Daniel Grinberg author page

For a while, I got obsessed with survival shows. For a while, it was Bear Grylls, but then Survivor Man came onto the scene. Les Stroud out there, all by himself, with only a FLINT. Then it was a single MATCH. When ratings dipped, he stripped it back to just some TINDER. I kept wondering what the natural conclusion would be — starting a fire with a MATCHBOX CAR? I'd watch that!

I hitched at the end, wondering why a MATCHBOX would be a FIRE STARTER. Or was that supposed to be a MATCH, overlooking the fact that MATCHBOX is one word? I spent a long time debating the merits of something like MATCH POINTS vs. an entire MATCHBOX of matches being better in the wild—

Somewhere, Les Stroud is crying.

AMARO crossing AMI right off the bat could be fraught with peril. Both of these entries are so constructor-friendly, alternating vowel-consonant, and common letters to boot. However, if you don't know much French and aren't a drinker (one spirits aficionado I asked said that AMARO is niche at best), it could be a killer crossing for newer solvers. At least a clue like ["Who ___ to judge?"] would have helped.

Over at Crosswords with Friends (Zynga), they've done studies to measure retention, and one of the things they've noted is that if someone can't get 1-Across, there's a good chance they won't continue. I wouldn't apply that wholesale to the NYT solving audience, but I think it's a principle to keep in mind when constructing.

I did enjoy a lot of the great TRIPWIRE, LAS VEGAS / PLAYDATE (what a combination!) bonuses. The slightly odd SYNTAXES plural and LPS were reasonable prices to pay.

Tight concept, hard to imagine any other possible themers. I'm curious to see what the solver feedback is like for that NW corner — elated because you're an AMARO drinker? Angry because you got that crossing wrong? Pleased to learn something new? Unsatisfied because AMARO looked like it couldn't possibly be a correct string of letters? I bet Will Shortz would hear all four responses, but what would be most interesting to me is in what proportions.

When you give me a laugh like I got from [Booty call?] = BUTT DIAL, it doesn't matter what the rest of the puzzle does. Worth the price of admission right there!

I liked today's theme. I had a hard time categorizing it — somewhere between definitional and kooky interpretation or regular phrases? — but it mostly worked. Take a phrase that contains the word "partners," and find a "X AND Y" phrase that sort of describes it. [Partners in crime] = BREAKING and ENTERING are two parts of a notable crime. Check!

The question in my mind was, should each of the theme clues have a question mark at the end to tell you that something kooky is going on? The a-ha moment wasn't sharp enough for my taste, as I kept wondering how I would describe this theme to someone:

"You see, ROOM and BOARD are elements of living, and living can be described by the word 'domestic,' so they're 'domestic partners.' But not exactly, so that should be 'domestic partners?', probably. Right? The aha moment is sort of a balancing act of … what? You stopped listening ten minutes ago."

A-ha.

Impressive gridwork for a Sunday debut. I loved getting bonuses like BIG POPPA, GRENACHE, the RIDDLER, BEER PONG, GOON SQUAD, TEST PILOT, making things a whole lot GLITZIER. Unheard of from a Sunday debut!

I still would have liked a 140-word grid, though (this one is at 138). When you have to lean on ABOIL, OGEES, MOA, NTHS, along with the usual suspects of ETD HAPS ISSO, etc., it's best to dial down the difficulty level. I'd easily sacrifice a couple of sparkly bonuses to get rid of the worst of these offenders.

The theme didn't wow me — maybe if someone can give me a quick elevator pitch-style description that makes clear sense? — but it worked. Along with well-above-average gridwork, I enjoyed the solve.

I enjoyed the modern feel that (The) FAULT IN OUR STARS gave this debut puzzle. Fantastic book, showing that Young Adult novels can be literature, not Twihard trash.

Okay, fine. #TeamJacob.

I also enjoyed the image of Hugh Grant being asked, "Pardon me, old chap, could you pray tell me the score of the match, pip pip?"

TENNIS in movies? I've seen so many plays on tennis — some that are aces — that it takes a lot for another one to make me feel like I'm at center court. I might be missing something that pulls this theme together and makes it an amazing overhead smash. I like the consistency. But what connects tennis to movies?

YOU GOT SERVED didn't work as well as the others. Yes, SERVED is a word in tennis, but who ever GOT SERVED? It'd take one hell of an ace to elicit that yell from a Wimbledon crowd. In your face, Hugh Grant!

Using just three long themers should open up a grid for a ton of bonus entries, and Daniel did well to incorporate the goodies of ACOUSTICS and LUSITANIA, not to mention CASTRATI and RISOTTOS, which run through them.

Perhaps I shouldn't use CASTRATI and "run through" in the same sentence.

A three-long-themer puzzle ought to be perfectly clean, too. Today's does have the TENNIS revealer, which is hard to work around — note SST / SATORI — but it could have been cleaned up. There's too much ENE ORO RIT SEL SYN, along with a dupe of YEA / YES.

I understand Daniel's desire to pack the puzzle chock full of bonuses in case solvers didn't connect with the theme. Overpacking leads to bulges and broken luggage, though. Rearranging the grid skeleton so all his long bonuses were in the down direction would have helped to achieve a better balance overall.