Matt Fuchs author page

We've seen plenty of literally IN themes and X through Y, but this is something a little different. PARTRIDGE (in a) PEAR TREE, FROG (in one's) THROAT, etc. It's cool that all pairs intersect through a common letter, and the image of a FROG lodged in one's esophagus is exactly what that figure of speech evokes.

I had initial qualms about this crossing approach for X IN Y phrases. It's strange that only the R of PARTRIDGE is literally in the PEAR TREE, so if you're going to go with a literalisms puzzle, the linear approach feels more solid.

However, I like that there are no nonsensical entries anywhere in the grid. It's also neat that most of the entries play off of vertical items. I can imagine the PARTRIDGE hiding out in a vertical PEAR TREE, for instance.

BEE in one's BONNET, not so much, but what can you do.

Themes requiring heavy cross-referencing can chop up solving flow. This is one area in which digital approaches have so much potential to outclass print media. Instead of slogging through "where TF is 44-Down?!" angst, a well-tuned app could highlight both entries together. Curious to see how the NYT's app handles it today.

Pairs of crossing themers are notorious for causing fill problems, so to escape with one dab for each of five pairs — A PAT in one corner, odd plural AIOLIS in another, etc. — is a reasonable result. Smart layout, pseudo-isolating each of the five themer pairs.

Not the strongest a-ha, but solid enough for a Wednesday. I appreciate the effort to do something a little different.

Such amusing finds, phrases reinterpreted as if they started with swear(ish) words. I got a fun visual of a monocled Brit shaking his fist at his face, yelling you BLOODY NOSE!

FREAKING OUT uses a baseball out; clever change of meaning. BLASTED OFF was my favorite, though, as an epithet raised against bug spray not doing its job.

I wasn't as taken with DARN SOCKS, because the base phrase activity is such an annoying task. Not a surprise that my kids think socks are supposed to have at least one hole for each toe. Still, the reinterpretation works well for the theme.

Strong bonuses all over, from LAB MICE / ELLISON to METEORS to the ICE BOWL to the beautiful stack of CAR WASH / AMOEBAE / MATILDA. Some compromises — not a surprise to get that and ERE sandwiched between two themers, given this lofty layout. And given that IM PEI always goes by IM, IEOH feels like a $2000 "Jeopardy!" question.

I wasn't sure how to feel about IM NO USE, feeling a bit arbitrary, but I often feel of no use as a parent. I do cut a nice toehole, though.

Fantastic theme, with 4 out of 5 standouts. If the fifth had been as delightful — perhaps playing on RUBBISH? — and a few rough edges smoothed out in the gridwork (breaking up the SW / NE corners might have helped, perhaps at the S of VIDEOS), this'd have gotten some POW! consideration.

Debut! And we add another constructor to the youngest constructors list. I think about what I was doing at age 16: watching "Three's Company," eating Cheez Balls, attempting to solve "Zork"... sigh. Pretty darn impressive to see young go-getters spending their time more wisely than I did. Although knowing Mr. ROPER does come in handy with crosswords at times.

Synonym type theme today, with PRIVATE PARTS being a neat revealer. A bit risqué, but again, when I think about my interests when I was 16… ahem. What I really liked about the theme was that PRIVATE PARTS not only defined HIDDEN, SECRET, and CLASSIFIED, but it actually described the whole first two themers! HIDDEN VALLEY is a "private part" (maybe a "private place" more accurately, but let's just go with it). And SECRET GARDEN also fits that pattern!

It was a bit of a disappointment that CLASSIFIED AD wasn't something like CLASSIFIED ROOM. Or CLASSIFIED JACUZZI. If only that were a thing.

A nice construction, especially for a debut. PRIVATE PARTS is a tough revealer to work with, since a 12-letter word forces cramped spacing of the themers. But Matt handles this constraint pretty well. The tricky parts are usually going to be where the themers are closest to each other — note where VALLEY and SECRET are above each other? A five-letter word sitting in between them makes it a tough fill to execute. It's no surprise that I found the roughest parts of the puzzle to be the DOA / EIN north area, and the FIVE AM (seems arbitrary to me — funny how much difference of opinion there is among constructors!) / MAS south.

But look how well the big NW and SE corners came out. Not easy to fill those chunks, and Matt even tosses in a V of AVRIL to spice up a silky smooth section. The SE corner does have ARHAT, which some will carp about. It's certainly not a common word in American usage, but all the crossings are fair, and it's a principle that NYT readers ought to know. Why not learn something new, yeah?

And finally, I appreciate the effort to work in longer quality fill. CREW CUT is a nice find in that little seven-letter space. It does force some compromises with EDUCE and ERG and ENS, but those feel like minor costs to me. It could be argued that the EDUCE / ERG crossing is unfair to beginning solvers… hmm, that's a tough call. I find the ERG pretty esoteric even as a mechanical engineer, and EDUCE is not commonly used in everyday conversation. The constructor always faces tough trade-offs.

Congrats again on the debut!