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★ I dig Will Shortz's notes on Sunday puzzles. Sam is a cryptocurrency trader? What a cryptic job description! (Especially since this MBA doesn't totally get how cryptocurrency works.) A friend of mine participated in a stock-picking game a while back and won it all by heavily shorting Bitcoin. I like the innovative thinking.

Given that Sundays over the past year haven't been that interesting, Sam's innovative thinking today is much appreciated. I use the phrase GIVE THE STINK EYE all the time, but I've never considered interpreting it as "add an I to a synonym of STINK." SMEILL looks so awesomely bizarre, a bit like SMEAGOL.

BE IN THE MOMENT was another perfect example of this single-letter wordplay, a B inside a synonym for MOMENT (INSTANT) = INSTBANT.

Best of all, I enjoyed imagining what will happen to this puzzle in syndication, when overeager copyeditors change GAZACHO back to GAZPACHO. Prepare for befuddlement ...

Not every example worked well, GAZPACHO, for example. SPLIT P is a tortured way to describe "remove one P." Similarly with TEA EXTRACT hinting at "get rid of a T."

I was able to overlook those, though, since Sam did such a great job weaving in bonuses within the fill. For every themer that fell flat or didn't work, there was a handful of HOPE TO GOD, OREO OS, SHAMAN / OO LA LA. I'm usually happy with maybe six or so long bonuses in a grid, so getting a ton of KILL FEE SMOKE RING US SENATE WWI ACE was awesome. BARREL OF FUN and TRES BON are so appropriate!

NO LIKEY … that feels like something okay for me to say (I love how flushed people get when I shout ME NO RIKEY!). Not sure if Sam gets the same pass.

Overall, the conceit has a couple of clunker answers, but it's novel and entertaining, and that's exactly what the NYT Sunday puzzle needs.

(MEAN GIRLS — the main characters being Gretchen WIENERS, Karen SMITH, Regina GEORGE, Cady HERON. I wouldn't have figured it out in a billion years!)

– puzzle by Sam Trabucco

Suddenly I'm hungry for a bagel. With a fried goose egg in it! Surely that must be the recipe for a nothing burger?

What a great way to celebrate Women's History Month; a full week of female constructors. Kicking it off is our good friend Acme, delivering a theme that's certainly not ZIPPO. (Or maybe it is? Ha!) I couldn't remember who ZERO MOSTEL was, but at least his first name was easy to piece together.

In the spirit of the week, I enjoyed seeing some females sprinkled into the grid. SABRINA, LORI Loughlin (crossing TORI Spelling!), and of course, Queen ELSA, who my daughter emulates at every opportunity, with her not-at-all irritating nails-on-chalkboard drive-me-insane song that plays every time Tess presses the damn button on her dress WHY WOULD ANYONE MAKE SUCH A TORTURE DEVICE COSTUME THAT A 5-YEAR-OLD CAN ACTIVATE?

Ahem. Speaking of names, there are quite a few today, bordering on making the puzzle feel like a trivia contest. For example, I'm an NBA fan, but LAMAR / ODOM doesn't seem crossworthy. I wouldn't group him as part of the NOTHING theme, but he certainly isn't going to make the Hall of Fame.

Speaking of sports, Greg LEMOND gets so many kudos for being the first male Tour winner from the U.S., but I love the story of Marianne Martin. Pretty awesome.

The gridwork had a decent balance of color and cleanliness. I love SNAP OUT OF IT, I MANAGE, HIP HOP, GRANITE — almost enough to outweigh the ARAP, ELAL, JRR, TAS stuff, as well as the unpleasant connotations brought up by the word SYMPATHIZER. (The two dictionaries I checked listed "Nazi sympathizer" and "communist sympathizer" as examples.)

It's not as Monday smooth as it should be, but it's close.

Overall, a solid start to women constructors week … hardly all for naught!

– puzzle by Andrea Carla Michaels

Star search! I've heard the pun on ANNIE OAKLEY = "shooting star" — a few times in crossword clues, even — but the others felt fresh. AL ROKER certainly is a "morning star." SANTA CLAUS as a "pole star" is especially fun.

(I admit, I've heard other many puns on "pole star," though always in ways that are most definitely not NYT-appropriate.)

SIMONE BILES is a "gold star" in that she won a bunch of golds in the Olympics. It's not as direct a pun as the others, though, since it makes her sound like she's made up of gold, or she's a star at Gold's gym. It's a cute pun, but it works differently than the others, so it's inconsistent.

I know, completely ridiculous distinction. But that's me, ridiculous.

This could have been POW! material with a slight change: it'd have been awesome if all five base phrases came from astronomy. So sad that Lynn gave up on DOG STAR!

Unfortunately, that means that as much as I admire SIMONE BILES and her golden smile, someone playing on DOG STAR (Old Yeller) or NORTH STAR (Santa Claus, with "pole star" cluing someone of Polish descent I WASN'T THINKING WHAT YOU THINK I WAS THINKNG) would have given the theme such elegance.

Although the theme wasn't perfectly crafted, the grid was. Snazzy long material (GOES NUTS, OVER HERE, TRAVESTY), middle-lengthers (BONFIRE, TRIPOLI, PARIAH, REFLEX), and minimal crossword glue (ECOL PVT SRS)? It all adds up to a puzzle I'd gladly give to a newb solver.

– puzzle by Lynn Lempel

For themes in today's genre, I always brace myself for the incoming blitz of THIS PUZZLE MAKES NO SENSE emails. It's even hard to figure out how to present the solution (we've added highlighting below) so that it's easy to understand. Explaining it — ONE UP hints that the sequence of letters O N E rises up, and then the rest of the answer continues from the start of the rise — still generates looks of confusion.

It might help to look at Tracy's previous two puzzles, one effectively the same but opposite in operation, and one playing on UP phrases.

Still don't understand? Do what I do: nod quietly with a knowing look. If nothing else, it makes people annoyed.

I enjoyed all the themers Tracy picked, all colorful and evocative. I would have preferred if all of the ONEs had gone across words of a phrase, like DRAGON EGG, but then again, this type of theme is confusing enough. Perhaps it's better to leave out yet another layer of potential puzzlement.

ONE UP is a perfect revealer, though it's not at the perfect placement. Curious choice, given that placing it at 72-Across seems possible.

It's also a shame that our old crossword friend Brian ENO didn't make an appearance as a bonus revealer! He could have been slipped into 63-Down, with just some minor adjustments.

Generally solid gridwork, with only a few gluey bits. Only nit is that I'd have tried hard to avoid HAMA, who's less minor than the easy to figure out SSE. As a general rule, it's best to avoid any short entry that hasn't been used much in the NYT.

I like this theme type every once in a while, and it was fun to get a bit of a trick on a Wednesday. It'd have been better to have more time separating this example from the previous ones, though — especially since Tracy was the one who wrote them. Adding a tiny bit extra to help elevate it from the pack, in the vein of ENO as a secondary revealer, would also have been great.

– puzzle by Tracy Gray

MALADIES is right! I had the toughest time figuring out the trick. I tried rebusizing MA and MAD, word laddering MAD to MAS to whatever, MAs sitting outside the grid, etc. Even when I got to the revealer, NO MAS, I wondered where the missing MASs were. It took a good hard headdesk to realize that it meant "no MAs," i.e., MAs are missing from 11 entries.

Phew, it made me want to cry MAMA!

Some of the finds were delightful, the longer ones in particular. MALADIES to LADIES is brilliant, as are MADE FACES to DEFACES and MALINGER to LINGER. We've fixed up all the answers in the full listing (below), although visually putting the MAs into the grid felt against the spirit of the puzzle. Sorry if you're still looking for them!

My favorite was WEBMASTER to WEBSTER — I love those surprising finds — but with this already confusing presentation, it was hard to see and easy to forget. I had to scan through all the answers a few times to remember what and where it was.

The mix of MAs missing from starts and middles made it such a difficult solve. On the one hand, I like the trickiness. On the other, it wasn't satisfying, and it made me dread how much work there would be to fix up the answers and explain precisely what was going on.

Making the solve even harder were a few clues that didn't make immediate sense. For example, [One-up, say] for DRAW. When I couldn't immediately understand that "one-up" was a sportsy way of saying "the score is tied at one-one," I figured it might be part of the theme. DRAMAW? MADRAW? Is "mad raw" something the kids say these days?

All in all, I enjoyed the concept but found myself brainstorming ways of improving the presentation. I enjoy getting my constructor's brain churning, so I appreciated having something to chew on.

– puzzle by Zhouqin Burnikel

★ Before I found my literary agent, I'd read everything agents said regarding what they were seeking. More often than not, the number one criterion was "voice." (Besides "an NYT bestseller." Thanks, very helpful.) It was incredibly frustrating, considering voice usually got defined as "It's impossible to describe, but I know it when I read it."

Over the years, I've figured out that "voice" relates to how someone's work makes you feel. Does it make you happy? Confused in a great, tense way, wanting to read more? Maybe it even creates electric sparks. It's personal, of course, but the best writers' voices soar above everyone else's.

Caitlin has voice. There's so much distinctive personality built into this puzzle, from the expressive OH MY GOSH to I DON'T HAVE ALL DAY to STINK EYE. Something old (HAIR TONIC), something NEW AGERS, something BLENDED IN, something STAGE CREW.

Apparently, I still don't have voice.

Such fantastic use of her long slots, not a one I didn't like. STRAIGHTS could have been ho-hum, but not with a clever clue. [They're in good hands]? That's poker hands, that is!

Strong technical merit, too. I've appreciated how her prior crosswords have been so carefully built, avoiding crossword glue much more so than other constructors. Need to smooth out a region? Use cheater squares (the black squares in the upper left and lower right), absolutely!

(Note that not all editors are lax about cheater squares, especially those in the grid's corners. Rich Norris at the LAT frowns mightily upon them, for instance.)

(Also note, I'm fine with ADOS as a plural noun and MIROS as in "what did you think of the Miros on display?" I have no problem with IN ON or HAD IT, either, both of which can stand on their own.)

A couple of amazing clues rounded out the exemplary solving experience. My favorite was NOAH as famous for "seeing double." But close behind was the T.REX "bearing small arms."

A sparkling themeless, outstanding in every way. If I were a crossword agent, I'd sign her in an instant.

– puzzle by Caitlin Reid

There's a lot to like about this latest Weintraub creation. Robyn has a knack for picking marquee answers that delight, and HOME SWEET HOME hit the mark. The statement is so loaded with relief, with joy, with a huge smile, evoking images of coming home to your loving family.

Or to two kids screaming that JAKE HIT ME NUH-UH TESS MEAN MUGGED ME!

Same difference.

How does a three-year-old know what mean-mugging is (and I don't), anyway?

FISH TACOS makes my mouth water. They're even more tempting with a delightfully obfuscating clue in [Seafood in shells]. Not lobster, not crab, not crawfish … what could it be? That's a perfect misdirect leading to a wonderful a-ha.

PAPER AIRPLANEs going over students' heads, heh. So good! Although Drax would catch them. Probably demolish them into atoms.

JELLO SHOTS is another in that vein. I wonder, though, if some solvers won't figure out why JELLO SHOTS are "set for a wild party." Set out in a tray? Because JELLO SHOTS love to party, a la the foods in "Sausage Party"? Nope, the clue is getting at "set" in the sense of Jell-O needing to set in the fridge. Some might see it as clever, but it took away from the fun for me because it took me so long to figure out the intention.

I'll explain a couple more that could get missed:

• [Small cardinal] — I thought I knew what a "cardinal" number was, but it turns out they're not quite the same as "integers." The Wikipedia article confused me further. I still enjoyed the clue, but I fear that math haters are gonna hate.
• SYN is short for "synonym," so [Individual, for one] means that "individual" is a synonym for "one."
• HOLEY is [Well-ventilated] ... yes, but "holey" is usually an undesirable accident, while "well-ventilated" is purposeful. I think the clue needs a question mark.
• I'm not a fan of AGUE as a crossword entry, bringing back the Maleska days. Trying to play on it with "sweater" = "a person who sweats" ... yikes!

Along with more crossword glue than I'm used to from Robyn — AGOOD WIS SYN CUTTO AGUE — it's not my favorite of hers. Still, I did enjoy many of the feature entries, and I appreciate Robyn venturing away from her usual construction style, into stair-stack territory. Pushing oneself is a good thing.

– puzzle by Robyn Weintraub

How appropriate, Laura's picture featuring salt and pepper hair! Hopefully no one will react with salty language when I say that Laura is worth her salt today.

No wonder people take me with a (massive) grain of salt.

Aside from the three SALT phrases I attempted to weave together in the first paragraph, I couldn't find others. Surprising — I would have guessed there'd be at least a dozen. Sure, there are shorties like SALT LICK and OLD SALT, but you can't feature those in a Sunday puzzle. I admire the tightness of the theme.

(Considering I'm one of the 3.14 people in the universe who would pump a fist at the sight of UNIVERSAL TURING MACHINE, it's good that Laura left it out.)

I wondered for a while if it would have been better to use an assortment of chemicals and their substitutions, but what other common chemicals are there that can be represented (with no numbers)? For some solvers, even making the leap from salt to NaCl could be hard, anyway.

Great NACL phrases! With rebuses, the crossing entries often have to be short, and that leads them toward not standing out. I appreciate how colorful RAN A CLOSE SECOND and PUTS ON A CLINIC are.

My first impression of theme density was that the puzzle felt thin. Just five themers to flesh out a 21x21? Not meaty enough for my taste, but the two long NACL entries, plus a whole lot of color—DRIVE UP A WALL, who doesn't like a TAX CREDIT, NON EVENT, ERASMUS, PAD THAI, RED FLAG, TINY TIM—helps make up for it.

I would have loved one more long SALT phrase, but not at the expense of any more crossword glue. ATNO DEUT EUR etc. I sere—er, see—you.

Nice job spreading out the SALT crystals, too. Even though there are only five of them, they cover most of the grid. It's just the southeast corner that felt a bit left out.

Overall, a solid rebus concept with something a little different.

– puzzle by Laura Taylor Kinnel

Sometimes Crucivera, the goddess of crosswords, shines down on you with her benevolence. When you research "units of weight," there are only a few American ones that come up: GRAIN, DRAM, OUNCE, POUND, HUNDREDWEIGHT, TON. Amazingly, the four most common(ish) of those can be used to start in-the-language phrases in the form of "(weight) OF (something)."

And those four phrases match up into crossword symmetry? We bow down to you, oh great goddess!

Crucivera demanded a sacrifice, though, in exchange for her gift. I haven't seen such an amalgamation of tough names in a long time: ASTA ATRA ELO ERLE OPEL ULEE. There's also GELEE ASA ESTE. I'd have asked for a revision with just a single ASTA or ULEE, much less crossword glue nearing the double-digits.

From what I've heard, Eugene Maleska (Will Shortz's predecessor) used to delight in including entries only crossword insiders would know. It makes sense in some ways. If you want to build extreme loyalty in a small but dedicated audience, promote elitism.

Will has done wonders to change that, working to make the NYT crossword open to all. Just look at OREO, which Maleska insisted on cluing as [Mountain: Comb. form]. Thankfully, Will went far in the opposite direction.

There's no reason that this puzzle couldn't have been smoother. With an easy layout of 11 12 12 11 letter themers, a crossword up to NYT standards must have color up the ying-yang (apparently I'm not up to NYT standards), and little to no crossword glue.

It's a shame. The gridwork hid a fine theme (I didn't know that GRAIN was a unit of weight, but that's on me) like a ton of bricks.

– puzzle by John Lampkin

Complete fail at "Name that Theme" today. Should I be embarrassed, since I couldn't figure out the theme while solving, even though I was raised in CALIFORNIA? Or is shameful more accurate, given that it took me a full minute after hitting CALIFORNIA to understand the theme — and that I lived in SAN Jose for two decades?

Let's go with shame.

Will Shortz often shies away from name-heavy themes, since they can come across as more of a trivia contest than a word puzzle. Knowing only 1.5 of the featured people (partial credit for identifying DIEGO RIVERA, but only after giving DIEGO MARADONA some serious thought), I had a hard time with the solve.

I had some fun brainstorming other people that might have been more familiar. For JOSE, I'd have gone with JOSE CUERVO. As a longtime Oakland A's fan, I like JOSE CANSECO, but I'm not sure how much he's faded out of the limelight.

FRANCISCO and DIEGO are tougher. I'd probably go with FRANCISCO GOYA. FRANCISCO PIZARRO is likely more recognizable, but there is the little matter of all his mass murder.

I wonder if the most appropriate word is "humiliated," since I couldn't figure out that SAN RAFAEL was a city in CALIFORNIA — one that's about two hours from where I grew up. Everyone pronounces it "San Ra-fel," which is different than "Ra-phai-el Nadal." That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it.

In a puzzle featuring names in the theme, it's best to go easy on the names in the fill. Avoiding some of ALCOA / LYONS / SARDI — that last one crossing the kooky FARO and OSE, no bueno! — would have been better. I enjoyed the BENGALI BATCAVE FAR LEFT bonuses, but I'd have liked a round of revision to smooth out ASALE AERO OSE SALA as well.

All in all, though, a strong theme concept leading to a fun a-ha moment (that this CALIFORNIAn should have known from the get-go, fine!).

– puzzle by David J. Kahn

Talk about EYE CANDY! I love mirror symmetry, which so often lends itself to smiley faces made up of black squares. When your crossword is smiling, the whole world smiles with you!

Such a tight theme — four phrases meaning "hot person" involving some food item. I spent five minutes trying to think of another, not coming up with much. "Scooby snack"? "Twinkie"? I was pretty sure kids these days say that last one but reconsidered. Why would anyone delight in being called a spongy puff made of preservatives?

Mirror symmetry isn't just pretty, it can be a constructor's lifesaver. Four and only four possible themers, of lengths 8 8 8 … and 10? Blargh! Thankfully, mirror symmetry works perfectly for a set like this (with a wider grid, to accommodate the 10).

The only knock I had was that the lower half of the puzzle wasn't theme-involved at all. Will Shortz has given me feedback in the past, that the entire grid ought to be themed, not just half of it. Erik could have done that by lowering STUDMUFFIN a few rows (maybe EYE CANDY too).

Interesting rationale why he didn't, though — it allowed him two big corners in the bottom, to fill as he would a themeless puzzle. There are few people better than Erik when it comes to cutting-edge fill, and BOUGIE (shortening of bourgeoisie), LATINX, GAYMER exemplify that. I appreciated that the clue explained LATINX (covering LATINO and LATINA) in a non-preachy way (that didn't assume you should know the term already), referring to its addition to Merriam-Webster.

Along with some great clues — DENTIST as someone with many openings to fill was my favorite — I enjoyed the solve.

Overall, such a tight, interesting theme, and technically strong gridwork. If the theme had covered the entire grid AND Erik had still managed to introduce so much bonus goodness, this would have been in POW! territory. I respect Erik's layout choice, though.

– puzzle by Erik Agard

Both Jim Horne and I had an easy time with this one, both of us familiar with the anecdote. No surprise with Jim, who's incredibly well-read.

You might wonder, though, how on earth could the lower-brow, "Gilligan's Island"-loving, XWI partner possibly know it? Well, I'm always on the lookout for themes, and I had a puzzle with this exact theme in the queue at the Chronicle of Higher Education. Alas, the CHE puzzle sadly folded earlier this month.

Back in 2017, I did pause before sending the idea to Brad Wilber, who edited the CHE puzzle. Would it be too somber, even macabre, for solvers? I ended up deciding that the CHE's solving population would enjoy it, and thankfully Brad did too.

Brad and I went back and forth on how to clue ERNEST HEMINGWAY, since it's unclear if he wrote this story or it's an urban legend. We ended up using excessively ambiguous language. Before you send angry emails to Will Shortz saying that the clue is wrong, Will mentioned that he thinks he covered the issue with the FOR SALE clue, the word "attributed" showing the ambiguity. It's not the decision I'd make, but it does (somewhat) cover him on a technicality.

I do wonder how the NYT's audience will react. It is amazing how much emotion can be packed into SIX WORDs. No doubt that this puzzle could be a huge downer for some, though, especially those who have suffered through miscarriages or worse.

Probably doesn't help to put ABORTED in the top left corner. Or to end with ITS DONE.

Thankfully, Ruth worked in enough long fill to keep haters entertained. There's not a lot of theme to work with, so plenty of room for the lovely entries NORSEMAN, IRIS SCAN, SCARLETT, WENT SOLO. Even GARDENERS becomes a standout when you give it a clever clue: [People found in rows]. Not soldiers in rigid formations, but garden rows!

Bold choice for Will Shortz to run this one for his broad audience. I'm not sure I'd have the fortitude to do so.

– puzzle by Ruth Bloomfield Margolin

★ SQUUUUUEEEEE!!!!

The grid art is so delightful that the crossword could have strangled and eaten a PANDA and I still would have given it the POW!. This might be my favorite piece of grid art of all-time. That's saying something, considering how long our list is — check out the collection.

Alex intended to have those two letters circled — like PANDA eyes! — but Will Shortz went back and forth on this, ultimately deciding that it might confuse solvers. I like that decision.

Ooh! Can you imagine if the lone P and A had some other function; some strong reason for being unchecked? That might have made it my favorite puzzle of all time.

Are there famous PANDAs whose names start with P and A? Researching ... drat, no. Stupid panda namers, get your priorities straight.

Yeah, there's some weirdness in MUR, way too many short words that broke up the flow of my solve, and INDENTER is an inducer of eye-rolling. That's all simply noise that hardly registered against the tremendous signal in this amazing graphic.

– puzzle by Alex Eaton-Salners

I'm such a big fan of Peter's work. He already has seven POW!s from me, and each new one raises his bar. There was so much to enjoy in this one, JESUS LIZARD a worthy feature entry. I spend a lot of time adding to and curating our Word List, so it's a rare occurrence when such a fantastic entry isn't already in there.

AIR JORDAN / NERVE BLOCK / JV SOCCER — such a delightful trio, so meticulously woven together.

He's so strong with mid-length material, too. He shines through yet again with BUG OFF, OEDIPUS, BELL LAP, FLICKR, KEY CARD, FAKE ID, CANDOR. Talk about squeezing every last drop of potential out of your mid-lengthers!

As with every Wentz creation, it's easy to see how much time and care he puts into his grids.

What's hard to see is that today's puzzle is a 68-word grid. More often than not, it's easy to notice a 68-worder (in a bad way), since run-of-the-mill constructors almost always have to drain out some color and/or add some glue to make it work. Not Peter.

I could have easily picked this one for yet another POW!, and most weeks I would have. That lovely PANDA from yesterday is still making me fanboy-squee.

There are minor issues, like CADILLAC MAN isn't memorable, and the NW / SE are sectioned off enough that I got trapped in both.

Oh, there is one thing that did make me peeved. I got to the last square, and couldn't figure out what to put in. How could POD possibly mean [Peeved]? I looked up both words in several dictionaries and got madder and madder that I couldn't understand it. Man, was I PO'd!

Oh. Right. Maybe I should have read Peter's notes more carefully ...

All those are mostly non-issues, though. Another stellar puzzle from one of the best in the business.

– puzzle by Peter Wentz

Ah, our good crossworld friend, the Reverend Spooner. He stops by the NYT crossword frequently, and I'm sure this won't be the last we've seen of him. Whether it be switching starts of words in a phrase, starts of syllables, playing on famous people, etc. … he works in mysterious ways.

Speaking of mysterious, the title was originally "READY SET … GET SLOW!", and it confused the heck out of both Jim Horne and me. I pretended like I knew what was going on, smiling knowingly at Jim while saying that it would be a good exercise for him to explain it to me.

When we finally worked up the courage to ask Will Shortz what it meant, Will admitted that it was supposed to be GETS LOW, a spoonerism for "let's go." Ah! See, I'm not as stupid as I look. Or sound. Or smell.

It's been changed for the digital files. Sometimes the print version doesn't get updated in time. Fingers crossed!

I enjoyed many of these finds, STEVEDORE to DIVA STORE a gold-medalist. It doesn't make any sense to have a STEVEDORE DIVA STORE, but I'm willing to overlook that to enjoy the interesting discovery. The spelling change is so dramatic.

I didn't get a lot of laughs from the themers. You can sort of imagine a birdwatcher saying BOO BLURRED BLUE BIRD, but it's more of a tongue-twister than a smile-inducer.

I would have preferred presenting just the spoonerism, i.e. DIVA STORE as the grid entry, with its clue containing "stevedore." DIVA STORE is crazy enough. STEVEDORE DIVA STORE is bonkers, to the point of making for a frustrating solve.

All in all though, technically strong gridwork, and there were some gems that would have made the good reverend proud.

– puzzle by Nancy Stark and Will Nediger

"Disguised synonyms" themes work best when the synonyms are . . . well, well-disguised.

That's why they pay me the big bucks, people.

SEATTLE SLEW is a perfect way to obfuscate the "a lot" meaning of SLEW. Horse owners and the weird names they give! PAPAL MASS also works, since the religious sense of "mass" is different from the "large group of things" sense.

BATTERY PACK, not so much, as that means "a lot of batteries put together." Better would have been something like VACUUM PACK.

HEAP is a tougher one, as there is no other meaning of HEAP than "a big pile." What would have been another word to work with, less directly? How about CARBO LOAD?

To have or not have a revealer, that is usually the question. Not today, though, since newer solvers would almost definitely miss the theme concept without it. Heck, some experienced ones, too! I liked IT MEANS A LOT TO ME, although simply IT MEANS A LOT feels much stronger. Less is more.

IT MEANS A LOT could have been placed into the last themer position, too, delaying the a-ha moment until the end of the solve. It's not as fun when you hit the revealer halfway through the puzzle, making the rest of the solve a bit of a let-down.

I loved the long bonuses, and if you're going to include six of them, Gary laid them out perfectly. Staggering WORRISOME, THE NATURAL, OPEN ARMS, LEGAL PAD, GULF STATES, MOTOR RACE up down up down up down, spread across the columns, is the best way to create spacing, working around those five themers.

Whether you should or not is a different question. See: ALCAN, AGITA, OTT crossing STENS for Pete's sake that's just taunting newbs! See also: GESSO crossing SKOL. As much as I appreciated those six long bonuses, limiting them to four would have made for a much more appealing puzzle.

Overall, a strong theme concept, but the puzzle could have used both theme and grid revisions.

– puzzle by Gary Cee

It's a mixed blessing to have a ton of solves under one's belt. Instinctively, MIXED ___ forces me to anagram. MIXED FEELINGS? ANGST = GNATS! ANGER = RANGE? CAN ANYONE tell me why this causes me so much ANNOYANCE? Turn off already, anagram part of my brain!

I spent waaaay too long trying to figure out how anagrams were involved today. MIXED FEELINGS … where are the GEL FINES? The GLEE FINS? Uh oh, readers are giving me the FLEE SIGN!

Jim Horne politely reminded me that non-weird people don't necessarily think similarly. MIXED FEELINGS = (one emotion) AND (another emotion)? Sure, that works!

I initially thought there would be dozens of these types of phrases, so the theme needed to be tightened up. Searching … searching ... not so much. I found DOOM AND GLOOM, but DOOM isn't a feeling in the same way. HOT AND BOTHERED? SWEET AND SOUR?

None of those are as strong as the ones in the puzzle. Great selections, Ross!

What cool gridwork from Ross today. Mirror symmetry can be a lifesaver, but working with "awkward lengths" of 11 and 13 can be way worse in mirror compared to regular symmetry. PRIDE AND JOY, SHOCK AND AWE, and MIXED FEELINGS all force black square placements, so there's not that many permutations available, especially with MIXED FEELINGS needing to be at the end.

I like what Ross did with the bottom of the grid. Usually, I'd suggest breaking up those bottom rows into three smaller chunks, not two bigger ones, but Ross executed on it so well, adding lively bonuses like CECELIA, SPASMED, and the beautiful INTERREGNUM. These upped the quality of my solve.

It's not for everyone, especially newer solvers who might scratch their heads at a word like AHISTORICAL. However, everything is fairly crossed … well, DESREE / EDDA could be a killer. Perhaps dialing back the audaciousness would have been better. First priority has to be to setting up solvers for a perfect and victorious finish.

Surprisingly tight theme, with nearly beautiful gridwork.

– puzzle by Ross Trudeau

Adding-letters themes live and die by the humor they generate. PLAYFUL DEAD, now that's both living and dying! Such a funny phrase, bringing up visuals of zombies playing soccer with one another's heads.

I enjoyed Ricky's themer choices. There are a lot of -FUL words out there, but not many of them change meaning when you remove those three letters. HATE to HATEFUL or JOY to JOYFUL isn't going to wow anyone, for example.

There was one themer that didn't work as well for me, though: AWFUL SHUCKS. It brings up funny images of a farmer ripping off husks willy-nilly, but the phrases didn't hit my ear right.

Get it? Ear?

As in EAR of corn?

No?

Aw, shucks.

Why did it bug me? The grammar is so much more tortured than with the others. DEAD, BEAR, TEST are all clearly nouns. SHUCKS isn't. The dictionary does say that "shuck" is a noun synonym for "husk," but if you have to look it up in the dictionary ...

Is anyone still using AW, SNAP! besides us wanna-be-cool-youngsters? That could have led to a football clue involving punting problems.

Decent gridwork, ending up with a reasonable balance of color (NEWSFLASH, MEET CUTE, FRUIT FLY, PAN SEARED) and glue (AERO ATAT INDO ONA OOFS RAH). However, with just four themers of 11 12 12 11 letters, sparkling color + cleanliness should be possible. It's a matter of taking more care(ful) care in choosing long downs that better facilitate squeaky-clean short fill.

I didn't know FONSI, but one of my favorite YouTubers constantly says, "Alexa, play Despacito." I still don't know what that means, but somehow it still makes me smile every time he says it. I did wonder if it could be Luis FENSI, not knowing if the outer edge of a golf clue was a TOE or a TEE. A more straightforward clue would have been better there.

Overall, a strong example of an adding-letters theme. I wouldn't have thought that such dramatic changes were possible with +FUL additions.

– puzzle by Ricky Cruz

Clever concept, a common keyboard SHORTCUT inserted in place of its function. No, not its function key — its function! Why are you getting so irked? It's as simple as using the control key for the function! Control yourself, man!

What is this, an Abbott and Costello sketch?

I use CTRL-X (cut), CTRL-C (copy), and CTRL-V (paste) so often, I don't have to look down at the keyboard anymore. CTRL-F, not so much. I can never remember if "find" is ALT + F, or Fn + F, or a keyboard-mashing combination of everything. Hey, if CTRL + ALT + DEL is a thing, maybe CTRL + Fn + F is too!

Well, it should be.

I wondered if CTRL-Z = UNDO would have been better, perhaps in TELEMUNDO. It would have been elegant to have four keyboard keys in a row, Z X C V, and if you're going by how often these SHORTCUT sequences are used, I probably hit UNDO 84 times per minute.

If only there were a undo button in real life.

Ultimately though, I decided that TELEMCTRLZ would be inconsistent with the others, because CUT, COPY, and PASTE are clearly identifiable, making them easier to spot and less confusing for people who don't already know these SHORTCUTs. CTRLXOFFS does look bizarre, but it's easy to see OFFS as a real word, helping solvers to catch onto the concept. Not so much with TELEM.

Can you imagine uncovering something like PUBLICTRLXILITY? As much as I like hard puzzles, that wouldn't be any fun if you didn't already know CTRL-X is CUT. So I think Wayne and Gary made the right choice to go simpler.

Interesting decision to lay out the themers in a pinwheel. For theme phrases containing seemingly random strings of letters, I prefer for all of them to be laid out horizontally, since they're much easier to read that way. There is something cool about SHORTCUT intersecting TOOTHCTRLV, though.

A couple of blips in grid execution — A MOOD isn't necessary, in an area as unconstrained as the north, for example — but overall a playful yet CTRLXTING commentary on our digital lives. A welcome debut effort.

– puzzle by Wayne Bergman and Gary Otting

This puzzle makes me remember how much I enjoy themelesses featuring marquee grid-spanning entries. WHO WORE IT BETTER and CARE TO ELABORATE are such evocative phrases! They're almost related — I can imagine RuPaul or Anna Wintour using both in the same breath.

(Yes, I Googled "famous fashion journalists" to find another name to go with RuPaul. Joan Rivers died a long time ago. Huh.)

Grid-spanners often take up so much real estate that there's not much room for other material. With just six other long slots (8+ letters), each one has to be squeezed for every last drop of juice. I loved ZAGAT-RATED and enjoyed learning about ANN LANDERS. Neat trivia, that two people wrote as her.

Last time ATHLEISURE appeared, I was plus-minus on it. It's hard to figure out which portmanteaus are awesome and which are awful. I like TWITTERATI, although I had an uneasy feeling that the kids these days are rolling their eyes at the old man enjoying a term that may have gone by the wayside.

(Apparently the kids these days have moved away from Twitter, to Insta. And they'll be off that as soon as I create an account.)

Thankfully, the mid-length material sang. OH GREAT, indeed!

Huh? No, I didn't mean that sarcastically. Seriously, I'm just an old dude who tries too hard.

Often, 7-letter material is filler, simply taking up space to connect the good stuff. Not today. EGG WASH, OTTOMAN, SARA LEE, TSHIRTS out of a cannon, DEMETER — wow!

Along with little crossword glue, it's a work of excellent craftsmanship. The bar for 72-word themelesses (the maximum allowed) is extremely high these days, but if a few of the long entries had hit my ear more strongly, this would have gained some POW! attention.

– puzzle by Wyna Liu and Paolo Pasco

Kicking things off with a great 1-Across can set the tone for the entire puzzle. SO, I WAS LIKE … YEAH! I love these casual phrases, especially when they have punctuation you have to fill in on your own. Delightful.

I also enjoy when a clue/entry gets you thinking about one direction, only to craftily mislead you for another one. PURPLE HAZE is a great song, and "Classic rock hit …" got me thinking about music. Crossing it is 48-Down, [Pop label]. ARISTA? EMI? SUBPOP? D'oh! That's "pop," as in soda = PEPSI. That's an A+ a-ha moment.

The puzzle did have a bit of an old-timey feel to it. I can't remember the last time I used a CD ROM DRIVE, and it's not exactly a cherished relic on my shelves. My brother shamefully used to watch "Designing Women" at every opportunity, so I vaguely knew DELTA BURKE. Not sure if she's still worthy of being featured in a crossword.

FINE, I HAD A HUGE CRUSH ON DIXIE CARTER. NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT! JUST LOOK AT THAT HAIR!

OKAY, OKAY, IT WAS ANNIE POTTS! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?

MEDGAR EVERS is another story. There's no doubt that this important figure in the civil rights movement has earned his place in wherever he should want to appear. Hard to imagine how much fortitude and bravery he needed to do what he did.

One clue I should explain: ESSAY as "attempt." The dictionary defines it as: "formal: an attempt or effort, as in a misjudged essay." I doubt I'll be attempting this usage anytime soon, as I'd get some of those withering Annie Potts looks in return.

I've said too much.

– puzzle by Damon Gulczynski

★ My memory for crosswords is long. After reading the title, I immediately thought of another of BEQ's Sunday puzzles, playing on As. I steeled myself, wondering if it'd be another A addition. Nothing wrong with that, but so many have been done that the resulting themers have to be spectacular.

Boy, was I wrong! What a playful way to riff on As, words that start with As, but become completely different words when the A sound is removed. APACHE to A PATCHY, ACQUIRE to A CHOIR, ATTACKS to A TAX — such interesting finds!

Best of all, the resulting phrases were amusing. A PATCHY APACHE as Geronimo with peach fuzz? That's a big winner.

Even the ones that weren't as surprising (not much of a spelling change), like A VOWEL AVOWAL, worked out well because of strong cluing. I had never thought of AYE and OUI being all vowels. That elevates a fine theme entry onto the Olympic podium's gold platform.

I wasn't as wild about the solving experience though, wading through such gloop as ALEE AMA ANIS CBER ENE REMS SERE etc. Nor was I excited to hit oddities like PENTODE and BLUE CAP and the outdated RCA DOME / TELSTAR. There was some strong material, like CSI MIAMI, SLIM JIM, RED BEANS, and PR FIRM, but the overall balance made the solve feel bogged down.

My preference is to have easier grids, where you don't even notice the short stuff, along with more strong bonuses. I do understand the perspective that a 136-word grid allows for bigger tracts of white space, making for a more challenging solve. Given how long it takes to finish a Sunday puzzle, I'd take funner over harder every time.

That's a minor issue, paling in comparison to theme quality, though. Some awesome finds, easily holding my attention through the full solve. I especially enjoyed how it seemed at the start like a theme I've seen before, only to slowly reveal itself as something different.

– puzzle by Brendan Emmett Quigley

I know that "shelter in home" is the right thing to do; that we all need to do it to slow the spread of coronavirus. It sure isn't easy though, especially when a five-year-old is hovering annoyingly at your shoulder, staring at each key you press, asking "Daddy why are you typing ‘a five-year-old is hovering annoyingly at your shoulder'," and a three year old is busy chanting every keystroke like a cheerleader, gimme an EFF YOU SEE KAY! Hey Daddy, what does that spell?

Two of my coping mechanisms are to count my blessings and to reach out to friends. Chatting with Jim Horne over Skype hits both of these simultaneously! This week, I'm going to recap our conversations about each puzzle. Hopefully, it'll provide some much-needed diversion, or at least something a little different.

Jim and I had similar experiences solving today's puzzle. Both of us loved the snazzy theme phrases, and we were both disappointed upon hitting the revealer. A HOUSE DIVIDED is a beautiful, evocative phrase, but the theme type — splitting a word at the beginning/end of a phrase — has been done enough that it's not going to excite either of us.

Usually, Jim is the one reminding me that neither of us is a typical NYT solver, but today, I was the one who not-at-all-high-and-mightily said don't you think we should consider the average Joe's perception, that since this theme type isn't seen much anymore, it might appear fresh?

Of course, our secret society of selective solvers deserves more, but shouldn't we deign to throw people a sirloin T-bone every once in a while?

Ha ha ha, we don't talk like that! At least ... do you know the secret handshake? No? Never mind then.

We appreciated Ed's gridwork, so smooth — except for one sticking point. "Even UHURU," Jim said. "It is difficult, but it's a nice way to remember the ‘Star Trek' character."

I thusly revoked Jim's nerd card. Oh, Jim. It's lieutenant Uhura, not Uhuru. I'm afraid I had to set phasers to stun.

All jokes aside, I'm hoping that we can all find ways of staying sane for what might be a long stretch. Hey … go find a newb friend and get them to try out crosswords! This one would be a solid starter puzzle.

– puzzle by Ed Sessa

★ Just because Jim Horne and I are both sheltering in place doesn't mean that we can't yell into our TV phones at each other!

Jim: (wincing) You don't have to yell into your computer from two inches away.

Jeff: Oh. Sorry. How'd you magically get inside my TV computer monitor, anyway? And what's with TV RECEPTION?

Jim: You might not remember, but a TV is an outdated device used to display programming such as sitcoms—

Jeff: I may be a moron, but I'm not that old. I mean … I'm not that young. Wait. (brain overheating) I'm trying to say that I remember TVs, but I'm also older than a lot of the kids these days, so what I meant to say was …

Jeff: I'm a moron.

Once Jim and I got past the first theme entry, we both enjoyed the concept. My inner (and outer) nerd was delighted by a TRIG FUNCTION being a gathering of mathematicians. That entry won Olivia a POW! all by itself. I've used many a MEDICINE BALL but never thought of it as a party for doctors. And I'm married to one! A doctor, not a medicine ball. Just to be clear.

When an idea spurs me on to search for other examples, that's usually a sign it's a winner. I couldn't find many other theme options, which indicates that it's a tight theme. There was only one that could have worked: SOUND MIXER for us Puget Sound folks or CEMENT MIXER for construction workers.

There was JEFF SESSIONS, but no one may know about the top-secret society known as the Joint Jeffiez Jamz. This paragraph will self-destruct in five seconds.

It's a shame that TV RECEPTION wasn't buried in the middle of the grid. It didn't work as well as the others, because who besides me thinks about TV RECEPTION (the antenna I plug into my computer doesn't work as well as it used to) these days? Minor point, though.

I almost didn't give out the POW!, because the gridwork was far from smooth. It's tough to get past a pile-up of ENTR ETH GTE INE REL RRR TOI and the plural MARYS. And while EEG ENT and TSP are usually fine, they multiplied the feeling of this product still being in process. The root of the issue is in grid design, with the long acrosses mucking things up. TRIED ON, ALTER EGO, AGNOSTIC, I RECKON are all great bonuses, but they make gridding so challenging.

I appreciate Olivia's audacity, giving us STEROID, BRASSIERE, GENDER GAP, and BIG CAT as well. Trying to work in so much long fill — both across and down — is flying too close to the sun, though. It needed another round of revision, with major redesign, to better serve newer Tuesday solvers.

Overall, the theme was so delightful that my human side overcame my robot's technical analysis.

– puzzle by Olivia Mitra Framke

The Jim and Jeff shelter-in-place conversations continue!

Jim: I didn't get the "pun" aspect of SPRING ROLL. Did you?

Jeff: ROLL sounds like ROLE. Role, as in a part to play!

Jim: That's not how puns work. They'd have included "homophonic" or "phonetic" in the clue.

Jeff: Puns. Have. No. Rules!

Jim: Maybe not in the vast lawlessness of the American Colonies. In Canada, every schoolboy is dutifully required to study and memorize "The Primer for Prim Punditry."

Jeff: Ha ha ha! Wait. You're kidding, right?

Jim: Rule #1 of Punditry: Thou Shalt Not Phoneticate. Rule #2: Honor Thy Groans. Truly, the punniness today comes in the form of "roll" used in the "roll call" sense.

Jeff: Whoa. Who are you, who are so wise in the ways of science?

Brilliant theme concept, SPRING ROLL hinting at calling the roll of SPRING-related roles. One of the March women in Little Women, April something, someone named MAY from a show that was so terrible even this superhero fanboy averted his eyes, and JUNE CLEAVER, my secret boyhood crush.

Both Jim and I had a tough time with this solve, both of us having serious gaps in our knowledge of fictional characters. I was relieved to hear that Jim couldn't recall MARMEE MARCH. I'm not the only uncivilized boor — take that, Canadia!

And get this. Jim only barely recognized JUNE CLEAVER. Score one for the American educational system!

Point is, the theme concept was WITTy (Wish I Thought of That). It's fraught with danger, though, since name-heavy puzzles are alienating enough when you're using celebs. Going one level deeper into fictional characters ... some solvers will squee over them, and some will be haters because WTF CROSSWORD, I HAVE TO KNOW GREY'S ANATOMY CHARACTERS? Perilous territory.

A quick fix that could have helped a ton: replace MELINDA MAY with AUNT MAY from the Spider-man movies. Solvers are forced to come up with one less potentially arbitrary-seeming name, and even better, the gridwork becomes about four times easier. A central 7 is so easy to build around that it'd be easy to reduce the count of ABAT AGA AME MGR PEI plural EMMAS.

Better yet (but more invasive) would be to break up SPRING / ROLL, placing them in a corner, intersecting at the R. Maybe even change it to ROLE, for better comedic effect! (Quiet, you Canadians.)

Point is, I loved the theme concept, and would have jumped at a chance to take this one to the next level. If Laura could have found more accessible names and pulled off a smoother grid, it would have been an easy POW! choice.

– puzzle by Laura Taylor Kinnel

Convo from inside the top-secret Gridmasters and Gargoyles Group (D&D : ridiculous dorks :: G&G : geek elite):

Alex: Surprised to see this one running on Thursday. It was slated for Wednesday, but I guess the puzzle proved too difficult for the test solvers in that slot. Maybe the theme would have been better served by a less audacious grid. I suspect there will be grumbling that the theme isn't tricky enough for a Thursday puzzle.

Jim: Hey, you stole my line! This was a fine Wednesday puzzle.

Jeff: Bah, what smart thing am I supposed to say now? Hmm … the only thing that will cure me is Mercury?

Jim: Bring me the paddle.

Alex hit two nails right on their heads. #1, wham! It's a fine theme—especially after you notice that it's not just two random planets for each themer, but always MERCURY plus another one (it totally didn't take me a solar year to figure this out, no sirree!). It's an extremely straightforward one, though, not worthy of the Thursday slot.

#2, bam! A simpler grid would have befitted this simpler theme. I love the drive to do something more, but a 72-word grid with five themers almost always comes with compromise. Amazing avoidance of short glue, but today, it came in the form of oddballs:

• ASTARTE isn't of the same level as Isis or Osiris, and to have her muddying things up under ROMAN GOD should be avoided.
• SIEGED … is passable. "The city is under siege!" is terror-inducing. "The invaders have sieged our castle!" is more "WTF kind of mead have you been drinking?" inducing.
• SOAKAGE. Let us not discuss thee, prithee well nay?

There are huge benefits of going down to 72 words—HOUDINI / OSMOSIS is almost worth it all by itself! The more I study it, the more I try to convince myself that maybe it was the right decision. LAWFUL TRUE GRIT. TOP GUN took my breath away. GO ALL IN, yeah?

Yeah, not with the compromises.

Overall, a fine theme that could have been made much sharper and more fun, if it had been fine-tuned for a Wednesday, where it belonged.

– puzzle by Alex Eaton-Salners

I greatly appreciate being able to talk through puzzles with someone as bright and thoughtful as Jim, in an easy and non-competitive way.

Jim: Nice entries, although I didn't know some. What are LONGBOARDS?

Jeff, in a not-at-all-smug manner: Oh, Jim. Jim, Jim, Jim. JIM! Have you never surfed the roads, like HyojooKo? JEFF 1, JIM 0!

Jim: Didn't you fall off a longboard once? While it was stationary? And you were holding onto someone?

Jeff: (pause) I'm willing to subtract 0.05 points for that. What I didn't get, though, was the clue for POP UP STORE.

Jim: That seemed fine to me. Halloween is seasonal, so a seller of costumes might pop up for a few weeks.

Jeff: A-ha! Have you ever been to a Halloween pop-up store?

Jim: Well, no.

Jeff: Ever seen one, hmm?

Jim: Theoretically speaking, it's possible.

Jeff: JEFF 1.95, JIM 0!

Things went quickly downhill for Jeff from that point, Jim knowing exactly what a TROLLEY BUS was, having a better idea of what a BALL RETURN mechanism looked like, and Cave CANEM not making him whimper. Final score was … well, keeping score is silly.

Point is, sometimes themeless entries can seem outstanding from one perspective, not as much from another. It's preferable to prioritize entries like PROM NIGHT, especially since the clue made this common phrase as stunning as my prom date's dress. (Not so much my misfitting hand-me-down tuxedo that my Taiwanese aunt made out of recycled diapers.)

There were enough strong entries, and a lot of fun clues — the BIRDSONG / THREAD echo is delightful! — but a 72-word themeless has to be near perfect, with stratospheric color everywhere, to stand out.

– puzzle by Kyle Dolan