New York Times, Friday, May 5, 2017

PB is the master at making ultra-clean puzzles, filling this tough 64-worder as if it were a 72-worder. Check out how wide-open that middle is, requiring eight (!) crossing long answers. Doing that all with nary a dab of crossword glue is amazing craftsmanship. There are some great entries right through that tough middle: I GOT THIS, YOURE FREE TO GO, and POUND STERLING are all top-notch.

I've recently found myself looking back at previous PB themelesses to compare and contrast. I tend to like his higher word-count puzzles better than his lower ones, since the latter tend to use more entries that I'm not familiar with, or that don't sing to my ear.

Now, the lack of sizzly answers will almost be a given for a PB low-word-count themeless, considering his incredibly high standard when it comes to avoiding crossword glue. In a 64-word puzzle, it's nearly impossible to get both an uber-jazzy and perfectly silky-smooth puzzle. In today's puzzle for example, SHIP OF THE LINE (?), REST AREA (a bit dull), and HOUSE TRAINING ("house trained" or "potty training" sound more natural to me) wouldn't go in my listing of the puzzle's assets.

Same goes with MEASURING, BANG BANG (feels a bit arbitrary), TRUMBO (although to be fair, having two little kids hampers my ability to watch much of anything these days). And the HOULIHAN / GNEISS crossing … I think it's ultimately fair, but it felt borderline for those who haven't seen much M*A*S*H and don't know fairly deep geology.

Where PB continually distinguishes himself is in his clever cluing. Some of that could be from Will and Joel, but PB's puzzles always seem to have at least a half dozen great wordplay clues. My favorite was [Ruler's role], which had to be related to government — except that it was referring to a MEASURING stick. Beautiful way to elevate an otherwise drab entry.

Ultimately, a smooth and enjoyable solving experience, just like most all of PB's offerings, if not that sparkly.