Sean Dobbin author page

Neat idea, an -ING ending changed to a short -EN or -ON sound. Consistently executed, each two-word phrase morphed from something colorful, i.e. (HOLDING TANK), to (celeb) + (noun) = HOLDEN TANK.

I really wanted it to be HOLDEN'S TANK, since HOLDEN is strange when used as an adjective, but HOLDING to HOLDEN'S would be even weirder.

Such an impressively executed grid. I didn't have even a minor hitch the entire way through — incredibly smooth for any puzzle, but even more so for a theme-dense puzzle also containing a ton of long, snazzy fill. Sean uses the dreaded 11-letter answer in the middle of the grid, which sort of splits the grid in half, plus calls for "Utah blocks" on the sides. Makes construction tough, leaving some chunky, wide-open corners to fill.

Beautiful work in the toughest areas, the NE and SW. The HAIR DYE / UMPTEEN combo is gold, and Sean finishes out that corner with nary a gluey bit. (NYT solvers absolutely should know their world leaders, so EHUD Barak doesn't even give me slight pause.) And NEW AGER / A LA MODE / DIAL TONE — three beautiful answers! Sure, it came with the cost of ELA and AM TOO, but considering how clean the rest of his grid is, that's a good trade-off in my eyes.

And the mid-length stuff: UTOPIA, CELEBS, LL BEAN, even SOLACE and BUCKO = excellent use of those often neglected 5- and 6-letter slots.

I had no idea what the NAME clue meant: [Arnold, Ronald, or Roland]. Was Arnold Ronald Roland some famous rapper or Silent Era actor? I think it's just getting at the fact that they're anagrams of each other.

The kooky end results didn't totally sizzle for me since LANDON GEAR feels like such a forced phrase. (If only there had been some way to make it into LANDON'S GEAR!) But all five answers were done consistently, using five snappy base phrases. And the grid execution really heightened my overall solving experience.

Sean Dobbin, formerly of the "Man vs. Puzzle" blog! Great to see him back in the construction game.

This grid skeleton does a nice job of balancing solver flow and ease of construction. The triple-stacks of answers are separated, those sinuous sets of black squares acting like labyrinth walls. Yet there's plenty of ways into each of the corners, so that the puzzle doesn't feel choked off. It's a great layout in terms of allowing you to work (mostly) on one corner at a time.

I liked the NW and SE corners a lot, each featuring three very nice entries. I personally liked PHOTOBOMB / ROB REINER (of "Princess Bride" fame and more) / OOLONG TEA a little better than AD INITIUM / RENE RUSSO / ERGOMETER since the former set felt a little fresher, but I wasn't keen on MT APO (a bit esoteric) and OENO (prefix, and not a super common one at that). Tough to achieve that perfect balance of snazziness and cleanliness.

Note how the other two corners both have a long entry running through them — LIP SERVICE through the NE and CINDERELLA through the SW. Although these entries add a lot of color to the puzzle, they also add a level of construction difficulty to their respective corners. I liked IT CAN'T BE! and SINGSONG (although apparently that means "monotonous" — exactly the opposite of what I had thought!) but SHIVERED is more neutral for me.

And ATTAGIRL is okay, but IRONICAL … isn't that "ironic"? And DESK SETS is one of those entries constructors rely on for grid edges, given its preponderance of friendly E S T letters. (STRESS TEST and ESSAY TEST also fall into this bucket).

Thankfully, Sean gives us all fair / easy crossings for Julie TAYMOR, who earned two Emmys for "The Lion King." I like learning a new piece of information or two, but only when it's introduced in a way that allows the solver to conquer the puzzle. Sean does a nice job of accomplishing that.

Man vs. Puzzle outed! I had to use every last ounce of my mental faculties to figure out who this mysterious new NYT xw blogger was (clues: "My first name is Sean" + "My last name starts with DOBB" + "and ends with IN" = I eventually pieced it together.) Check out his daily posts; I like how he brings a fresh perspective to the blogosphere, giving his opinions is a respectful way.

Straightforward theme today, phrases that start with C AND Y, with CANDY as a revealer. These days typically something extra is required to make a Monday puzzle stand out. That could be an additional layer of theme, fantastic long entries, high theme density, etc. I liked Sean's choice of themers, CHICKEN YARD being my favorite. It's fun for me as a constructor to think about tricky wordplay clues — if only this were a late-week puzzle, "Place with a lot of scratch?" could have been amusing.

Interesting construction today. It's unusual to have interlock (where CANDY intersects CHUCK YEAGER and CHICKEN YARD) on a Monday. That's pretty cool. But it does create some difficulties in fill. Notice how it forces the first and last themers into rows 4 and 12? That makes for small corners in the NE and SW, and look at those big 6x3 areas in the west and east. The east is actually quite nice, especially given the difficulty of filling a big section like that. The west suffers from it though, with the plural ISAACS crossing SYD. Certainly passable, but not super elegant.

Who knows if this would have helped, but I would have likes to see CANDY in the dead center across (where the arbitrary TEN PM sits). I believe this would have made filling more flexible, maybe allowing a reduction of things like EDY, ELIA, and the only thing I really objected to, the awkward MDSE. Was the elegance of interlocking CANDY into two themers worth it? I would say no, but as I've learned through thoughtful reader feedback (thank you!), many would disagree. I always appreciate reading the constructor's comments — it usually gives me a lot of insight into something I hadn't considered.

I'll close out today's comments by highlighting Sean's attitude of continual improvement as something I greatly admire. I hope that all constructors take this attitude, never being complacent in their work, always striving to figure out what they could do better toward creating a better experience for solvers.

The final score today: Man 1, Puzzle 1. Looking forward to more.