It's a mixed blessing to have a ton of solves under one's belt. Instinctively, MIXED ___ forces me to anagram. MIXED FEELINGS? ANGST = GNATS! ANGER = RANGE? CAN ANYONE tell me why this causes me so much ANNOYANCE? Turn off already, anagram part of my brain!
I spent waaaay too long trying to figure out how anagrams were involved today. MIXED FEELINGS … where are the GEL FINES? The GLEE FINS? Uh oh, readers are giving me the FLEE SIGN!
Jim Horne politely reminded me that non-weird people don't necessarily think similarly. MIXED FEELINGS = (one emotion) AND (another emotion)? Sure, that works!
I initially thought there would be dozens of these types of phrases, so the theme needed to be tightened up. Searching … searching ... not so much. I found DOOM AND GLOOM, but DOOM isn't a feeling in the same way. HOT AND BOTHERED? SWEET AND SOUR?
None of those are as strong as the ones in the puzzle. Great selections, Ross!
What cool gridwork from Ross today. Mirror symmetry can be a lifesaver, but working with "awkward lengths" of 11 and 13 can be way worse in mirror compared to regular symmetry. PRIDE AND JOY, SHOCK AND AWE, and MIXED FEELINGS all force black square placements, so there's not that many permutations available, especially with MIXED FEELINGS needing to be at the end.
I like what Ross did with the bottom of the grid. Usually, I'd suggest breaking up those bottom rows into three smaller chunks, not two bigger ones, but Ross executed on it so well, adding lively bonuses like CECELIA, SPASMED, and the beautiful INTERREGNUM. These upped the quality of my solve.
It's not for everyone, especially newer solvers who might scratch their heads at a word like AHISTORICAL. However, everything is fairly crossed … well, DESREE / EDDA could be a killer. Perhaps dialing back the audaciousness would have been better. First priority has to be to setting up solvers for a perfect and victorious finish.
Surprisingly tight theme, with nearly beautiful gridwork.