New York Times, Friday, April 6, 2018

This is the second themeless I've constructed that features triple-stacked 16s (the first ran in May 2015). Since 15x16 and 16x15 grids have only recently become kosher, I have many fewer 16s than 15s in my word list (~5,000, as opposed to ~17,000). Finding stacks of 16s is thus significantly harder . . . but also more fun, I'd say, since many of the 15s have been used SOO many times! I'm looking at you, A LOT ON ONE'S PLATE and A TEENAGER IN LOVE.

In this puzzle, I started with HELICOPTER PARENT on the top and THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID on the bottom. My criteria when making 16-stacks (or any themeless stacks for that matter) are 1) snappy 16s, 2) smooth short fill, and 3) room to work in bonus long downs. I'm especially happy with how I did on 3), since LUNAR ROVER, LEVIATHAN, REHYDRATE, and EZ-PASS LANE are all nice in my book! I also like the 16s—SONIC DEPTH FINDER is nothing to write home about, but I'm proud of my clue for it. And as for the short fill, only ENTR, PSF, and ETDS stand out as clunky to me. All in all, I like how this one turned out, and I hope it's a fun solve! In any case, I'll be back on Sunday with my first solo diagramless.

I annoyed my Ultimate frisbee teammates so much back when "The Office" was on. (THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID was Michael Scott's catch phrase, something to say after "Looks like you're getting a big raise.") I grew out of that phase … well, I'm still in it. My wife and I say it to each other! Nice triple-stack anchor, although I can see why Will put on a "sophomoric" qualifier in the clue.

DO YOU WANT TO DANCE is a catchy song. It's too bad STAND IN GOOD STEAD is a little drier. Still, it's so tough to hit 3/3 snazzy long answers in a triple-stack.

Same goes for the top stack. HELICOPTER PARENT is evocative, as is A RUN FOR ONES MONEY. But don't most people call a DEPTH FINDER a DEPTH FINDER? Some research showed that SONIC DEPTH FINDER is indeed a real term, probably to distinguish it from other types of DEPTH FINDERs, I suppose?

Totally agreed with David, I appreciated LUNAR ROVER and EZ PASS LANE running through their stacks — those gave the puzzle more color. Triple-stack-focused puzzles often can be a bit dull outside the stacks, but these livened things up a lot.

WAR BABIES. "A child born in wartime, especially one fathered by a serviceman." Not sure why this makes me uncomfortable. No doubt a colorful term. Not sure I'd strive to use it in one of my own crosswords, though.

I thought I was going to be stumped in the west section. This mechanical engineer couldn't get his head around the idea that a SCREW was a [Thread holder]. I get that it was trying to misdirect toward some sort of spool. But I don't think the clue works without a question mark.

If only the question mark for the HELICOPTER PARENT had been moved to the SCREW clue. A HELICOPTER PARENT is pretty much exactly someone who cares too much, yeah? Why the qualifying "?"?

Screwy.

Not unusual to get a good glut of crossword glue holding triple-stacks together, TYRO ENDO PSF ENTR TOPE taping the top section alone. A few too many compromises for my taste overall, but still, enough color in the long entries to keep me satisfied.