New York Times, Friday, April 15, 2016

I built this crossword in May 2014. I don't remember all the details of the construction process, but I believe I started in the upper left corner with GUY CODE, which was a big deal back when I was a junior in high school. Once I discovered that I SAID NO and FALSIES fit on top of GUY CODE, I was off and rolling! SOEVER bugged me a bit, but I was happy with everything else, so I decided to accept the tradeoff.

Next came the lower right, which I seeded with DUBSTEP. ECOCIDE and MEXICAN seemed like interesting choices, and I especially liked the CHILLAX/BASS SAX duo, so I moved onto the upper right. I was pleasantly surprised to find a lively fill for that section given that it was already constrained by BASS SAX and BELIEBER.

The last part to fall was the lower left. Over the years, I've built several themelesses using this grid, and I've found that there's always one corner that refuses to be simultaneously clean and lively! No matter how hard I tried, the lower left was not turning out the way I wanted. Luckily, I eventually stumbled upon DERRIERE and CHANDLER, and I figured that these entries combined with CHEW TOY and HAM BONE could make up for blah bits like ONE OVER.

Looking through the clues, the 17-year-old within me was sorely disappointed that FALSIES was changed to refer to fake eyelashes instead of fake boobs! I was so proud of the clue "They fill their cups"; also, I've never even heard of falsie eyelashes. Now that I'm almost 20, though, I have more of an appreciation for why Will/Joel made this change. 1-Across tends to set the tone for a whole crossword, as well as its constructor; I wouldn't want anyone to view me as misogynistic (definitely not true!) or immature (well, that one has some grounding, but hey, I'm still a teenager for 8 more months!).

Happy solving!

I often have trouble with themelesses heavy on 7-letter entries, as it can be tough to make those mid-length words sing. It's tough to find great ones like GUY CODE — much more common for things like SNORTED or ALIASES to fit into a grid like today's. But I think David did well, spreading the love around with BAR TABS and BAT ROPE (anyone else remember the ridiculous Adam West Batman, "climbing" a wall, where they tilted a camera 90 degrees?), DUBSTEP, CHEW TOY next to HAMBONE.

This grid pattern doesn't allow for many longer answers, so I really like David's working in of BELIEBER (a Justin Bieber follower). That's strong work, given that these 8-letter entries run straight into big chunks of 7s all stacked atop each other. DERRIERE is pretty good too, although DESISTED and CHANDLER aren't as exciting to me.

Agreed with David, I hitched at SO EVER. Whatsoever, yes. SO EVER … I SAID NO! It does hold that very nice corner together though, and it is palatable given the smoothness everywhere else.

I'm glad to see David acknowledge the clue change on FALSIES. Some risqué humor is perfectly fine. But given the emphasis on it in his previous puzzles, I don't want to see him get pigeonholed as a constructor that uses too much of it.

Do people still say CHILLAX? Hearing that would give me the opposite reaction, methinks.

I enjoy a good clue echo when it makes a connection between two disparate things. Really well done to link SAUCE and HALOS, both as types of "angel hair toppers." It takes lateral thinking to figure out those weird connections. I really appreciate seeing a good one.

Finally, a great pair of clues for a pair of crossing answers in TAUPE / TIMED. I can never remember what color TAUPE is, but knowing that it's from the French for "mole" will help me now. And [Kept a watch on?] is brilliant, getting at a (stop)watch. What a treat, that pair of clues.