New York Times, Thursday, July 28, 2016

Like most crossword constructors, I am always looking for a way to break a word in two or add or subtract one or more letters from a word or phrase to get something new. I started with the idea of "LOST ART" and had a great time searching for words that could be altered by the removal of the letters ART.

It's particularly satisfying — and hopefully fun for the solver — when the altered words bear so little resemblance to the originals, e.g. CAR THIEF becomes CHIEF, MARTINIS becomes MINIS, THE ARTIST becomes THEIST. Squeezing in eight symmetrical themers plus a reveal without compromising the fill was a challenge. I was happy to get in "TAKE THAT" and "FEEL FREE."

Ideally, the revealing phrase would come at the end of the puzzle, i.e. the Southeast corner, but with a seven-letter reveal, it fit better in the center.

Will once rejected one of my puzzles because all the themers were short — 7 letters or less — and thus didn't stand out enough. I didn't totally get his reasoning, but seeing today's puzzle made it more clear. I liked the idea, LOST ART used to transform C(AR T)HIEF to CHIEF, P(ART)IES to PIES, etc. It was hard to see where the themers were, though. I've highlighted them below to make them stand out more.

Although the themers are short, working in eight of them is no walk in the park. Adam does well to spread them around so they don't need to interact with each other.

Some neat findings, C(AR T)HIEF to CHIEF, M(ART)INIS to MINIS and B(ART)ENDER to BENDER my favorite. That last one feels so appropriate too, a BARTENDER someone who might facilitate someone going on a BENDER. And MINIS is so close to MUNIS, which are also [Bond orders] — I was so confused, desperately wanting MUNIS to work but knowing that EDWARD U couldn't be correct.

A few of the others didn't do as much for me. REST(ART)ED to RESTED … neither word is particular snazzy. Similarly, P(ART) ONE to PONE. And I like THE (ART)IST as a phrase, but having ART so blatantly in there didn't feel as tricky.

The ENFIELD rifle is apparently an early 20^th century British rifle. All the crossings seem fair, but with so many proper names crossing it — YANNI, LORI, ESTEFAN — it seems ripe for some solver frustration. I liked some of the other fill better, like POLARIS, MR TOAD, and as Adam mentioned, FEEL FREE and TAKE THAT!

It would have been great to get a few long answers — 7 letters or longer after losing ART — since you could lay them out in a traditional way. But that may not have been possible.