Ali Gascoigne author page

ALICANTE = "Ali, can't he?" I see what you did. That's some SECRET SERVICE level work there.

What a great central marquee, SECRET SERVICE evoking such vivid imagery. [Protective suits?] is fun wordplay, too, riffing off a protective (hazmat) suit. I especially appreciated that the plural "suits" made me drop an S at the end. You got me, sir!

For the longest time, I had BATWOMAN, thinking that the long down marquee answer must be "___ VIBE." I enjoyed reminiscing about one of the iconic clues of the ground-breaking 1996 Schrodinger, where BAT and CAT were both "black Halloween animal." Got me again!

I had tough time up in the NE, only being vaguely familiar with AKON, SKEELO, ALICANTE. Great job with the clue for AKON, giving confirmation in the form of AKON to AK(R)ON. It'd have been great to get some similar confirmation with SKEELO crossing ALICANTE, though it could be argued that SKEELO is well-known enough in rap circles and ALICANTE does have a population of 300,000+, so expecting people to know one or the other might be fine.

I'm often plus/minus on trendy portmanteaus, but FREEGANS makes me laugh; a punny play on "vegans."

I didn't know ROSTEN, but the crosses are fair. Interesting to be called "the Jewish James Thurber."

People often ask me what differentiates a Fri from a Sat themeless. As Will Shortz says, he simply wants the Saturday to be harder. Today's nearly crushed me — you could make a case for even more crossings being devious. If you don't know the slang CRAY (I usually hear it as "cray-cray"), ALICENTE / CREY might look equally valid.

Great clue for CAR HORNS, that's they're often "hit in traffic." I especially like that this clue reminds me of one of the silver linings of quarantine: never being caught in traffic. These days, fun reminders to count my blessings are even more appreciated than usual.

YOU ARE HERE is a fine rationale for rebusizing UR. Along with strong theme entries in TURKEY BURGER, RESTAURATEUR, and NEUROSURGERY, there was a lot to love about the solve. It made me want to look up what other double-URs were available. Turns out there's a ton of options — AMATEUR HOUR, TURN OF THE CENTURY, YOU'RE SURROUNDED is my favorite — but Ali picked some goodies.

I did wonder why two URs in each long one? That's a bonus that Will appreciates, one that I tried hard for way back when. Part of the appeal is that it packs the rebus squares in, so you can have even more elsewhere. It also tightens the constraint, making the themer finds seem that much more interesting. There are thousands of single UR options, not nearly as many double URs.

Will also asks for rebus squares to be everywhere; no one grid region overlooked. That detracted from my experience today, however, the UR in HEURE causing much gnashing of teeth. I took five years of French, yet I had it in my head that the word was "heur." I imagine non-French speakers will be even less amused.

Can you hear my French friends down the street rolling their eyes with exasperated sighs?

The center UR is integrated more smoothly, but being within two shorties (TAURUS and LAURIE) goes against the standard Will has established, where rebus squares should be within the puzzle's longest answers. It'd have been great to open up the middle, instead of 5 squares by 5 squares, moving to 7 by 7. That would have allowed for snazzier material like ABSURDUM, FUTURIST, IMPURITY, OR NURSES, TOFURKEY, etc.

Overall though, Ali did a great job of delivering a straight-over-the-plate rebus, making it (mostly) enjoyable to locate those squares. Along with super gridwork and clues — HEAD CHEF is a top-notch entry already, and playing on "Director of many courses" made it even better — I gave it some POW! consideration.

Oh, the ZEROES clue! What a way to spice up an otherwise neutral entry. 75% of 1,000 means that 3/4 of the digits are ZEROES.

PEEKABOO as a game played with the fingers delighted as well. I'm impressed with Ali's ability to entertain.

A couple improvements here and there, and it could have been an exemplary rebus.

INFO in OUT IN FORCE? What a clever find. Great themer choices in general — TIN FOIL HAT, YOU'RE IN FOR IT NOW, BRAIN FOODS are all so snazzy.

I like Ali's clean execution on this simple theme type. I'm always impressed when a debut flows so smoothly, hardly a hitch to be experienced. Newer solvers might carp about ÁVILA, but the crosses are fair. Beautiful place, too, apparently.

Considering the solid craftsmanship, I'd love to see Ali push the boundaries a little next time. I'd much rather have simple themes paired with grids that err on the side of clean (vs. colorful) — makes for a better newb solving experience. But even with five themers, both are possible.

Maybe try taking out a black square between INN and PINUP. Perhaps even the one between ULNA and KNAVE. There isn't much pizzazz in the fill besides SKI BUM and P DIDDY, so a couple of long slots could have jazzed up the joint a ton.

Overall though, a fine debut. Not an exciting theme type anymore, what with the same word repeated over and over, but excellent themers + smooth fill = a puzzle I'd happily give to out as a starter.