New York Times, Monday, August 2, 2021

I'm so thrilled to be making my solo NYT debut (despite this being my fourth byline this year)! I love when my themes have multiple layers to them, so in addition to having the weather-related words at the beginning of this puzzle's theme entries, I also tried to make them appear in the order they would actually happen during a storm.

I'm not sure how noticeable that will actually be during the solve, but it was fun for me to have an additional constraint in choosing a theme set and laying out the grid. Regretfully, this meant I couldn't find a way to include any phrases that started with "rain," which I think is the most obvious omission, but I'm still happy with the way the theme worked out.

Since I originally submitted this puzzle, I've done a lot of work to edit my wordlist and make sure that the fill in my grid is inclusive and respectful to everyone. Unfortunately, that meant that this puzzle does contain some language (namely 12- and 28-down) which I would no longer feel comfortable including if I had written this puzzle today. I think these words make light of serious issues and that including them worsens the solving experience.

I will continue to work to make my puzzles as inclusive and respectful as possible in the future, and I'm very grateful to the constructors on Crossword Twitter and the Crosscord Discord channel who have spoken out about the importance of using inclusive language in puzzles.

WEATHER FRONT is a solid example of the tried-and-true theme type, "revealer pointing to first words." It's a broad category, with many variations, such as BEGINNING OF FALL (words that can precede FALL), FRESH START (synonyms of FRESH), and OPENING DAY (themers starting with days of the week).

I enjoyed the fresh phrases Kyra chose, CLOUD STORAGE a modern term. THUNDERBIRDS is fun, and seeing LIGHTNING BUGS is always a highlight of visiting my in-laws in Indiana.

I wondered if CLOUD, THUNDER, and LIGHTNING were apt WEATHER terms, though. The WEATHER forecast calling for rain or snow, yes, but THUNDER (not thunderstorms?)? A lonely CLOUD? These sky phenomena do fall into the WEATHER category, but it felt loosey-goosey.

Loved so many of the bonuses! EONS AGO sings. MORONIC is a word I (and others) use to describe myself. DRAGONs are fun. Even BOTOX and PRISM spruce things up.

Three potentially tougher terms to mention:

I love the word KVETCH (Yiddish, for complain). Several friends of mine were baffled by a Yiddish puzzle I co-constructed, though, so that's given me more pause about putting it in early-week puzzles. Lest the kvetching feedback continues.

DMING is not D-Ming, the Democrat from Mongo. (DM-ing, or direct messaging — social media shorthand.)

As a finance guy, I'm more tolerant than others to terms like ETAIL and IBANK, because they're common finance lingo. I wouldn't trust any online bank that calls itself an EBANK, though.

I would have loved more grid flow out of the NW corner, perhaps by moving the three black squares above DMING to the right. That would have opened up a juicy long slot in DMING's place, too.

All in all, a fairly smooth Monday solving experience, if not that sharp an a-ha moment. Wish I had caught the progression — reading Kyra's thought process did help elevate my impression.