New York Times, Friday, September 14, 2018

I mailed this puzzle late 2016, back when I was using this type of grid layout for themeless submissions. It's a good way to get nice 3x10 and 3x11 spaces, but these days I start elsewhere, especially to avoid the triple stack of three-letter answers.

THAT'S GENIUS was the only seed. I tried it in every 11-letter slot until it finally seemed at home all the way at the bottom. Hope you enjoy!

Sometimes I feel like I have to HUNT AND PECK when a grid is filled with tough names. I'm personally familiar with NEMEA and Boba FETT, being a big fan of Greek myth and Star Wars lore. But pop music? Shudder! Names like DANGER MOUSE are dangerous to my ability to successfully complete a puzzle, when I barely know what "Gnarls Barkley" is. IT'S A MIRACLE that I finished with no errors, given so many DELIA, DEIRDRE, SHTETL, KOENIG entries in the grid!

I did love some entries, especially THAT'S GENIUS, which people say to me much less frequentsomely than I would not unlike. PASS THE BAR and IMAGINE THAT were also strongly on my WAVELENGTH(s).

Sometimes my constructor background stabs at my ability to enjoy puzzles. I see two elements that shouldn't coexist: 1.) a 70-word puzzle (just two under the maximum for themelesses), and 2.) more crossword glue than I want to see in any themeless. About five of AMAS DECI ESS FETT SEP THU XKES feels like an unpolished finish.

It's a shame. Other people have different (but perhaps equally valid) philosophies on themeless construction, some more liberal on how much crossword glue is okay — or even what qualifies as crossword glue!

Thankfully a couple clues helped elevate my solve. The clue for HAS BEENS was delightful — riffing on the astronomy term "distant stars" was brilliant. Similarly, riffing on the football "offensive line" for BARB = brilliant!

In 2010, I wrote an article for the Science section of the New York Times called The Rush of the ‘Crossword Puzzle Moment.' I contended that we all have all keep information at the edge of our consciousness, things we don't know that we know. Part of the joy of crosswords is that tiny clues, sometimes just one or two letters from crossing words, can unlock these facts, and unlocking them can be very satisfying. That happened to me today with DANGER MOUSE. I have no idea what their music is like, but somehow, even though I'm not tuned in to it, I know that Danger Mouse is a thing and that it had to fit the clue. Endorphins are a great drug.

Jeff, Jeff, Jeff, how could you not have fallen in love with Sarah KOENIG? Like everyone in America except, apparently, Jeff, I followed the weekly podcast drops of Serial with great anticipation. Season 3 begins September 20th. I'll be there.

And SHTETL? Have you never seen Fiddler on the Roof? Talking crosswords with Jeff is a constant reminder that different life experiences lead to different crossword experiences. How audacious of this rectangular art form to take as its ambit of allowable topics, everything worth knowing! Personally, I haven't known everything since I was in my mid-teens.

I liked the science clue for WAVELENGTHS but it didn't feel quite right, implying subtraction was somehow involved. "Color determinants" would have made me feel better.

Jeff is right about the clues for HAS BEENS and BARBS. Outstanding.