New York Times, Monday, November 26, 2018

Astute observers will note that this is very similar to my debut offering from July. I have other ideas, I swear! My future offerings differ in core concept and thematic density. That said, I've had this idea for some time… Everyone's got an inner nerd! I've got, like, six of them.

You know how they say starlight is a glimpse into the past? Sunlight takes eight minutes to travel the 93 million miles from the Sun to Earth, so sunlight we witness at 10:00 AM is a look at stellar reactions that occurred at 9:52. Telescopes help us witness the universe as it evolved millions — even billions — of years ago. Since I submitted this puzzle, I've been gaining experience and evolving as a constructor. It's been only a year, but it feels like a lifetime ago. You, dear solver, are looking at cruciverbal starlight.

Were I to write the puzzle today I would do things a bit differently. I would likely remove two of the entries: DESIGNER DRUG, which I first heard about as a promising potential cancer treatment (but which also has an unfortunate meaning); and SCREENER DVDS, which is a bit of an outlier in terms of familiarity. I'd look to replace those two entries with just one in the middle row, leaving more opportunity for "bonus fill" and cleaning up suboptimal entries like SSN, TOV, and PLO in the process.

It took me a minute to realize, but that lower-right corner isn't mine! My submission had:

- P P P
N E R D
P R O F
R U M S

I suspect it was the PPP/PDFS crossing that was deemed unfriendly for Monday solvers. I dig classical music, but if you don't then PPP could prove difficult. There is a myriad of fill possibilities for the corner... GDAY is fun, but I would not opt for NAS/ALIA myself. It's interesting to see what happens behind the crossword scenes!

Props to the NYT crew for the fresh clue for (Idris) ELBA!

Just like products, insects, and styles, theme types have a life cycle. The very first time a theme is published, it's often groundbreaking. Amazing. Eye-opening. Memorable. Constructors and editors pile on to get in on the new hot thing, and we see more and more examples of it — sometimes as a near copy, sometimes with a little twist. Then, the crest of the wave; fatigue starts to set in. And like all good things, it eventually falls to the wayside as an entry in the history books.

Hidden word themes are in their last stages of the cycle, especially with the same word repeated over and over. However, as with all established theme types, there's usually room for something a little fresh to keep the genre breathing for a little longer.

Today, I appreciated both the juiciness of the revealer — proud to say that I have both an INNER NERD and an outer nerd — and the quality of the themer finds. All of them were good to fantastic, WIENER DOG my favorite. (At my climbing gym, the manager sometimes brings in his little WIENER DOG — it's so dang cute!)

Neat that Evan used a nearly-complete set, too. I couldn't figure out any others besides ZENER DIODE. I imagine all the other electromechanical gearheads out there are screaming in protest along with me, but I think it's a safe bet that this component wouldn't have been Monday-friendly to newer solvers.

Strong execution on the grid, too. Six themers (I think Evan's hindsight is unwarranted; I like every themer a lot), with ACTIVE PLAY, ESCHER, HIDE ME, Nina SIMONE crossing CROON? The puzzle is up … AND IT'S GOOD! Evan's construction skills have taken a quantum leap in the last year or so. Very impressive.

(One minor point: as much as I love D WADE as a player, I'm not sure his nickname is fair game for newer solvers.)

It's tough for me to get excited about a theme type far into decline — the NYT team recently mentioned that they have too many hidden word themes on file already — but it's a rock-solid Monday.