New York Times, Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Doug: Sam came up with the theme concept and a great entry in DIRTY CHERRY, but we couldn't find another 11-letter theme entry to pair with it. CHEVYWEIGHT was a possibility, but we felt it had a couple of strikes against it.

Sam: One problem, we felt, was that some solvers would give CHEVY the soft, "sh" sound instead of the hard, "ch" sound, even if we clued CHEVY with reference to Chevy Chase instead of the car make. The bigger strike, though, was that it was the only one-word theme entry.

Doug: We considered putting DIRTY CHERRY in the center of the grid, but when I tried squeezing in that 5th theme entry, the fill got fugly. Would it have been worth it? My grids usually end up on the "less theme, better fill" end of the spectrum. Thinking back to my wasted youth in front of the TV, I can envision two groups facing off in the bar at the Stamford Marriott: "More theme!" "Better filling!" "More Theme!" "Better Filling!"

Sam: This is one reason (among many) why I like working with Doug. I probably would have ended up in the "More theme!" camp, but the acceptance email from Will and Joel specifically mentioned that they liked the fill. And what's not like to like with SHAMWOW and...is that, is that HAIR GEL? Doug's craftsmanship with the grid is likely what sold this puzzle.

Sound-change puzzle, H- to CH- used for kooky effect. I got some smiles from IM OUT OF HERE becoming IM OUT OF CHEER. Funny to think about a cheerleader running out of juice on the sideline. Took me a while to realize that CHEESE SO FINE was derived from HES SO FINE — apparently an oldie from the Chiffons? — but I had a laugh thinking about CHEESE SO FINE as a marketing slogan posted at a deli.

ARTIFICIAL HEART to CHART didn't do as much for me, but humor is subjective. (Perhaps it reminds me too much of a slide presented at one of my wife's old jobs, where this finance guy — no joke — flipped his chart upside down halfway through his presentation when he realized he wasn't making sense.) And HANES UNDERWEAR to CHAINS UNDERWEAR … the base phrase feels slightly contrived in order to fit the puzzle.

I really liked the huge spelling changes though — neat how each of the base words becomes something so different, rather than just tacking on the letter C, i.e. HAT to CHAT.

Sam and Doug are two of my favorite people in the crossworld (Doug was in Seattle a month ago; always a treat to see him in person; somehow we found ourselves way out in Kent, WA at 1 in the morning, don't ask), and their fun spirits usually show up in their puzzles. Today, we get GEEZ / ZILLION, TABLOID, HAIR GEL, and SHAM WOW! Not an OFF DAY at all; great bonuses right in line with their personalities.

A bit of a missed opportunity to clue NOT ME as that ghost Dolly and Jeffy blame on everything in Bil KEANE's "The Family Circus." Ah, Jeffy, that little scamp! (How is it that TFC is still in print?) I'd bet that Sam or Doug, if not both of them, thought of that while cluing.

Nice clue pair in OHIO and PERU both homes of Lima (Lima, Ohio being the lesser-known of the two cities, of course).

All of this executed so smoothly, with just an ANON here and an ASST there. Super minor dabs of crossword glue.

I always look forward to seeing these guys' byline, and today was no exception. Entertaining solve.