New York Times, Thursday, February 6, 2020

I came up with this theme idea quite a while back. One of the things I liked about it was that the answer ALI ET ALII seemed to take otherwise trite crossword glue and have some fun with it. I remember being a little concerned that the wordplay in each of the examples wasn't rigorously consistent, but luckily it struck a chord with the NYT editorial team.

I was asked to remove a couple of problem entries in my original grid, but as it turned out, that meant redoing it entirely. Grids with 9-letter slots in the middle row can be notoriously troublesome to work with.

A special shoutout to Linux geeks today comes in the form of CURL and AWK.

My partner in crime, Jim Horne, loved this puzzle, a clear POW! choice for him. I'm in full agreement that there's some genius in the theme. How to even describe it, though? Start with phrases meaning "yadda yadda yadda" ... and echo the final word at the beginning?

No — the final sound? Yes, that must be it.

Wait. UDDER and OTHER aren't homophones. Are they all puns?

Calling all rocket scientists and brain surgeons to help me …

For Jim, a puzzle's theme is (almost) everything. I can see the wisdom in that approach, especially when you're talking about a completely novel idea. After umpteen years of solving and analyzing crosswords, it's so rare to experience something for which you can't immediately point out a predecessor. Huge props to Jake for a rare accomplishment.

I construct a lot more than Jim, and this is the lens through which I evaluate all crosswords. It's tough for me to overlook things like URI ISR ELAL GTE. I don't know what to think of EXPM, either — does that open the door for EXPD and EXAG (attorney general)?

(I'll admit, the latter is relevant in revolving-door Trump era. *rimshot*)

Both Jim and I agreed that UDDERS AND OTHERS was the weakest themer. Eliminating it would destroy regular crossword symmetry, but mirror symmetry would easily work with 15 15 9 15 (or some permutation of those lengths). Mirror symmetry would have been appropriate for the echoing theme, too!

Jake is great when it comes to including long bonus fill, today's puzzle no different than his others, with BITSTREAM, EGO TRIP, FAKE TAN, OAK TREE, TANGELO. Given how much juiciness his puzzles usually exhibit — as well as a lot of crossword glue — I'd love to see a move toward a better balance.