New York Times, Saturday, May 14, 2022

Hi! My name's Ada Nicolle (she/her). I consider this a very special puzzle to me, because it's both my first solo themeless in the Times (my favourite type of puzzle to construct) and my first NYT puzzle published after coming out as trans last year. I'm published under my real name, finally. (Any old name you knew me by is dead and I'd appreciate if it was never used again.)

Now, I'm going to be a cornball just thank a bunch of people:

Thank you to the New York Times Games team for updating my previous NYT puzzle bylines with my correct name.

Thank you to everybody who supports my crossword Patreon Luckystreak Xwords+, where I post a fresh new themeless + a bonus puzzle weekly. It helps me afford many costs of living and being trans, and it's where I get to be me the most.

And finally, thank you to my friends and family who have supported me through my transition, as well as the incredible crossword community by my side. In a world where trans people are regularly vilified and mocked, y'all give me hope for a better future. I'd like to give a specific shout-out to Jenna LaFleur and Anna Gundlach, two amazing crossword constructors who have helped me so much in being comfortable with my transfem identity <3.

That being said, please donate to your local LGBTQ+ organizations and transition funds. Legislation in the U.S. is constantly threatening people like me and the people I love, and criminalizing our existence as a whole. It's hell out here, but it's a battle we have to keep fighting.

Now onto this puzzle:

• INFINITY POOL was the seed entry here.
• So glad my clues for NEO and ADIOS were kept!
• Love the new clues for PAY and PELOTON.
• OLD EL PASO, DM me on Twitter @adanicklmao, I would love free stuff. (Or, on the contrary: other brands who want to prove they are better than Old El Paso, DM me on Twitter @adanicklmao, I would love free stuff.)

Seeya!!!

So many sparkly debut entries! The only thing better than an INFINITY POOL would be a Mobius Strip Pool.

LIFE LESSONS / SORRY I ASKED / WE'RE DONE HERE basically sums up parenting — thankfully SILLY STRING fights keep things fun.

And a fantastic entry that we didn't already have on our XWord Info Word List! Who woulda thunk that there would be enough space + cowboy mashups to justify an entire SPACE WESTERN genre? I've tried both the animated and live-action "Cowboy Bebop" with meh results (much to my John Cho fanboy chagrin), and "The Mandalorian" dragged like a grog-laden Jabba. Maybe I'll finally give in to all the "Firefly" zealots out there and give it a shot.

I debated long and hard over WOKEST, back when I added it to the list a few years ago. It still feels like odd usage, "most woke" perhaps better, but it's a tough call. There are plenty of news outlets who've used the word, anyway.

I enjoyed much of the cluing — [Stand for something] is a devilishly Saturday-level clue for a literal stand, an EASEL. [Icy detachment] also innocuously misdirected away from an (ice)BERG. It'd have been great to get more of these, along with the sassiness in the clue for HOME GYM, as a place where people use their Peloton as a clothes rack.

Curious to see if Peloton rides off into the space cowboy sunset after the pandemic …