New York Times, Tuesday, June 9, 2020

This didn't start off being a fishing puzzle. I was actually thinking about building a simple machine into a puzzle (being an ex-engineer and all), and somewhere along the way, a "fishing machine" and its component steps came into being.

After the NYT team advised revising TAKING A SOFT LINE to tighten the tense consistency, the necessary mirror symmetry and 15x16 grid followed, forcing the revealer to be in the middle of the grid as a compromise. As usual, the NYT team did an excellent job cluing to a Tuesday audience.

The puzzle came out pretty clean apart from maybe 5D, but that was the best I could do for that corner, given that I wanted the theme placements to be in a certain order. I did like 42D, and with 27D/38D in the grid, you can probably tell what I'm a fan of!

Constructor logs: the puzzle was accepted in Sep. 2019, about a year after initial submission due to the revision cycle.

I admire the creativity here. Most crossword fishing themes have trawled for "phrases that end with fishing equipment" phrases, a la CLICK BAIT, SPARE THE ROD, OFF THE HOOK, etc. I love that Freddie aimed for more than the standard approach. Non-fishing phrases that describe steps of fishing? I wouldn't have thought it possible.

I had too many hitches to give this POW! consideration, however. PICK UP STICK in the singular isn't stellar. TAKE A SOFT LINE … the Goog's News search shows a fair amount of usage. I wouldn't take a hard line against it, but neither would I strive to use it in conversation.

GET HOOKED UP. That's the hook getting hooked onto the line? Or the fish getting hooked up, onto the hook? It didn't quite work, at least not as perfectly as OPEN A CAN OF WORMS.

Great gridwork, though, helping elevate my fishing expedition. That's apt, considering the best part of a fishing trip is not the catching of fish, but the hanging out with friends, having a cold one while dissecting technical crossword construction minutia. It was my own NERD PROM today, replete with squeeing over mirror symmetry, a lifesaver in so many circumstances. Not all editors are fans — or even tolerant — of it, but I find left-right symmetry so captivating.

Although the theme made me pause once too many times, I'd take this reach-for-the-stars approach over a traditional one most days of the week. Great to see something a little different. Reminded me of another audacious effort.