New York Times, Wednesday, January 27, 2021

The concept of taking idiomatic expressions literally as clues to their location in the grid didn't originate with me, but it's fun, and it hasn't been used in the Times for a while. 17 across was the seed entry; it appears today for the first time in the Will Shortz era (and for the first time in the Times crossword in more than 40 years). And 62 across is making its Times debut.

I played around with variations on this theme (over the moon, beside oneself, next to nothing, right of return, left to rot) and non-grid-spanners (Orion above "below the belt") before deciding three grid-spanners that sit one row down from their inside-the-grid references would give me a tighter, more elegant theme.

Having 62 theme squares, 34 of them stacked, puts constraints on a grid. I hope that having to fill in four abbreviations (one of them four letters) doesn't leave you feeling 39 across, with an 11 down.

I also hope you got a smile out of my clues for 61 across and 41 down. Thanks to Will, Sam Ezersky, and the team for great editing, especially the clues to 25 and 47 across.

BENEATH CONTEMPT physically beneath SCORN, UNDER THE WEATHER physically under MONSOON, BELOW THE SURFACE physically below FACET. I admire the consistency, three clear "under" meanings as the first words of the themers, three clear synonyms for the last words.

This theme type is in the top ten concepts people query me about, so it's hard to get excited about. I did one back in 2016 and decided that was enough, so I'm more angsty about this genre than others. If it's your first or second time seeing it, you might be much more wowed.

Dang, how did I get to be so jaded? It's a fine theme; does the job.

Stacked themers are rarely easy to work around, as I vividly remember from that 2016 puzzle. Don't be scornful of short words like SCORN — they can easily pose problems, especially if you have to fix them into a certain position. For example, no constructor ever said, "I'd love to kick off my puzzle with CST and ACHT!" You can modify the black square patterns to make that north region easier, but doing so can create issues in the middle and then the south, creating a MONSOON flood of cascading problems.

Having to deploy so many black squares in the middle leaves you with few to play with on the perimeter. I think the top two corners can be filled more cleanly, as is — if you need both ARE NOT and I AM SO, it might be time to try different long downs, no matter how snazzy JANE FONDA and TUMMYACHE are. Having more black square flexibility sure would have been nice, though.

Most of the junky fill came in the stacked sections — ACHT, NSEC, WSW, UEY — so these gloopy bits are certainly understandable. That could be worth the experience if it's one of the first times you're experiencing this type of theme. And the tightness is certainly admirable. I can't think of another possible theme answer, and that lends a touch of elegance.