New York Times, Friday, October 9, 2020

Hi Solvers! Thanks for spending your Friday with this puzzle. I hope you enjoy the variety of entries, including the ON TOP OF THE WORLD crossing SPACE STATIONS. My original clue for SPACE STATIONS (Workplaces that are staffed on a rotating basis?) didn't make the cut, but I really like the one that the editorial team settled on.

The puzzle's construction started with the stack in the NW, and then grew down to the SE where I had to go through many iterations before finding a set I was happy with. I also enjoyed including the food crossing of OLIVE PITS and ONION DIP, as well as getting to include Taking Back Sunday in the clue for EMO BANDS, since it is one of my wife's favorites.

One note: The entry IRON CROSS was clued as an Award for the Red Baron. Sam Ezersky and the editorial team reached out last week to ask the upcoming constructors to look over their proofs and request any potential changes to clues. After having engaged in a discussion back in May in the Cruciverb Facebook group about the entry IRON CROSS, I asked Sam about cluing it relating to the gymnastics move, rather than the military award. After discussing it, they agreed that it would improve the puzzle to take a new angle on it, and I'm grateful that the editorial team has added the chance for constructors to have their voices heard in the final product.

The IRON CROSS is such an awe-inspiring feat of strength. One of my life goals is to hold an IRON CROSS for five seconds, but given that I start shaking uncontrollably after opening my arms about 20 degrees, then collapse into a puddle of sweat … it may be a while. The world record holder's nickname is "Muscleball," and he looks the part!

The finance wonk in me loved kicking things off with ECON MAJOR. Crash course … get it? Economic crash? Too soon, given the pandemic-induced bankruptcies? Yeah, maybe so. Still, a valiant attempt at humor, even if it tweaks some noses.

I loved that ON TOP OF THE WORLD / SPACE STATIONS cross. Now that's a way to seed a themeless! Sam's original clue would have made it even better, at least for all us nerds out there who dork out over issues like artificial gravity induced by forced rotation.

Okay, maybe not for mass audiences.

Those crossing features create some structural difficulty, though, forcing big corners in the NW and SE. Whenever you have a triple-stack intersecting another one — ECON MAJOR/MANO A MANO/OLIVE PITS weaving into EMO BAND/CALICOES/ONION DIP — you're bound to have some compromises. In the NW, CALICOES and ONION DIP don't do much for me, more neutral than positive, but that's fine.

The SE didn't hold up as well, with ARMATA / DYER / OTOES and the boring STEEPS IN. If it ain't one corner, it's the symmetrical one. Shake your fist at Crucivera, the goddess who demands symmetry!

Along with more neutral wastage in TORE INTO, US TEN (rarely written like this outside crosswords), ESCAPED / ARRESTS, there was some potential left on the table. That'll almost always be the case with a layout like this, though, and the overall impact of ON TOP OF THE WORLD / SPACE STATIONS helped overcome these issues.