New York Times, Monday, March 7, 2022

I developed Tetris brain but for crosswords almost as soon as I started constructing them. Looking for crossword themes out of fun phrases went from curious to chronic. Once I noticed the serendipitous symmetry of the revealer phrase, I had to make a delicious puzzle. (Varied reactions to "delicious" probably depend on those who have and have not tried JELLIED EEL.)

Every puzzle has its tradeoffs, though. Downsized and built from criss-crossing theme content, the puzzle doesn't have much room for long, non-themed entries. On par with my enthusiasm for food and sweets, I don't regret stuffing in four dishes. Next time you see me in the NYT, expect some even sweeter puzzle-making.

Utmost gratitude to the voices of persistence: friends, family, and Alie Ward. Thanks as well to the mental exercise of crossword construction and the physical exercise that balances the indulgence of my sweet tooth. So on that note: are life's fondest affections not those exalted in acrostic form?

JELLIED EEL … that does seem like REVENGE! I wonder if it'd be any more appetizing served hot.

It's rare to have vertical grid-spanners as fill, and I can't remember the last time a theme revealer was presented like REVENGE IS A DISH / BEST SERVED COLD. I appreciate the novelty.

I didn't understand what REVENGE had to do with anything, though. If we're simply talking about things that are served cold, there are hundreds of options to choose from, which makes the selections feel arbitrary.

That huge flexibility is important if you want to intersect the dishes into the revealer — and Sam did a wonderful job of interlocking everything together — but I wanted something more out of the theme than meshed theme answers.

(Note that some people adore themer interlock; Will Shortz tends in that direction.)

How delicious would it have been if this featured all cold dishes … dished up in famous murders! Doesn't it seem like Poirot would have investigated many murders-by-aspic? Surely an evildoer deviled Lupin with deviled eggs?

*five-hour timesuck of Jeff falling down Agatha Christie and Maurice Leblanc rabbit holes*

Neat debut, with memorable grid design. I even liked the wriggly eel of black squares in the center of the grid, made possible by the off-size 14x15 dimensions.