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You don't see left/right symmetry often in American crosswords, but it's just as legitimate as the regular kind. This puzzle is light on theme material, but I think it makes up for it with liveliness — especially LOVER'S LANE, LIVING WILL, UP TO YOU, and NICE JOB. Joel just started his senior year at Pomona College in California. He has been my intern for the past three summers and intends to return full-time after graduating. Virtually all the clues in this puzzle are his.

Winning time for this puzzle at the 17th Westchester Crossword Puzzle Tournament, held last Friday in Pleasantville, NY:

Jeffrey Schwartz, New York, NY, in 4:33.

– puzzle by Joel Fagliano

One thing I like about Paula's puzzles is that she can make them at any difficulty level, from an easy Monday to a brain-cracking Saturday. This one falls happily in-between. She's a good clue-writer, too. Most of the clues here are hers.

Winning time for today's puzzle, at the 17th Westchester Crossword Puzzle Tournament, held last Friday in Pleasantville, NY:

Bob Mackey, Eatontown, NJ, in 4:25.

– puzzle by Paula Gamache

In the print edition of the Times, the solution to this puzzle will be shown as SUCKS2BYOU, 2BORNOT2B, etc. For online, though, the solution shows "BB" in the theme squares, as we felt that's what solvers are more likely to guess. This was the playoff puzzle at last Friday's Westchester Crossword Puzzle Tournament. As I write this, I'm anxious to see how quickly (or not) the contestants catch onto the trick.

ADDED NOTE: Winning time for this puzzle at the 17th Westchester Crossword Puzzle Tournament, held last Friday in Pleasantville, NY:

1st — Bob Mackey, perfect in 8:36

2nd — Jeffrey Schwartz, perfect in 10:34

3rd — Glen Ryan, 11:56 with one error

– puzzle by Evan Birnholz

A classic grid layout with lots of fine vocabulary. My favorite entries are NETFLIX, AIR TAXI, GUMSHOE, DAY LILY, IQ TESTS, ZZ TOP, SNO-CONE, TOLKIEN, GLITZ, XEROXED, TOO SOON, ICE BATH, SIRI, and SPEEDOS. That's a lot of great stuff!

– puzzle by Bruce R. Sutphin

Do you quake a little when you see Byron's byline? He fills his puzzles with lots of vocabulary never seen before in crosswords, which makes them naturally difficult, and then he writes good, tough clues. Most of the clues here are his. So many favorites — 1A, 18A (nice bit of trivia), 20A, 25A, 39A, 54A (more trivia), 9D, 16D (mean!), 34D (whew!), and others.

– puzzle by Byron Walden

There have been a couple of puzzles over the years whose themes involved words that combine with BLUE, but this is the first one that uses only song titles. Great punch line at 63A, too!

– puzzle by Amy Johnson

I think of the Times crossword as being like a circus, in which you never know which kind of surprise will come next. This puzzle's theme is very unusual... and with 16 examples, there's a lot of it, too.

– puzzle by Tim Croce

Others can comment on this astonishing theme discovery by first-time contributor Jason Flinn. I'd like to comment on the word REPEN at 64A. Uncommon "re-" words like this are sometimes described as "roll-your-own" — meaning they're made-up. I think it's a term that blogger Amy Reynaldo coined. To me a roll-your-own word is one that really is made-up; that is, one that is not in the dictionary and gets little or no usage online. But REPEN is real. It's found in Random House Unabridged, Webster's Second New International, and Funk & Wagnalls Unabridged. It also has real usage online. It's not a good entry, to be sure, but it's legit. And sometimes a weak entry like this helps set up other good things, like (in this case) I'M HIP, PIG OUT, and the intricate interlock in the lower-middle. So it passes muster here in my book.

– puzzle by Jason Flinn

In addition to the rebus entry at 36A, Jeffrey's first version of this puzzle had DAY and WEEK rebuses at the top and bottom of the grid. I thought these were unnecessary, and they constrained the construction in these areas too much besides. The revised version of the grid, which you see here today, is cleaner and nicer, I think. And the "aha" at 36A is really great.

– puzzle by Jeffrey Wechsler

All six intersecting 15-letter answers in this puzzle are pretty nice, I think. I also like ARMY-STRONG and HEY MAN.

– puzzle by Peter A. Collins

Lots of great entries in this grid. Besides the wonderful NASTYGRAM at 1A, I especially like CAMERA SHY, EYE EXAM, BAD END, POOL HALLS, DEATH STAR, AALIYAH, NOBODYS HOME, SLY FOX, and OMAHA BEACH. I could do without SDI, which is over 25 years old and something you don't hear much about anymore. In fact, I'd like to see this entry banned. In this particular puzzle, though, it helps set up too much other good stuff, so I made an exception. BTW, John Farmer writes great clues. Nearly all of today's are his.

– puzzle by John Farmer

This is one of my favorite Sunday puzzles in a while. The "reveal" along the center diagonal is wonderful. Besides the theme, I especially like the entries DODO BIRD, CAR KEYS, MEAT PIE, GET AHEAD, ON THE WAY, ALGER HISS, IT'S HOT, and I DARE YOU. That's a lot of great stuff!

– puzzle by Jeff Chen

Zhouqin is one of surprisingly many Times crossword constructors from the Minneapolis area (what is it about Minneapolis?). I like this puzzle because the repeated element (US-) at the starts of the theme entries is so unexpected, and because the "explainer" at 43D is so good. PIANO BARS, MALL RAT, NOT FAIR, and TALK RADIO are great nontheme entries, too. BTW, when I was in Minneapolis a few weeks ago, Zhouqin answered a question I'd been wondering about: how the heck is her first name pronounced? It's something close to "SHOW-tsin." Now you know.

– puzzle by Zhouqin Burnikel and D. Scott Nichols

Some time ago one of the crossword bloggers (I won't say which one, but her initials are D.A.) declared that if she ever saw another vowel-progression theme again, she'd poke her eyes out. (Sorry, D.A.!) As these themes go, I think this one's pretty nice. And have heart: I try not to run this sort of thing too often.

– puzzle by Patrick Blindauer and Andrea Carla Michaels

Besides the theme, my favorite entries here are AL CAPP, OH MY, PT BOAT, PHREAK, and YOU ARE HERE. I also kind of like I CHOKED, although I'm not 100% sure it's a stand-alone phrase, which lessens its desirableness.

– puzzle by Samuel A. Donaldson

I accepted this puzzle in 2009, but held it for so long because I'd run similar themes in 2004, 2002, and 1997. Three of the four theme entries here are new, though, and I think they're all pretty nice. Curiously, there's more substandard/crosswordy fill here than I usually allow now — K-STAR, OMB, ORT, ANSA, RES, TRY TO, and others. On the whole, crossword construction has improved a lot over the past four years.

– puzzle by Gary J. Whitehead

David Steinberg, who turns 17 next month, has turned out an eye-popping construction here — and I accepted the puzzle over a year ago, when he was still 15! My favorite entries in it are STILL DRE, CONEHEADS, TWIN BILL, JET PLANE, YES DEAR, LABOR PARTY, ZEN GARDEN, SCARFACE, SNOW TIRES, GET REAL, JASON MRAZ, BISCAYNE, and JAM TART. That's a lot of great stuff. I could have done without EDE (where I've been, BTW) and TESSAS...but overall, this is pretty fancy constructing.

– puzzle by David Steinberg

This is the second themeless puzzle I've published in the Times in which SPACE JAM sits atop COCA-COLA in the upper-right corner (great minds think alike!). But it's been over a year and a half since the last one, and I hope most solvers don't remember.

– puzzle by Peter Wentz

I accepted this puzzle by Liz in 2009 — holding it for four years until the Lincoln Highway Centennial, which occurs this month. Fortunately, most accepted puzzles don't have so long a wait. Next Sunday's puzzle, for example, took less than a week from acceptance to scheduling. Many factors affect the wait (or lack of one).

– puzzle by Elizabeth C. Gorski

A simple theme with a solid construction — a bread-and-butter Monday puzzle. Among the nontheme entries, I especially like BAND-AID, QUAFF, I DUNNO, and POGO STICK. FUMET (66A) was new to me, but all the crossings are good.

– puzzle by Gary Cee

When editing this puzzle, I noticed that the grid had ISAACS at 30A crossing ISAK at 28D, which really wasn't good, as they're basically the same name. Fortunately, IS OK bailed me out in the latter spot, and it has the advantage of never having appeared in a Times crossword before.

– puzzle by Kevan Choset

A cute theme idea with all good examples. Games are a fun topic for a crossword anyway.

– puzzle by Robyn Weintraub

It blows me away that Pete found a way to run BOOMERANG EFFECT straight through two pairs of theme answers. Wow, wow, wow! The grid has a nice low word count besides.

– puzzle by Peter A. Collins

Any crossword with a "quad-stack" is impressive, and this one has two. Amazing! On the downside, MEAT at 50D duplicates part of 1A, and ODE (21A) really shouldn't appear in the same puzzle as ODIST (47D). But I clued the short words carefully. And overall the construction was too nice not to say yes to.

– puzzle by Martin Ashwood-Smith

Lots of nice vocabulary here. Besides 1A, my favorite entries are CIPHERTEXT, MAN CAVE, HOCKEY MOM, HOT POTATO, LOOK AT THAT, BATTERY BOX, and PHONE BOOTH. In fact, all the corners are pretty handsome.

– puzzle by Barry C. Silk

Ed packed his grid with a lot of theme material, and the 17A/62A combo is inspired. The construction is pretty solid, too, especially considering all the constraints.

– puzzle by Ed Sessa