Daniel Okulitch author page

What a cool grid art pattern! I immediately thought of phones and kettlebells. Sadly, like the last time the phone shape didn't ring, there was no mini-theme. Ah well, I still appreciate the innovation in themeless layout; incredibly welcome after seeing so many stair stacks and corner-focused puzzles these days.

Such a beautiful bottom half of the puzzle, LIVE IN THE MOMENT / DESSERT SPOON / SPIDEY SENSE are my THREE WISHES, indeed! Along with SEX SCENE, it's the exact opposite of STOLID. Those blocks of black squares in the lower corners make filling a ton easier, so some people call them "cheater squares," but I'll take the cheat code for such sizzle any day.

I wasn't as taken by the upper half. There's a lot of sparkle, especially MIRANDA RIGHTS with its [Silence notifications?] wordplay, but there's too much glue gunking up the joint. It's extremely common to require some minor LBS INS to hold together a long triple-stack, but along with the old-timey SHMOO and NEHIS, and STENOG ...

Still, LAMB STEW with CROSTINI, yum!

The execution wasn't as smooth as I like, but I sure appreciate the themeless layout creativity. I'd love to be able to say And now for something completely different at least once a month.

★ MENTAL GYMNASTICS has such a wow factor, anchoring this puzzle solidly in POW! territory all by itself. The fact that it's also 16 letters, instead of the usual grid-spanning length of 15, also helps to distinguish it, because it opens up a ton of innovative possibilities in grid design. Daniel created a pattern of black squares that's not only eye-catching, but novel — nerds like me can use our "topologically similar grids" data (in our "Analzye this puzzle" feature), and it wasn't a surprise that today, there were no others like this one.

I flew through this Saturday much faster than Jim Horne, probably because I'm so much cooler than him. Gentle giant on "GoT"? HODOR! Danish attraction … LEGO HOUSE! "Dune" reference? TIMOTHEE Chalamet!

Jim's not impressed.

*preparing HORCRUX*

Thankfully, there was also more to love in less nerdly topics. FREEGAN might be a foreign term, but it's so fun. More importantly, it's gettable as a play on "vegan."

As if all of this didn't delight me enough, there were two standout clues:

• [Well done, in Italian] had me thinking about Italian food. Being the equivalent of a dull-witted two-year-old pre-hominid in the kitchen, I shuddered, wondering what sort of Italian cookbook term I was expected to know. Such a great a-ha when it turned out to be a general "well done!" term. MOLTO BENE, indeed!
• BRAILLE, so innocently clued as [Words read with feeling]. It should be a requirement that every Saturday puzzle has at least one clue this fantastic.

Some minor dings, like PLOT TWIST feeling oddly clued as a [Familiar soap opera device], but so, so, so much to love. Encore, maestro! (Daniel is a professional opera singer.)

Using one job title to punnily describe another profession is a great Sunday theme concept. Some of today's work well, with BAGGAGE HANDLER as a therapist (who handles people's mental baggage) outstanding. NAIL TECHNICIAN as a carpenter — technically proficient with hardware nails — also hit the mark.

Others didn't give me as much of a rush. LOCKSMITH does have the word "lock" in it, but how many people go to a hairstylist to get their singular lock done?

Another "hmm" issue: are LAB SPECIALIST and OUTPATIENT COORDINATOR common job titles? Jill, my wife, had to slap me upside the head about the latter since it's an ultra-common thing. In retrospect, I should have known that, and an anesthesiologist as someone who coordinates "out patients" is funny.

I hit some speed bumps along the grid, with AXILS, SLUED, OVIEDO, NAVI not coming immediately to mind. (Or ever.) Crossing the last two made for an outright guess. I'd much rather encounter more minor EEN STS UNE kinds of glue that are easier to piece together if you don't already know them.

Thankfully, Daniel and Doug did a nice job injecting fun into the clues. LIP as something glossed over (think lip gloss), BYTE as part of a gig(abyte). TOMCAT as an avid bird-watcher. These add so much pleasure to a solve.

Plus, a bonus themer with VALET as a [Park supervisor?]! Nice.

I wouldn't say Daniel and Doug nailed it (either as carpenters or manicurists), but it's a lot better than the typical Nailed It! result.

Such fun themers! CLASS ACTION SUIT as a gym shirt/shorts made me cackle. "Reinterpretation" themes are best when the meanings drastically change, and this did so perfectly.

MOVE TO STRIKE also worked well, as a description of a bowler's arm swing — it's nowhere near the original meanings for either MOVE or STRIKE.

PRO BONO ATTORNEY left a split, though, given that ATTORNEY kept its original definition. It is amusing to think of a lawyer dedicated to BONO, so that helped.

Solid debut gridwork, albeit with a few minor dings. SSI falls into one of Will Shortz's hated categories, initialisms that if you don't know them, there's no way to figure them out. (Social Security Income.) This 'Murican only learned who MESSI was five years ago, so I'd worry that the crossing might baffle some early-week solvers.

A couple other entries might also slow newbs down, but GOJI berry's crossings are much easier. Maybe you don't know what SOLE meunière is, but it'd be hard to argue that SALE or SILE is more likely a fish than SOLE.

Interesting debut entries. Gavin NEWSOM, sure! I have WERTHER'S stocked in my car, but could someone argue that WIRTHERS and LIONA look equally plausible? Perhaps.

IN A CAB was a needle scratching across a record, feeling like a verboten six-letter partial.

ARM RESTS as something airplane passengers battle over was solid, but I usually expect more catchy long bonuses in a four-themer puzzle.

Some funny themers, and I enjoyed learning about Daniel's background — amazing to have come such a long way in crosswords in such a short time. It's a treat to watch him sing opera in the clip, too.