A | G | E | O | F | M | A | M | M | A | L | S | |||
B | R | O | W | N | I | E | B | A | T | T | E | R | ||
C | E | A | S | E | A | N | D | D | E | S | I | S | T | |
G | R | A | B | S | B | E | A | U | T | S | A | |||
E | A | R | S | X | R | A | Y | L | A | B | ||||
N | F | T | S | E | E | R | S | C | A | R | T | E | ||
T | R | U | E | D | A | T | M | E | T | E | O | R | ||
B | E | A | T | N | I | K | T | A | L | E | N | T | S | |
O | R | P | H | A | N | B | R | E | A | D | T | H | ||
A | S | S | E | T | S | L | A | V | S | M | E | N | ||
R | E | S | H | A | P | E | W | O | M | B | ||||
D | A | B | T | E | N | D | S | A | N | A | A | |||
E | L | E | C | T | R | A | C | O | M | P | L | E | X | |
P | O | R | T | A | U | T | H | O | R | I | T | Y | ||
P | U | T | O | N | T | H | E | R | I | T | Z |
L | I | F | E | H | A | C | K | L | E | A | N | O | N | |
I | M | A | M | O | R | O | N | A | R | C | A | N | E | |
B | A | R | E | N | E | C | E | S | S | I | T | I | E | S |
I | R | O | N | S | K | E | A | T | S | L | O | T | ||
D | E | E | D | C | E | L | T | S | G | E | N | E | ||
O | T | S | P | A | R | E | S | Y | O | D | O | G | ||
A | I | M | E | D | T | U | B | I | N | G | ||||
O | L | D | S | O | U | L | D | I | L | A | T | E | S | |
H | A | I | K | U | S | F | I | N | E | D | ||||
S | T | E | M | S | B | O | G | G | S | N | Y | U | ||
T | E | T | E | M | O | R | S | E | M | I | E | N | ||
O | S | S | S | O | D | O | I | R | O | G | E | R | ||
P | H | O | T | O | S | Y | N | T | H | E | S | I | Z | E |
I | O | D | I | N | E | C | E | R | B | E | R | U | S | |
T | W | A | N | G | S | E | S | S | A | Y | I | S | T |
It's uncommon to experience a themeless featuring a long, one-word answer, but PHOTOSYNTHESIZE is a triple-sizzler! It's not only a neat word, but it contains a rare Z, and it's ripe for a clever clue. [Soak up the sun, say] points so strongly at suntanning — and so innocently. I also filled in the end of it first and was convinced that it had to be ___ THE SIZE.
As a multi-worder, BARE NECESSITIES is a more typical marquee entry. It also has such potential to take a clever wordplay clue, since even if you don't know the phrase, it's two easily recognizable words. The straightforward [Food, water, a place to live, etc.] could have hinted at Aretha Franklin's "What You Need," for example.
A couple of items confused me:
Beautiful clue in [Decreases?]. There's something obviously going on, what with the question mark, but it didn't take away from the a-ha of realizing that it played on "de-creases," or IRONS.
This grid pattern, featuring the big slash down the middle, is a great way to get started with themeless design, because it allows you to section off parts of the puzzle. There aren't as many long slots as in other themelesses, but it's great that Daniel filled most of them with great material like LIFE HACK and DIG SITES.