New York Times, Friday, July 24, 2020

I've come to learn that my good luck charm in puzzle writing is slipping in a video game reference (in the past, that's included MEGAMAN and ITSAMEMARIO). Nearly all of my accepted puzzles have had one, and a lot of my non-accepted ones didn't. Well, guess what? This one has TWO (19- and 23-Across). Don't worry, though, they're pretty accessible. Even the luddites of the world shouldn't have a problem in that area, I hope.

I believe that crosswords are a place to celebrate the language we use, so I always relish the chance to put in words and phrases and cultural references that have meaning in my own life, and if someone completes the puzzle but didn't know them, well then hey! They've now learned about something!

I wasn't sure about this puzzle's chances making it through Will Shortz's "to be considered" stack, especially since I'll admit that the grid layout isn't exactly elegant. But I think what did it was the breadth of interesting longer entries that the Crossword Gods allowed me to fit together, from my favorite wrestling hold at 47-Across, to a fun regional phrase to say at 15-Down (try it as a minced oath, it's great!), to an iconic piece of animation history at 10-Down (another one of my lifelong interests). That plus a few fun "Question Mark" clues (always my favorite to write and solve), such as mine unaltered at 46-Across, mine tweaked slightly at 42-Across, and a very clever one supplied by the editing team at 40-Across, make this hopefully a enjoyable puzzle for everyone to chew through.

I also always love sticking in at least one "fact clue," like the one at 30-Across, which you'll hopefully write in and say, "Huh! I never knew that!" In my mind, that's one of the greatest joys in puzzling.

Such a geometric grid pattern! I was hoping for a mini-theme, perhaps like a TIC TAC TOE Thursday many years ago. Ah well. I didn't care for the restricted grid flow — three mini-themelesses aren't nearly as fun as one cohesive one — but it does make a constructor's life much easier. It's a blessing to be able to work a corner like the SE almost completely independently from the rest.

I enjoyed so many of the long entries, LOWERCASE I a devious misdirect from the "stylish" or "cutting-edge" character of Apple products, PULL RANK ON, IN OVERTIME, HALF NELSON, TRUE TO LIFE, LETS THINGS SLIDE, GOING VIRAL. Grant took full advantage of almost every single long slot, spreading so much goodness around.

BOSS BATTLE … I didn't enjoy it as much as Grant, since my Mario days were decades ago. Could be a divisive entry, non-gamers wondering why someone would want to fight sweet Angela Bower. I prefer to target a more general audience, but there are merits to elating a segment of solvers. Although you risk alienating others, at least the entry is two recognizable words.

With so much flexibility, I'd have loved a better balance between all the colorful entries and all the short gluey ones. With 34 (!) 4-letter entries, it's important not to make them stick out any further, so cutting down some of AMOI ATRI HOLO ISAT OF ME would have helped a ton.

Overall though, I enjoy seeing different grid patterns in themelesses.