New York Times, Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Natan Last and Finn Vigeland have taken over the J.A.S.A. crossword class reins, but I had a blast making this one back in the Spring of 2014. The theme answers originally had five asterisks (or stars) in the clues, so I'm not sure why that didn't make the final version. But otherwise pleased how this one turned out. Favorite answers include TRUE THAT and the apt SRS. Hope solvers like it!

Class member Dan Chall adds: "Ian did a great job in leading the construction of the puzzle. It was great fun to participate as we went through all aspects of the puzzle, from agreeing on the theme, to the development of theme answers, filling the grid, and completing all the clues."

I really like puzzles that force you to think. Even after uncovering all the themers, and even after uncovering FIVES???S, I couldn't figure out what tied everything together. Neat revelation: the themers all have FIVE STARS. Nice; I like working to earn my a-ha moment.

I appreciated the diversity of answers, too. Not knowing that THE PIERRE was a five-star hotel or that OMAR BRADLEY was a five-star general made it even more fun for me. And it was interesting to look up the symbolism behind the Chinese flag — the gigantic star represents the Communist party, and the four smaller ones represent the four social classes. Some stars are more equal than others, apparently.

HA HA HA JUST KIDDING! Please don't hack me.

I did wonder about the SOUTHERN CROSS, though. It does seem to have five main stars, but there are countries who use it on their flag — New Zealand, for example — where only the four main stars are shown. So that seemed a little off.

What an impressive construction. With five themers in a 72-word grid, I'd always expect to see some gluey bits — except if any one of a small handful of constructors are involved, including Ian. Some people might wonder if FADERS and PARER in the grid isn't great, but I have zero problem with this. A FADER is a real piece of recording equipment, we have a PARER in our kitchen.

Check out the top left corner. That arrangement of parallel downs is almost always going to require some gluey bits. I'm sure Ian and the J.A.S.A. class tried many different entries before settling on INHIBITS and SCENARIO. They're not wildly awesome answers — I doubt they'd earn a plus in Will's assets column — but check out how squeaky clean all the crossings are.

Interesting that Ian pointed out TRUE THAT as one of his favorite entries. I love TRUE DAT. TRUE THAT … not so much. Personal preference.

All in all, a strong theme with a slight hiccup in my eyes, and an impeccably clean grid.