New York Times, Friday, February 22, 2019

Happy Friday everyone!

The seeds for this puzzle were BAHAMA MAMA, PROM DRESS, RED DRAGON, and ADDED SUGAR. My original submission had DEFLEA at the bottom left corner, but I wasn't entirely sure Will would approve. As a backup, I included an alternative bottom left corner featuring RIFLES instead of DEFLEA, which you see today. Even though I'm a huge horror fan, RED DRAGON was my second favorite entry; my first was NEAR MISSES. I've gotten a few rejections in the past from Will telling me my puzzle was a "near miss," so once I saw it pop up in Crossfire by pure chance, I knew I had to keep it. I figured it would give submitters a good laugh to see a "near miss" be approved.

On that note, to anyone still trying to get their foot in the door, here's how I improved my odds for an acceptance (especially themeless puzzles); an enormous thanks to Will and the team!

1. Get rid of any crosswordese (delete these from your wordlists and default puzzle program wordlists!).
2. Make sure the black square pattern doesn't cut off the flow/connections of the answer spaces too much (Ex: Don't have only one answer square connect two major puzzle areas.)

The hardest thing in my opinion for a themeless is featuring enough interesting long fill. Every editor has a different taste. As a scientist, I love LACTIC ACID or MARINE BIOME as answers, but they were rejected in past submissions and specifically pointed out. Additionally, long fill stacks or an area of words will just sound and look right to you. Trust your gut.

Just keep submitting and hope for the best!

I enjoy when constructors can place related entries within the same stack. Having a BAHAMA MAMA at the ALOHA TOWER? I don't know what's in a BAHAMA MAMA, but what a lovely tropical image it all evokes (especially after last week's eight inches of snow here in Seattle.)

A lot of long slots in this grid design — 16 (!) of 8+ letters. Daniel did well in his conversion rate, most all of these long entries good to great. Freshness in PROM DRESS, DIETARY LAW, ADDED SUGAR. And I appreciated that there wasn't anything that made me feel out of the loop, old, or just plain stupid. I like that Daniel aimed for broad appeal.

Out of the 16 slots, I counted only three that were just so-so: OVERTURE, EPISODES, SNAP OPEN. The first is debatable, maybe elating some classical music buffs. Perhaps EPISODES could have been elevated to asset-land with a clever clue, but [Installments] didn't do anything for it. And the last — tough to get excited about a +short word like OPEN, OUT, AT, etc. phrase.

So you're probably asking, 13 of 16 long slots converted into assets, not that much crossword glue (ERLE RPI EOSIN) — why not a POW!?

Short answer is because I'm annoying.

Long answer:

1. ATHWART a-thwarted me up in the north. What a bizarre word, in a precious mid-length slot.
2. EOSIN is another toughie. I recognize the word from having been in biotech, but it's going to look wrong to many others.
3. I've seen BAHAMA MAMA in many other themelesses in other venues because its consonant-vowel alternation is so constructor-friendly. This is so unfair, and something very few people will recognize or be affected by. (I told you, I'm annoying!)
4. Ultimately, the bar for 72-word crosswords is so high that one has to be near perfect to garner POW! attention from me.

But overall, it's a strong offering. I bet if Daniel had figured out a way to get rid of ATHWART or EOSIN — easier said than done — I'd have put it in the POW! running.