Hailing from the beach cities of Southern California, Robert is an engineer and businessman by education, a semi-retired developer of alternative energy electric power plants by profession, and a world traveler by choice (52 countries, and counting).
He currently resides in Belize and spends his time helping battle global climate change, writing crossword puzzles, leading other men in deep personal growth work, and carving stones into aesthetically pleasing abstract shapes.
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Jim here, sitting in for Jeff Chen, who is herding his pet nanobots.
That's a weird-looking grid layout. It reminds me of diagramless puzzles like this one or this one. There's a specific reason diagramless grids look odd — they try to disguise how the answers interlock as long as possible. But what basis might a standard Friday themeless offering have for looking like this?
It's unclear until you get to the revealer (a revealer on a Friday?) at the bottom right. Until then, you can enjoy it like a standard themeless, and it has plenty to enjoy. Then the EVEN ODDS answer explains the constraint that forces the grid shape into contortions. It's more a curiosity than a theme. It certainly doesn't help you solve, but it's a satisfying way to uncover the layout mystery.
Davy Jones (not the one of locker fame) was indeed, along with Peter Tork, Micky Dolenz, and Michael Nesmith, a MONKEE. This constructed-for-TV group was one of the best-selling bands of the 1960s, even though everyone knew the actors didn't actually play on the recordings. Here's the great Cassandra Wilson showing how The Last Train to Clarksville can sound in the hands of master jazz musicians.