Nam Jin is one of my favorite recently-on-the-scene themeless makers. I'm biased because I had the privilege of working with him early on, seeing firsthand his dedication to his craft, and how unwilling he was to leave even minor dings unaddressed. I love that work ethic, and it shows in the top-notch quality of his products.
Today's grid is incredibly difficult to work with, a 64-word challenge that features four near-grid-spanners. The stacked 13/14 entries aren't difficult, but they become a ton harder when you leave a wide-open region underneath — with a long entry like MONEY TREES running through!
I've only seen THIS IS AMERICA because I loved Donald Glover (stage name = The Childish Gambino) in "Community." It's a thoughtful video that stuck with me, so I enjoyed that it got its day in the crossworld sun. I can understand how people who don't know of it might shrug, but at least they can piece together the three recognizable words.
My highlight was uncovering MUSICAL THEATER. I thought I'd never again get fooled by a tricky clue involving "numbers" — often used as "someone who numbs"—but I got got. I figured this grid was so tough to fill that the entry had to be something of the boring CORPORATE AUDITOR ilk. Ah, no, that's musical numbers! Great entry, even better clue.
Nam Jin is one of the few themeless constructors whose puzzles regularly include a high number of clever clues. Some of them are likely due to Will Shortz and the editing team, but so many of Nam Jin's themelesses stand out with their wordplay. Again, it's not surprising, given what I know about his dedication to making the solving experience joyful.
I'd love to see every themeless constructor spending as much time on their clever cluing. A+ clue for CHESS, for example. Tying it to checkers — or check-ers, as in people who put their opponents into check — is wow-worthy.
I did notice the BASE dupes. Will Shortz doesn't care much if a short word gets repeated, but three instances feels iffy.
Even so, it's bad luck that Nam Jin got bested by the outstanding Monday puzzle this week. Most of the time, this would have won a POW!