Alan DeLoriea author page

★ I get nervous every time I see BERMUDA TRIANGLE in a crossword — it's been used so many times in various crossword progressions, often involving a square. What a pleasure to get the unexpected FINAL SALE next, and then TENNIS ACE. I enjoy when I can't figure out a Monday theme until the very end. POINT OF NO RETURN gave me a smile. What a fun way to interpret "situations where a return is not possible."

I also hesitated after uncovering ATTY, an abbr., to start the puzzle. But things turned around very quickly, getting YO MAMA / FUTILE / DOGSLED, all such fun answers. (I admit, I keep a spreadsheet of YO MAMA jokes that make me laugh.)

So much strong bonus fill past that, too. BLARNEY as an Irish term for nonsense, BRA SIZE, THIN AIR, THE FED, even GARGLE, such an amusing word. Don't forget the UNDEAD! Although there weren't any long bonus answers, Alan did so well by employing a huge quantity of mid-length bonuses.

And all of that with just some minor ENE, OCT, NOID! That last one stuck out more than the others, as "no I.D." feels shaky to me, but I do fondly remember "Avoid the Noid" commercials.

All in all, such an enjoyable Monday experience. A fun theme, a ton of great bonus fill, and not a lot of liabilities or odd entries to distract. Very well done, especially for someone still early in his construction career.

Second debut in two days! I enjoy watching the ever-growing ranks of constructors earning their NYT "Shortz number."

Alan gives us five things that can be followed, a DOTTED LINE, a GOOD EXAMPLE, the YELLOW BRICK ROAD, a TWITTER FEED, and an OPENING ACT. I particularly liked TWITTER FEED, as it has a fresh, recent(ish) feel to it, and it's a great phrase in itself. Nice to have a little something for everyone, too, what with YELLOW BRICK ROAD way back from Baum's 1900 novel.

I think this type of puzzle works best when the examples cumulatively cover a huge, varying range. Following a TWITTER FEED (paying attention to) is a different kind of "follow" than following the YELLOW BRICK ROAD (going along a path), but all the "follows" still feel a little too similar for my taste.

Also, follow a DOTTED LINE … at first, I thought nothing of it, but what does that mean? Some research shows it's probably referring to the dotted lines on a map? Like the dotted line Jeffy from "The Family Circus" traces in his delightfully wandering journeys? (Don't ask why I know so much about the Family Circus. It's not pretty.)

Five themers can be tough to fill around, and when you lock three of them into place, it can get even harder. With GOOD EXAMPLE / YELLOW BRICK ROAD / TWITTER FEED and DEBRIEF all knitted together, it's not a surprise that the center of the puzzle is the most difficult to fill cleanly. ONE B is a big glob of random crossword glue, and with FEB / FWD and NCO, it's a bit inelegant in there.

As much as I like DEBRIEF as an interesting word, I wonder if it would have been better to use some black squares to break that entry up at its two Es. That would have forced all sorts of changes in the black square pattern, so it's tough to say if it'd even work.

A couple of interesting bonuses in GOLD DIGGER and POP UP BOOKS, even EMOJI. EDDARD Stark is a great, tragic figure, and I'm sure glad Alan made all his crossings very gettable! These bonuses helped keep my attention through the solve.

Again, I love to see new constructors adding to the diversity of the NYT, so if you — yes YOU! — ever get the itch, drop me a line and either I'll give you a hand or connect you to someone else who can help.