Kameron Austin Collins author page

Jim here, sitting in for Jeff Chen who is filming a screwball comedy with IRENE Dunne.

We expect Saturday themeless crosswords to have a few great clues, and we get some doozies today. The top left corner starts with two outstanding ones. [Popular pubs for college grads] for ALUMNI MAGS is brilliant. [Directive for the board] is one of my favorite clue types. I've seen DON'T ERASE on blackboards hundreds of times, but not since high school. Clues that bring out memories you didn't know you had are especially satisfying.

I always learn something from this constructor. STREET PROPHETS felt too generic, but in crosswords, phrases like that must be a "thing", not just a "description." As you probably already know, it is indeed someone who spreads the gospel through rap music or graffiti. Tupac and DMX are considered prime examples.

Too many "great clues" can make a crossword overly tricky, and this one played hard for me. PHONE RECORDS for [Some damning legal evidence] feels tenuous. Sicily's ENNA used to be a crossword staple, but it's rare now. BARBED WIT didn't come easily to me, so [Art of cutting cards] was confusing, although delightful when the pin dropped. These things are personal, though. Fast solvers will race through this puzzle and be sorry that it's over so quickly.

There's often something in each puzzle that reminds me of a Sondheim lyric, and I've learned to keep that annoying habit to myself. Today, though, two different clues point to the same song from "Funny Thing": the "one two" pun at 57-Across and the "Left right left right" clue at 12 -Down. Imperial Rome Captain Miles Gloriosus leads his troops into town singing:

One, ... Two, ... One, ... Two, ...
We not only fought but we won, too!
Left, ... Right, ... Left, ... Right, ...
There's none of the enemy left, right?

You didn't ask, but this month's Jim Horne Book Club selection is Dr. No. Not the Ian Fleming book, but the recent novel by the brilliant Percival Everett.

Jim here, sitting in for Jeff Chen, who is co-hosting the 1970s program "People Are Talking."

Kameron Austin Collins aims for diversity in his crosswords. There's the outstanding black blues singer SISTA Monica Parker, the Cherokee Oscar winner WES Studi, and a non-mainstream religion. (ZEUS!) OPRAH is a visible minority, but she hasn't been underrepresented since people were talking about her in the 1970s.

LEN BARRY was the lead singer of the Dovells (accent on the second syllable), and he's as white as they come. Here he is singing "1-2-3" (the song in the clue) but check out the video of The Bristol Stomp. Note the homogeneous audience members, decked out in their finest. Is this the era that Make America Great Again wants to recapture?

Diversity is about more than cultural differences. Crosswords traditionally expect a college-level familiarity with English Literature and Western History, but don't expect me to do math or science! You might have to dig back into 10th Grade Physics to remember the IDEAL GAS LAW, but it's no more obscure than that opera singer or rapper or Lord Byron poem that you love. By the way, it's the gas that's ideal (meaning theoretical), not the law, which is only an approximation.

I love the clue "Big sponsor of golf, sailing, tennis, motorsport and equestrian events." There's no way to guess the answer. Yes, there is! Those events all point to the well-heeled. ROLEX it is, then.

Jim here, sitting in for Jeff Chen who is auditioning for a solo part in "The Nutcracker."

When I saw the clue "Words on a jacket" at 22-Across, I had a horrible flashback which, of course, I now share with you:

Late-week themeless solving requires constant questioning of your assumptions. You'll find a BIO on a book jacket. (Kindle users can look up "book jacket" on the Internet. It used to be a thing.)

I should have guessed it had nothing to do with that former model. Kameron Austin Collins is a conscientious constructor who wants entries that reflect his personality, his experiences, his taste, his values. Crosswords is a game but, for better or worse, it's seen by many as outlining which areas of knowledge are important, and even what might be worthy of celebration. Crosswords should be Funshine, not yucky.

Well, DOG SLOBBER is yucky, but affectionate yucky. DEAR OLD DAD, DREAM LOVER, and CARE BEARS contribute more warmth. THOTH looks creepy, but I'm sure he was a swell guy. Er, God.

• "Emergency device in DC" refers to DC Comics or now, the DC Extended Universe.
• "Salome" is the go-to play or opera for "one-act", just like Beethoven's 6th is the de facto crossword clue for IN F.
• 1-Across reminds me of that jokey answer to Lewis Carroll's "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" Because Poe wrote on both. DESK fit "something you might write on" but not for long.
• Crossword constructors often consult Google NGRAMS to determine the popularity or relative usage frequencies of words or phrases. Here's one comparing METHUSELAH, Oscar Wilde, and Salome.

Did you like seeing ROY COHN in the grid?

There are different schools of thought about what entries are suitable for crosswords, ranging from "include nothing that makes me sad or might trigger anyone anywhere" to "anything in the newspaper itself is fair game." I tend toward the latter, but I understand the former.

Crosswords have been criticized for including words that might be used as an insult in other contexts, under-representing various groups, etc., but controversial names seem to be especially tricky. There's an implication that grid inclusion implies endorsement. If you saw your own name in an NYT crossword, you'd feel honored. I get that.

Crosswords would look much different if they completely eschewed the despicable and the evil. MAO and IDI are grid staples. IVANKA is a great combination of letters that will attract ambitious constructors. WAGNER and PICASSO and JFK and MLK are more famous for their work than for their moral failings.

As we learn more about the rich and famous, our opinion evolves. GIULIANI used to be an American Hero. Now he's a national embarrassment. WOODY ALLEN used to be an admired filmmaker. Now he's too toxic to include in a puzzle.

For the record, I loved seeing Roy Cohn today, in the same way I enjoy seeing BILLY THE KID. That doesn't mean I don't have my own triggers. ENOLA has been clued over 200 times in reference to that infamous B-29 bomber. Whatever you think of the military strategy behind the decision to bomb Japanese civilians, 70,000 deaths is a tragedy. Would JACK THE RIPPER be better because it was longer ago and fewer people died? Is that worse or not as bad as a lawyer who corrupted American democracy? Those are crazy calculations to try to make.

[Added note] Reader Mike Knobler makes this astute observation: "For some of us, seeing a name or an organization or an institution in the puzzle isn't offensive if the bad thing the person or organization or institution did or does is addressed in the clue. ROY COHN clued as a McCarthyite is much less offensive than, say, Henry Kissinger clued as a diplomat or the NRA clued as an advocacy group."

That makes sense to me. even though It doesn't completely solve the problem of you and I disagreeing on who is despicable and who is heroic.