New York Times, Friday, April 22, 2022

It's uncommon to experience a themeless featuring a long, one-word answer, but PHOTOSYNTHESIZE is a triple-sizzler! It's not only a neat word, but it contains a rare Z, and it's ripe for a clever clue. [Soak up the sun, say] points so strongly at suntanning — and so innocently. I also filled in the end of it first and was convinced that it had to be ___ THE SIZE.

As a multi-worder, BARE NECESSITIES is a more typical marquee entry. It also has such potential to take a clever wordplay clue, since even if you don't know the phrase, it's two easily recognizable words. The straightforward [Food, water, a place to live, etc.] could have hinted at Aretha Franklin's "What You Need," for example.

A couple of items confused me:

• Wonder Woman first worked for ... OSS? I applaud the effort, trying to make up for using OSS in a crossword.
• MORSE is spelled with six dashes and six dots? Let's see … dash dash, dash dash dash, dot dash dot, dot dot dot, dot. Tallying, that's six dashes, six dots. Accurate, although I was hoping for something more awesome, like MORSE developing his code with the letters M O R S E creating some neat pattern.
• [Drawing method] is LOT? I eventually figured that it must be about drawing lots. Is a singular lot for when you only have one person drawing?

Beautiful clue in [Decreases?]. There's something obviously going on, what with the question mark, but it didn't take away from the a-ha of realizing that it played on "de-creases," or IRONS.

This grid pattern, featuring the big slash down the middle, is a great way to get started with themeless design, because it allows you to section off parts of the puzzle. There aren't as many long slots as in other themelesses, but it's great that Daniel filled most of them with great material like LIFE HACK and DIG SITES.