New York Times, Monday, October 24, 2016

When this idea popped into my mind, I was happy to discover four or five reasonable competing explanations for the etymology of Newport News, only one of which has anything to do with "news." So, fingers crossed that this first theme entry uses its base phrase in a different sense than the theme, consistent with the other three.

With that, I just needed an 11-letter revealer that did not itself contain the word "news." Which was harder than it sounds. I hope MORNING SHOW rings true.

I had a 74-word version of this puzzle that opened up the middle top and bottom with LAWNCARE and TELEPORT. But it required two ugly compromises in the fill (such as RETUSE at 49-across). As much as I would have liked to include two more snazzy long downs, I try to keep in mind Jeff's admonition about Monday puzzles and new solvers, and so I decided to focus on clean fill.

Wait. Someone actually listened to me?

I liked this one a lot. Simple theme — NEWS, TRAFFIC, WEATHER, SPORTS the typical parts of a MORNING SHOW — yet I didn't know what was going on until close to the end. On Mondays, I often play a little game, trying to guess as quickly as possibly what the theme is, and I enjoy when I don't immediately figure it out (as long as I actually do figure it out at some point!).

Beautiful northeast corner. Absolutely loved the AL GORE RHYTHM (oh right, ALGORITHM) / TOP SECRET pairing, along with just a TRI / EMTS as very, very minor prices to pay. That "parallel down" structure is so hard to do, so pulling off two great long entries with virtually no crossword glue is dynamite.

Some other bonuses in JET LAG, IN A SECOND, even a SMOKER standing outside a building. Very nice to get these extras, when John already had a toughish task incorporating five longish theme answers.

You have no idea how relieved I was when read John's note about a 74-word layout including RETUSE. I already struggled with ENVOI and HESS crossing BIER (clued as the funeral stand, not the German word for beer).

Why is ENVOI problematic for me in a Monday puzzle? I think of my experience when starting crosswords, and also draw from friends' initial impressions of crosswords. Most anything is fair game when the crosses are easily gettable (the beauty of crosswords!) but shortish entries that smell of "weird word you might never see outside of crosswords in your entire life" tend to leave a bad impression.

Now, I like learning a thing or two. I didn't know what a GOAT RODEO was outside of crosswords, but what a cool term! ENVOI is something I can plunk in now without any letters because I do a lot of crosswords, but it gives me more of a sense of something that crossword constructors rely on, rather than giving solvers much pleasure.

But overall, nice start to the week.