaps I ought to learn how to go into such a "crossword theme trance" at will.) However, I distinctly recall playing CHINTZ in a Scrabble game a little while afterwards, which reminded me of the theme idea and inspired me to start working on the puzzle. I wanted the anagrammed words to have at least four letters, and found that there didn't seem to be too many options for theme answers. The only potential theme answer I remember leaving on the cutting room floor, ironically enough, was GINSU FORCE [Army wielding knives from infomercials?]

I'm proud of how this grid turned out, with answers like ACQUIESCE, ALCHEMIST, VOLCANIC ASH, ALEC BALDWIN and I'M IN LOVE among the longer fill, and nothing that feels like a major compromise. I also think it's nice that the puzzle ended up being pangrammatic, especially given its theme.

I wasn't sure whether or not to include a revealer — ALPHABETICAL ORDER lacks subtlety, and takes up lots of space — so I began constructing the puzzle without one. However, close to the end of the process, I noticed I fortuitously had EASY on the bottom row and could make a minor change elsewhere to include ABC (at 47-Down). I clued EASY as [____ as 47-Down (Like the theme of this puzzle?)], though I guess Will preferred using just ABC as the revealer, to complement the title (which, happily, is the one I submitted).

Speaking of the clues, I'm glad that most of my original clues for the theme answers made the cut, especially those for ABET AROUND THE BUSH and BELOW MACARONI. My original clue for OCEAN DEIST mentioned Poseidon (though perhaps a devout follower of Ægir was among the test solvers, and objected to my favoritism toward Greek mythology?)

Until next time, happy solving!

I was curious; how many longer words or phrases display alphabetical order besides CHINTZ? A quick Python program told me that there are many six-letter ones — ABBOTT, ACCENT, BIJOUX, BIOPSY, CHOOSY, to name a few — but surprisingly few 7-letter options. There's even an 8-letter one, although it is a bit wonky. Can you guess them? Answers at the end!

This is a tough constraint — normal words that are part of a phrase, that can also be anagrammed into an alphabetically ordered different word — so it's not surprise that Trenton had to use all shorties. None of the themers made me laugh, but I did appreciate the LEGO cluing around SQUARE CHIN (INCH). Creative way to clue it.

What helped hold my attention through the solve was a slew of delightful clues, Trenton's themeless expertise shining through. ICON as where a phone might be "tapped" = brilliant! HISSED playing on "blew off steam." MENSA as a group that should "know better." NIX often spoken as "ixnay" in Pig Latin.

A perfect example of how time spent on clever cluing can help engage solvers, in a big way. Every Sunday should shine this much in its clues.

Along with the goodies Trenton mentioned, he managed to keep my attention throughout most of the solve. I also appreciated how careful he was to balance color and cleanliness, sometimes opting for an interesting single-worder like CHARADE instead of a more flashy two-worder, so he could keep the surrounding region smooth.

7 letters: AAACELL, BILLOWY, DEGLOSS.

8 letters: AAACELLS. I know, it's cheap. But it works.