New York Times, Thursday, March 5, 2015

Sometimes the Muse gives you an idea and you just have to go with it, regardless of whether an audience exists for it. That's how I felt with this one. I wasn't sure it was NYT-appropriate, but I did the best I could with the idea and submitted it, not expecting an acceptance. Apparently though, according to the Interwebs, last year was the Year of the Butt. I didn't know that until just now, but maybe that's why Will gave it the go-ahead.

But he actually didn't at first. My submitted puzzle had a different revealer, one that was a punchline to this joke (which, as far as I know, I made up entirely): "What caused the market panic among investors in long johns?"

Answer: THE BOTTOM FELL OUT (cue rimshot)

I liked that puzzle better because I felt it was funnier, and since the phrase is 16 letters, the grid was bigger, and I had more room to space things out. But Will preferred my alternative revealer, FALLING BEHIND, and the normal-sized grid.

The grid was difficult because I wanted the BEHIND words to be isolated vertically (meaning blocks above and below each). This made for quite a challenge and many "cheater" blocks. I also ended up with those two large chunks of blocks on the left and right. (But to my sophomoric mind, I justified them by squinting and imagining a pair of cheeks with one side sagging.)

So, is this a new low for the NYT? Has the NYT hit bottom? Will this bit of cheek cause the NYT to be the butt of all jokes in the crosswording world? Well, just be thankful Will used the clue "Lagging" in place of my original clue: "Going into arrears".

Now to collect my booty...

I recently got a very nice rejection from Will, commenting that he's starting to see too many "turning" puzzles. I can understand the point, as we just recently saw something akin to today's. But as with all theme types, I believe there's always a place for an example with a great implementation, a different twist, or a laugh-inducing bit. Today's hit the mark for me, FALLING BEHIND interpreted as "synonyms for BEHIND" running downward.

The execution is really strong. Turning themers are difficult to build around, and including four of them plus a central revealer makes things even tougher. Jim does well to quasi-segment his grid so that he can fill each of the four corners and two middle regions somewhat independently. Jim gives us some great long stuff in the NE and SW, using GODPARENTS, TIME COP, HEARING AID, DIORAMA in those important long slots.

Really, the only area I felt wasn't quite as smooth as I like was the PTERO / PEU region. Not surprising that it's smack dab at the "bend" within DONALD TRUMP; a highly constrained section.

A note about "cheater squares," those extra black squares that don't affect the number of words in a puzzle. Normally I'm fast and loose about using them, since they can really help a puzzle's fill sing. Too many of them can be visually unappealing, though. Here, I don't mind the blocks of three in the NE and SW. Completely fine on their own. But when you throw in the huge chunks of black in the west and east, it's too much for me. Personal taste, of course.

I can understand why Jim chose to use these big chunky masses, as separating BABY ALBUM and FALLING BEHIND and UNAMERICAN really helps to facilitate clean fill. For 75% of all constructors, I'd shrug and live with the unappealing visual aesthetics. But Jim's becoming experienced enough that I would have liked to see if he could fill the puzzle as cleanly and sparkly as he did, without using nearly so many cheaters. Challenge issued!

Very amusing puzzle. Perhaps I have seen too many turning puzzles recently, but I welcome ones like this, exemplifying the fun that this theme type can bring.