New York Times, Tuesday, July 22, 2014

This puzzle started out as a Sunday with a related but different theme. The theme answers were going to be things like CAVEMAN MANCAVE, "Neanderthal's hangout with a stocked fridge and plasma TV?", and HUNTSMAN MANHUNTS "Searches for a Utah politician?".

I had a couple problems with this though — solvers would be able to fill in the answers too easily once they figured out the theme, and I couldn't find enough examples that sounded natural. I still liked the idea of these flippable phrases, though, so this sat around a while in my files until I finally figured out a different way it could work. I think that this lesson, to keep tinkering with a puzzle until you've presented it in the best way you can, is a valuable one for budding constructors.

Finally, I hope the cross-referencing in this one didn't bother solvers too much. I definitely was aware that some people hate this, but I think the fact that the theme answers intersect means people don't have to hop around the grid too much. Also, the NY Times' new solving interface highlights cross-referenced answers, which I think improves the solving experience in puzzles like this.

Fun puzzle from prolific constructor and Will's new assistant, Joel. Today's theme uses crossing answers that mean one thing when put together in one order, and a completely different thing when reversed. I actually didn't notice at first, as I tend to skip or gloss over cross-referenced clues when I solve, but it was a neat moment when I realized what was going on. MAN MADE vs. MADE MAN was my favorite. Such a difference to switch two tiny words.

I highlighted the answers below because it was a little hard for me to keep track of where the themers were. It's impressive to see how much Joel packed in! It would have been nice if every one of the themers had a symmetrically placed theme answer, but that would have been awfully difficult to do. Nearly impossible, I would guess, since finding word pairs that fit this reversing pattern AND had a common letter is hard enough. I did like the quasi-symmetry of MAN / MADE and PAN / CAKE; it would have been nice to have more of that.

I'm amazed at how smooth this grid is. With 1.) seven pairs of theme answers, 2.) short themers (which force longer non-theme fill) and 3.) the fact that each pair of themers cross each other, it's an incredibly difficult construction. Very, very difficult to pull off smoothly, much less with jazz. I like how Joel quasi-sectioned off his grid into nine parts which he could (more or less) independently work on. Although that does cut down on puzzle flow a bit, it's amazing how smooth he got the fill.

And to do so with great long stuff like BANDLEADER and DIRT BIKES and even IN CROWD! Pretty much every piece of long non-theme fill sings. Note how Joel prioritizes two-word phrases? It's much easier to get snazz out of phrases like LASER DISC as opposed to REFILLED.

Joel asked my opinion about this idea a while back, and I was skeptical about all the cross-referencing it would put the solver through. But I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun I had, once I took the time to appreciate each clever pair. Enjoyable experience.