New York Times, Tuesday, April 13, 2021

This is one of those themes that grew out of a different, failed theme idea. I started with the idea of using the theme clues [Rocky's friend] and [Rocky's foe] with the answers BULLWINKLE and APOLLO CREED. But I couldn't come up with another pair of [Rocky's ___] clues that worked as nicely, despite much effort and much cursing of Paul McCartney for not naming the guy who shot Rocky Raccoon something more interesting than DAN. So that was a bust, but in the course of searching for characters named Rocky, I hit on the phrase ROCKY START and realized that I could make the puzzle you see here.

If I had to do this over again, I would probably find a way to replace NAPALM, as it doesn't exactly give off the fun and positive vibe I've been aiming for with my more recent puzzles. It also was not super smart, construction-wise, to hardwire N__B_S and R_M__N into the grid, as there's only one good entry for each of those patterns, but the grid thankfully filled pretty smoothly anyway.

One fun fact: MOUNTAIN DEW first appeared in the NYT crossword almost exactly 50 years ago today (April 12, 1971). It was clued as [Corn squeezins], in reference to moonshine. This is the first time (out of four appearances) that it's been clued as the soda.

I hope you enjoy(ed) the solve!

Great example of a "words that can follow X" theme. It's been years since Will Shortz declared his moratorium on these, but there's still room for one done well.

What made it stand out: the theme's tightness. How many other words can you think of that complete ROCKY ___? I spent 15 minutes, got only ROCKY Marciano. Not likely you'll find a phrase starting with MARCIANO!

Also neat that the four examples drew from different arenas. An ice cream flavor, a movie title, geography, and a character (from an arena!). I did hitch on ROCKY MOUNTAIN, wanting ROCKY MOUNTAINS, but there are phrases like "Rocky Mountain High" and "Rocky Mountain oysters." It doesn't feel as stand-alone as the others, but it does work.

Generally excellent gridwork, impressive craftsmanship. Five themers should allow for some colorful long down fill, and Mike hit that with PAPER JAM and WAKANDAN / VERTIGO. One could argue that the WAKANDAN / KEA crossing could be tough, but the "Avengers" franchise is a steamroller, and if you're a Tuesday solver, the chances are high that you've run across KEA before.

I paused in the lower-left corner, starting with NAPALM, for the same reasons Mike mentioned. AREOLA is a constructor's crutch, such a friendly combination of vowel-consonant alternation and common letters. BLEAR is bleary. Nothing terrible, but a blemish on an otherwise stellar grid.

Pleasant surprise to enjoy a "words that can follow X" puzzle so much — maybe it's my love for "Rocky" as well as for "Creed." The chemistry between Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone will (sorry) knock you out.