New York Times, Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Puzzle ideas can pop up in the strangest places. This idea for one puzzle was generated a little less than a year ago while doing the January 25, 2017 Los Angeles Times puzzle by my friend and sometimes co-constructor Bruce Haight. The first two themed answers I got in Bruce's puzzle were LIVE A LITTLE and MEET IN THE MIDDLE. For some reason the VEAL inside LIVE A LITTLE jumped out at me, so I thought to myself, "I see where you're going, Bruce!". I figured there would be various meats (like VEAL) hidden inside longer phrases, with MEET IN THE MIDDLE as the revealer.

As it turned out, Bruce's theme was entirely different. It consisted of five phrases that ended in the five fingers on one's hand: LITTLE, INDEX, MIDDLE, RING, and THUMB. So I took what I thought was Bruce's concept and turned it into this puzzle.

My original submission didn't have circles or shaded squares, but I guess on a Tuesday they're probably necessary.

MEAT IN THE MIDDLE really ought to be a thing. A restaurant chain specializing in turduckens?

A couple of good finds, BEEF in the middle of STROBE EFFECT particularly strong. Always neat to see longer words with rare(ish) letters smack dab in the middle of snazzy phrases. VEAL inside LIVE A LIE was good too.

I wasn't as hot on LAMB inside CLAMBAKE as 1.) it's not as interesting to me to have a word hidden completely inside a single word (across two words feels more fun), and 2.) isn't CLAM another type of meat? Sort of? The other, other white meat? Felt a little odd to have the double meatiness.

And HAM is easier to find within phrases like FIFTH AMENDMENT, LAUGH A MINUTE, ALPHA MALE, etc. Three-letter hidden words don't catch my attention as much since they're easier to uncover.

I loved ANTI TANK and ZOOT SUIT! Great bonuses. Typically I'd be worried about them laid out in the across direction since that could muddy up theme vs. fill. But since there aren't any shaded letters in these guys, it's fine.

Other goodies in SPRAY CAN, SKORTS, and SPACE X. Excellent bonuses for all the vegetarian solvers out there!

Not as smooth as I'd like in an early-week puzzle, though. I hitched early on with ARPEL, but thank goodness all the crossings were easy. I'm okay to learn a new brand name. Not as okay to run into OTB, SDS (I think it's a fine entry, but many newer solvers might not be familiar with Students for a Democratic Society), IT OFF, SNO, ITE, SKED. Two or three of these and a puzzle loses its feeling of elegance and craftsmanship.

It's hard to say what might have helped. Maybe not stacking NORTH AMERICA and LIVE A LIE? Putting LIVE A LIE in row 3 and NORTH AMERICA in row 5 might have spaced things out better.

Overall, a solid hidden-word theme using a fun reVEALer, but I would have liked some rework to improve smoothness, even if it meant reducing some of the snazziness.