New York Times, Wednesday, February 17, 2021

DAVID: This puzzle happened because the crossword community is full of great people encouraging newbies. Erik Agard's fantastic Crossword Puzzle Collaboration Directory introduced me to Nate Cardin, who helped me finish my first ever (rejected!) puzzle. Evan and I met at an Andy Kravis-led workshop in Brooklyn. It turns out we were both frustratedly gnawing at the exact same idea ("Monkey in the Middle") and decided to collaborate.

Getting our original idea actually to work in a grid was a struggle. Squeezing a 17-letter marquee answer in a 15x15 grid can make things complicated! We attempted a bunch of variations on the theme concept before hitting on the grid you see here, with its added visual element that we hope makes the puzzle accessible and interesting to new and experienced solvers alike. The theme ultimately covers *a lot* of real estate at 70 squares(?!), and the grid is a bit heavy on 3-letter entries and black squares, but we hope the fill is worth any tradeoffs. Props go to Evan for some of the fill's more modern and colloquial entries, but I'm claiming BANANA PEEL, which I *love* for this theme. Thanks for gibbon us a chance!

I post puzzles these days at GridProQuo.blogspot.com and @Hero_Complex — some nerdier themes, a couple of funkier concepts, and training to construct a Cryptic Crassword. (You read that correctly.) I've always been a big nerd, but at some point, did I become indie?

Am I cool now?!

EVAN: David was always cool! And thanks again to Andy for organizing the meeting that made this collaboration possible.

For a different take on this idea, try Ben Tausig's "Swingers," available for purchase at the American Values Club crossword website. (Or, skip to the puzzle review at Crossword Fiend.)

Even with a basic idea and set of theme entries in hand, this grid was a beast to develop. Fortunately, one late night I realized that we could incorporate the evocative 17-letter phrase — arc and all — utilizing mirror symmetry within the standard rotationally symmetric grid. That was the key to freeing up the grid enough to make things clean and sparkly. I fired off an excited email to David at 4:15 a.m. with the breakthrough.

Great visual for MONKEY (IN THE) MIDDLE. I couldn't remember the rules of the game, so I looked it up. Ah, right. Two bullies tossing a kid's backpack over his/her head, playing keep away. This kind of thing used to happen to a kid I was a Big Brother for. It's tough — you know you should take the high road and talk to the bullies about the consequences of their behavior. It's so much easier to punt their kickballs onto the roof.

Hypothetically speaking, of course.

I liked the attempt to elevate the standard "hidden word" theme type, which Will Shortz is tiring of. It's easy enough to work APE into many CHEAP EATS, AP ENGLISH, ALASKA PENINSULA phrases. Much harder to do that around a non-trivial visual element.

Ah! I didn't even notice the APE literally stuck in the middle. Unfortunately, this APE isn't broken across two words, like Will usually requires, but it is a nice touch. Perhaps orienting that APE vertically would have been even more evocative, the poor creature trying to jump for his backpack. That could have also allowed MONKEY, MIDDLE, and the middle APE to be in the same row, rather than the way he's levitating now.

Wait. Why are the APEs all around not helping their brethren in the center? They're taking part in the bullying? Cue Charlton Heston!

BANANA PEEL is such an apt phrase for this puzzle. Even more pleasing to see it strategically placed under one of the bullies. You go, my APE friend!

For a Kalish production, there's an unusually high amount of short entries that would get called out on editor's spec sheet, ANAP, EDS, TSO, maybe HMO and ISP too. I did love the clue for TSO, his good name being "battered." And for a strong visual element, the trade-offs can be worth it.

All in all, an audacious debut for David and another one in the books for Evan, but the mixture of literal and visual elements didn't gel together that well.