New York Times, Monday, August 31, 2015

This puzzle, which I called "Pool Cues" during construction, was one I began brainstorming several years ago. The expression DIVE IN HEAD FIRST was my point of departure. From there I attempted to develop a theme with four or five different expressions with action verbs (jump, leap, etc.), but that did not pan out to my liking. The "get in the pool" theme came to me relatively easily, once I had GO OFF THE DEEP END to match up with the 15-letter count of the first one. TAKE THE PLUNGE soon followed and worked out nicely as a 13-letter entry for the center.

My first filled grid was unsatisfactory, so the puzzle sat on the back burner for probably six months before I resurrected it for completion. Looking at it with new eyes, I realized that the theme was a strong candidate for a NYT Monday because of those three lively expressions.

The grid underwent several more iterations until both Will and I were satisfied with this version for publication. It has some solid but easy fill entries like SEVEN DWARFS, HANG IN THERE, MEDIEVAL, and a fun new entry, TWIST TOP. As it stands, the puzzle is quite solvable, as a Monday crossword should be, to allow new solvers to stick a toe in the water without much trepidation. (This leads me to my new formula for measuring the degree of difficulty for NYT puzzles: Monday = Stick a toe in, Tuesday = Wade in the water (children), Wednesday = Take the plunge, Thursday/Sunday = Dive in head first, and Friday/Saturday = Go off the deep end).

In the end, the puzzle also acts as a reminder that the Summer of 2015 still has some life left in it.

Great theme; three colorful metaphors relating to jumping into a swimming pool. Really cool find, and so fortuitous that no words are duplicated (except the minor THE in TAKE THE PLUNGE and GO OFF THE DEEP END). Wish I had made this discovery!

It's become somewhat rare to get less than four themers in a weekday puzzle, but I'm perfectly fine with three long ones if they're all strong. All three here are beauties; vivid phrases that work so well together. I do expect more long fill out of a three-themer puzzle, so I like the effort Mike has put into giving us just that. Two pairs of long entries — HANG IN THERE / SEVEN DWARVES and MEDIEVAL / TWIST TOP — add so much to the sparkliness of the solve.

If only MEDIEVAL had been clued to the "Pulp Fiction" quote: "I'ma get ___ on your (bleep)." The Gray Lady doesn't allow ASS to be clued with this meaning, however. Ah well.

Nice to get a little extra in IVERSON and SISTINE as well.

I did notice some strain on the grid — not surprising given the size of those upper left and lower right corners. As much as I love Allen IVERSON, the pluralized OLEOS is a price to pay. And IVERSON's effects extend to the north section, forcing ETHNO and the partial A NAP. I think that's not a terrible trade-off, but since there's quite a bit more of the HOER, ONE A, A HIT sort of stuff, it felt like too much in total.

So, a fantastic theme and some great extras, but those extras came with a cost.