New York Times, Friday, April 30, 2021

I kicked off this puzzle with LANE CLOSED. I've always been a fan of street signs, and it made me smile to include a ubiquitous phrase that most people would recognize but wouldn't often have cause to write down. From there, I built out the SIDE HUSTLE/ANY GUESSES/DIANA ROSS corner, then worked my way around the rest of the grid.

I'm grateful that the editors saw the fun in some entries that aren't explicitly "fun" –– looking at you APOLOGETIC, ONE AT A TIME, SITE VISIT, and DRESS SHOES. (Speaking of DRESS SHOES, I'm glad that more of the world has caught on to sneakers as formalwear these days, not that I've had anything to dress up for in a year...)

Thanks to the editorial team for the fun clue for GEESE and for keeping my true-to-life clue for VASE. I hope you enjoy solving this rules-and-regulations-heavy puzzle!

Fantastic southwest corner, colorful SIDE HUSTLE anchoring the triplet, understandable even if you've never heard the term. My kids are big Pokémon fans, so I got a charge (sorry) out of PIKACHU. I also have vivid memories of "The Wiz," so DIANA ROSS brought back many memories. It all hit my wavelength strongly, although poor Jim Horne, the Pokémon muggle, struggled to piece together PIKACHU letter by letter. I could see how someone might think that it's perhaps derived from the paca, so PAKACHU and SCHWANN might look just as correct. Maybe even SCOAL with PACACHU.

Jim and I had a conversation about NIP IN. It's undoubtedly an undesirable entry, as nearly every editor calls out partials. I was surprised to conclude that I'd rather see NIP IN rather than NIP alone. I hate partials as most as most constructors, but at least NIP IN steers solvers completely away from the racial slur.

I could not figure out why GEESE might be getting me down, except that the blasted creatures chase me down the beach, pecking at me as they screech their monstrous cries. I don't have a problem with GEESE, you do!

(You get goose down from geese feathers, d'oh!)

I loved the clue for AUSTRALIAN. It's fun to learn foreign lingo, and if I could pull off saying "no wukkas," I surely would. If you haven't read Cryptonomicon. it's well worth it, even if only for the Qwghlm idioms.

Two clues to explain:

• DBA = "doing business as." Common in the business world.
• I love the word SCRIES, ever since Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. For years, I've left it at the nominal 50 level in our word list, but I've recently downgraded it, based on negative solver feedback. Live and learn.

I wish this 72-worder had a few more zingy long entries, but there was still enough SOUL SEARCH, NOISEMAKER, ONE AT A TIME (lots of subjectivity in terms of what long entries one considers an asset!) to keep me satisfied.