New York Times, Monday, September 5, 2022

I was surprised to learn this puzzle would run on Labor Day. I CROSSCHECKed my grid to see what I had missed, and aha, there was 1A staring back at me... I guess the themers are all somewhat job-related, so there you have it, I made a Labor Day puzzle!

As I was learning how to construct crosswords, it became apparent that "Words that precede or follow X" themes are overdone, but I thought, what if I doubled down on it? I searched the database for other puzzles that used DOUBLECROSS as a themer (there's quite a few), but none of them used it quite the same way as I had imagined. Then I scoured OneLook for words and phrases that begin with CROSS, mixed and matched them, and landed on this solid set.

Also, did you spot the bonus grid art?

As a huge fan of grid art, I'm embarrassed that I missed the two pluses in the middle of the grid — perfect image for a DOUBLE CROSS theme!

I'm doubly ashamed because I used to program recreationally in C++.

Plus, I've seen so many redox reactions with both pluses in the ions AND pluses in the equations … I deserve an F-- today.

Adam is spot-on about "words that can precede X" puzzles — Will Shortz rarely takes them these days. Will does sparingly accept "both words can precede x" puzzles, but he's ultra-careful to spread them out, publishing roughly one a year. That sparsity has been great for this longtime solver — I couldn't immediately recall the last one, so today's didn't trigger my ennui for this tried-and-true genre as badly as usual.

Mondays are geared for newer solvers, so even in the remote chance that a newb thinks "here we go again," there's still a lot to love:

• This type of theme often feels dull, because the possible thematic phrases are so limited that constructors are forced to use blah entries. Not today! WIND SECTION, BAR EXAMINATION, and REFERENCE CHECK are all worthy.
• The revealer is spot-on. DOUBLE CROSS clearly points to (cross) WIND, (cross) SECTION, etc.

Although, I did have to do some self-EXAMINATION after I wondered if it was (double) CHECK and double (BAR).

Better make mine a double.

A couple of minuses in gridwork — kicking off your NW corner with ALII and ALIE is a double-negative — but overall, a solid offering. If Adam had been able to add PLUS into the grid to doubly point to the grid art, I'd have added a + onto his grade.

Adam Simpson is a video game designer from San Francisco. The protagonists in the hot new novel Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin are video game designers too. I wonder if Adam can identify.

That novel is unusual and remarkable. It doesn't glamorize the profession, but it gave me some insights into why people are drawn to it.