New York Times, Monday, October 21, 2013

I heard the phrase BREAKOUT STAR on TV and wondered if there had ever been a crossword based on two-word phrases beginning with a synonym for "flee." Quick research said no. ESCAPE CLAUSE then came to mind, also 12 letters. Bingo. I'm a Grisham fan, so RUNAWAY JURY had to be in this puzzle, and TAKE-OFF RAMP naturally countered it. So there's a cool theme. To the grid I went with hopes of a making this one a very accessible Monday offering (Will has told me that the Monday happy stack is the shortest of the bunch).

It's a good idea to begin in the center then fill the grid just as a drummer tunes a snare, starting with the corner with the trickiest theme letters, then advancing to its polar opposite. When the ESQ-QUAFF fit nicely, I decided to go for the pangram, which I usually don't give a hoot about, but I already had J, K and W taken care of in the theme so why not? Now for some fresh fill. POGO STICK, TOUCH UPON (which I actually added in a second take after Will requested a change in the SW corner), VARIOUS and the tasty FUMET (which I may have heard once on the Food Channel) have never appeared in a Shortz-era NYT puzzle so in they went. My apologies about ERY. Finally, CATTY is a strong 1A, a lively word, but not my all-time favorite. That would be CHIAROSCURO.

A simple theme with a solid construction — a bread-and-butter Monday puzzle. Among the nontheme entries, I especially like BAND-AID, QUAFF, I DUNNO, and POGO STICK. FUMET (66A) was new to me, but all the crossings are good.

Fun offering to start the week. Standard type of theme, where the first word of each phrase is synonymous. To Gary's credit, I didn't notice the puzzle was a pangram until I analyzed it in our database. That's a testament to the smoothness of his work, because often times if the fill feels forced or iffy, it's because a constructor has stretched to incorporate the last letter he/she is missing. I don't support making pangrams for their own sake, but I fully endorse anything that enhances the solving experience. Often times, adding Scrabbly letters (JQXZ and perhaps KV) can do just that.

FUMET might generate a little controversy. I generally like learning something new from a crossword, and all the crosses to FUMET are certainly fair. But in my opinion, it felt out of place for a Monday. I realize I have a different philosophy than Will (and probably many others), mine being that I want Monday xws to be both interesting to current solvers but also something a novice could get hooked on. It doesn't take much to turn someone off to a new hobby, and hitting DICTA, AGLET and FUMET in one day feels like it might turn a novice away from future solves. We'll have to agree to disagree on this one, methinks.

Regarding the theme, it's a fine Monday idea. Straightforward, easy to cotton to, perfect for a beginner. I don't know if it's possible, but as I was solving I was hoping to see a Shawkshank Redemption story emerge, something like a HOLE then a BREAKOUT then an ESCAPE and finally FREEDOM. Probably too much to ask, and incorporating this might have made it too opaque. But a guy can dream.

Finally, nice long fill today. POGO STICK, BAND AID, and TOUCH UPON are strong entries, plus Gary delves into the six-letter fill to give us I DUNNO, CHOKER, and YAWNER. It's often difficult to incorporate strong six-letter fill, so kudos to Gary for being deliberate about adding these types of entries to enhance the solving experience. Overall, a solid offering.