New York Times, Tuesday, June 8, 2021

Indie crossword constructor here with what was originally an attempt to make a nice, easy puzzle; it still is, but it's also quite different from the original submission. In particular, the seed entry (VELVET ELVISH, inspired by Kacey Musgraves) isn't in the grid at all. But it's still a pretty good set, and I'll note that the tweaks that the editorial crew made to the theme entries and their clues made them somewhat funnier, easier, and more on point (imagery-wise) than what I originally had (and I appreciate edits like that that make us constructors appear better than we are).

Speaking of edits: Speaking of edits: those who know me already know that 5D wasn't my original fill in this grid; instead, it was FURSONA, with a clue like "Portmanteau for an anthropomorphic animal identity". Unfortunately, even with a straightforward clue and fair crossings, Will and Joel didn't like that entry; this led to a long back and forth conversation that (even though I didn't, and still don't, agree with the outcome) I'm glad to have had with them, especially in the context of having more diverse representation in crosswords.

And with the chance to review the puzzle before publication (a change to the editorial process that I'm a massive fan of), we were able to continue such conversations and make the puzzle a bit fresher and more diverse, and hopefully more enjoyable as well.

ELVISH LIVES! I haven't been so amused by a letter-addition themer in ages. Take a colorful phrase, change it to generate a hilarious image of Galadriel and Legolas in upswept pompadours? Yes, please!

I've seen PARIS to PARISH and IRIS to IRISH many times, but TENNIS to TENNISH delighted me. Quite an accomplishment, given how many letter-addition puzzles I've done over the years. Bravo!

Chris is a grid master, so it's not surprising to see him tackle one of the toughest challenges in all griddom: the 72-word themed puzzle. It's easy to make a themeless at 72-words when you're freestyling, i.e., you have no constraints. Fixing four long entries into place while staying at 72 words is another story completely.

Much of Chris's work is successful, in that he gives us nice bonuses in DERIVATIVE, VIBRATED, I CAN'T NOW, SELTZERS, DITHERED. (STEVE YOUNG elated this Niners diehard, but he might do nothing, or less, for non-sportsball fans.) Additionally, there are barely any gluey bits — it could be argued that TBEAM and ACA are (more than) fine to some.

However, there's a disconnect between the simplicity of the theme and the complexity of the fill. The puzzle played wildly difficult for me:

• NIECY / NASH crossing ACA almost did me in since I remember ACA only as Obamacare.
• I vaguely remembered that cosine is the DERIVATIVE of sine, but I shamefully put in DERIVATION. I've turned in my nerd card.
• I couldn't remember if it was KERI or TERI Russell, and Erik Satie appears in crosswords enough that I thought SATI was the writer. And I call myself a writer!

Even though I enjoyed two of the themers immensely, having to fight at a Friday level of difficulty clashed with the early-weekness of the theme. It's like reading an alphabet book from ACA to ZOYSIA.

It's tough to impress me with a letter-addition, but I might have considered this for the POW! if it featured easier-breezier 76-word fill.