New York Times, Monday, August 24, 2015

Hmm, I can't think of much to say about this one. I have no idea anymore what prompted me to consider the revealer phrase as potential puzzle fodder. But once I did, it was relatively easy to find words and phrases that fit the pattern. Create the grid, and voila, done! Well, obviously not quite. Still those clues to be written.

It goes without saying that Will changed some of them, but I didn't notice anything major. In general, for a Monday, his clues ease things up a bit.

Looking at the grid now — nine months after submitting it — I do remember pondering whether ROMANESQUE was Monday-OK. Getting the Q in there was not a factor — actually, it was the only darn thing that would work.

Only thing left was to solve the puzzle, and for that, of course, it's up to you!

I have three criteria I look for in a great Monday puzzle. Let's see how Lynn does:

1.) Theme that doesn't evoke an "Oh, I see that sort of thing all the time." I was utterly baffled as I uncovered the first themer, finding the sequence … USTI? Baffling. I actually went back to make sure I hadn't entered something incorrectly. Even more confusing was to uncover USTI a second time. I wasn't sure if I could enter that string twice more automatically or not, because it looked so strange.

Finally, I hit ITS UP TO YOU … and scratched my head. It took a moment to realize Lynn's wordplay: ITS up to U = write ITS upside-down and have it run up to the letter U. Great, great a-ha, especially for a Monday; a perfect balance of easy enough for beginners and interesting for veteran solvers.

2.) Colorful fill. Even with five themers, I would expect at least two pieces of sizzling fill from a great puzzle. Lynn leaves herself two long slots, and SKIN DIVING / ROMANESQUE are both beautiful entries. Now, with five themers and two long entries, there shouldn't be much room for other long stuff. But Lynn still gives us extras with HAVE FUN, SHAR PEI, TWEETER and KISS ME.

I didn't care for THE DOLE — how often do you hear the phrase without "on"? ON THE DOLE is also a potentially offensive term, so it's not my favorite from that respect either. Slight ding.

3.) Clean short fill. With everything Lynn packs in, I wouldn't be surprised to see a bit of glue to hold it together. AM I and IS IT are partials (more or less), but what else? Some might groan at UMA since she hasn't been in a big role in a long time, and the ARAL Sea gets more coverage in crosswords than it probably deserves, but those are fine by me. Stellar work.