New York Times, Friday, June 12, 2015

Did you notice my new picture? I actually looked exactly like my 14-year-old photo until last week, when I magically aged four years. How did this happen? I contacted the spell-caster who haunts Rex Parker's blog comments, and just like that, I looked my age! I'm still waiting for the girl of my dreams to knock on my door and beg to date me, but the spell-caster seriously changed my life. You should contact him, too!

Anyway, this puzzle dates back to November 2013. My initial seed entry was JEWELRY BOX, and I was thrilled to discover that TAJIKISTAN fit two rows up without necessitating any unfortunate entries in the upper right. The other corners didn't turn out quite as smoothly, but I was nonetheless pleased to work in MASS EXODUS, TRAVEL TIME, ELECTROLUX, RAZORBACKS, and SLEAZEBALL. And I really like how LA VIDA LOCA intersects the tens in the lower left!

If I were constructing this puzzle today, I probably would've been tougher on certain pieces of crosswordese (EELER, ENERO, ORT, ISERE, ALTA, etc.). But that's just me being a perfectionist — after all, themeless grids with four triple-stacks of long entries often require more compromises than other themeless grid patterns. I hope you enjoy the puzzle — and don't forget to contact that spell-caster!

Solid puzzle from the soon-to-be Stanford man. I was amused by David's struggles to choose between all these top schools he was accepted into — for a guy interested in 1.) computer science 2.) entrepreneurship and 3.) cross-disciplinary study, was there any real choice?

Couldn't be that I'm biased, of course.

I may have omitted to mention Stanford's lack of dating life on campus. Ahem.

Standard themeless layout, triple-stacked 10s in the four corners. There isn't any marquee answer that sizzles, but so many of them are colorful. JEWELRY BOX was my favorite, partially because it's such a nice Scrabbly entry with the J and X, and partially because its clue was fantastic. I couldn't figure out what kind of FEATURE FILM or BLOCKBUSTER would have a cameo, a la Hitchcock appearing in most (all?) of his films. Turns out it was the "ring" meaning of "cameo." D'oh!

I've come to really prize these great combinations of colorful entry and awesome clue. It's neat to learn something completely new, i.e. the latest social networking thing or cutting-edge rapper, but to get an snappy entry in its own right with a wickedly clever clue is a real treat.

Ah, the poor dying NOOK. At least it serves a purpose in crosswordland, throwing me off by making me plunk in IPAD.

Speaking of misdirection, great one with [French body of water]. MER. No, EAU. Dang it, LAC!

I think more and more about "unstumperables" these days — short words that Stan Newman doesn't allow because they give away the game too easily. ORT falls into this category for me, as does ENERO. Not only are they answers nearly impossible to make devious (in a fair way), but they take a lot away from the solving experience crossword for me. Maybe it's the Maleskan feel they lend?

Personal preference, anyway. I bet plenty of people were overjoyed to see [Repast remnant] because ORT helped them break into that section.

Awesome clue on [Invasive plant]. Made me think of pulling out ivy from a local park. But a SPY is also invasive! And fun use of language in [You might call it an early night] for DUSK.