New York Times, Friday, January 8, 2016

As you might imagine, this puzzle started with the two entries that afford it the slightest hint of a theme — DREAM GIRLS and JERSEY BOYS.

Will Shortz kept my Indiana University-based clue for PSI. He returned the favor by keeping "Collins" in the next clue. In fact, one of my post-retirement projects (someday when I retire) is going to be researching to see if I'm related to Col. William O. Collins, for whom Fort Collins is named. William Collinses are rife in our family (we currently have a string of at least seven generations of them, the first one having served in the Civil War), and both William O. and my ancestors hail from southwest Ohio.

If I'm related to William O., then I'm also related to the man for whom Casper, Wyoming, is named. Caspar Collins was William O.'s son. The different spellings of Caspar and Casper arose from a long-ago typographical error.

This concludes today's history lesson.

I enjoy mini-themes in my themelesses; an unexpected bonus. I got stuck in the NW corner, so it was great to realize Pete's DREAMGIRLS / JERSEY BOYS link. I don't know either, but I like the connection a lot. I'll have to check out DREAMGIRLS especially — Jamie Foxx, Beyonce, and Eddie Murphy = all-star cast! It would have been perfect if the gap between musical and movie had been exactly the same for both shows, but what can you do.

Pete shoots for the moon, with 18 long slots. It's a very tough arrangement, since there are long entries running through the triple-stacks and interlocking into each other. Check out how I DID MY BEST, ABSORPTION, POCAHANTAS, and COTTON SWAB link together in the middle of the puzzle — that restricts flexibility in filling, since so much of the puzzle's skeleton is locked together, one answer affecting many others. Very tough to convert all 18 slots into assets.

Pete gets a lot of strong material dotted in, from DOGGIE DOOR to OSCAR WILDE to BREAKDANCE to PILOT ERROR. There are a few long entries that didn't hit for me — ANOINTINGS, STARTS OVER, LETTER TRAY, LACERATED — which isn't surprising given the high degree of interlock. It's one of the themeless constructor's dilemmas: do you start with a small number of long entries (about 10) and work hard to convert them all into assets, or do you start with a huge number, knowing that you'll likely end up with a few so-so entries?

Hey, an innovative PSI clue! I was just in Bloomington, Indiana over the holidays ((I tried to go see Will's puzzle exhibit at IU, but it had just closed — boo!), so it was fun to realize that the pervasive IU symbol does look like a psi.

A couple of minor offenders in SSR, WSW, ETE, etc., but the great cluing swept those away for me. My favorite was [One with a lot to think about] — a HOMEOWNER owns a lot, or a parcel of land. [Professional fixer] made me think of Harvey Keitel's character in "Pulp Fiction," but this was a very different kind of "fixer," as in a VET spaying cats and dogs.