Laura Braunstein author page

Fun animal plays today, reinterpreting phrases involving animals that can commonly double as a verb. DUCKS OUT OF VIEW = birds hiding from a hunter, FLIES IN THE FACE eliciting that awful feeling of having gnats swarm you, etc.

I thought Laura did a fantastic job in grid execution. There are only four themers, but since they're all long (14 letters), this usually causes problems in the west and east regions, where two long themers have to interact. Beautiful work in the east. Smooth results, and even an X in AXELS, along with the nice FERMI and HAMLET. Now that's the way to execute in that type of tricky region!

In the west, FIXIE seemed odd to me — I remember it seeming even odder when I first saw it. But it does seem to be a term in usage.

I imagine Laura tried out different combinations of themers in different locations to figure out what letter placements would best allow for smooth fill. Very nice to have that flexibility, if you can select themers that are all of equal length.

The reason I didn't consider this POW!-worthy was the awkwardness of the themers. SEALED WITH A KISS is a fantastic phrase. SEALS WITH A KISS, not so much. Same with FLIES IN THE FACE, without "of" to finish it off. And ON THE PHONE felt like filler in order to make YAKS fit the theme. I realize YAKS ON THE PHONE might seem more solid to others, but I doubt I'd strive to use it as fill in another crossword.

Impressive solo debut, though. I'm hoping that we'll be seeing a lot more from Laura. Her gridwork was much better than stuff I see from many — perhaps even most — experienced constructors.

★ Great theme around actors, BIT PARTS hinting at "rebusized body parts." I never noticed this property about DENZEL WA(SHIN)GTON and DON C(HEAD)LE, even though they're some of my favorite actors. And what an apt title, FULL-BODY CAST!

I've become very picky about rebuses over the years. They used to be so novel; even rebusizing IN or ER was ground-breaking. These days, it takes a lot for me to consider a rebus worth solving:

1. Great rationale as to why letters are squished into one square.
2. Colorful theme answers containing those rebus squares — not just in the across direction, but down too!
3. Variety in the rebus squares (or some other way of avoiding a repetitive feel).

I think Erik and Laura did all three very well. Where many constructors fall down is the second part of criterion #2. For example, it's not so interesting to have SHIN worked into PU(SH IN), but shorter down entries do make the grid much easier to construct. Thankfully, PU(SH IN) was more the exception than the rule today, as the down entries containing the body parts were so snazzy.

I mean, T(HE AD)VOCATE! I H(EAR) YOU! HE(LI P)ORTS! And my favorite, ROOKI(E YE)AR! Check out how much real estate those long down "themers" take up. That presents all sorts of gridding challenges, reducing flexibility a ton.

Now, the puzzle wasn't perfect. Considering the high strain put on the grid by all those long across AND down themers, it wasn't a surprise to get a good amount of crossword glue. Most of it was ignorable, but one thing that stood out for me was the abundance of partials — A WALK, T AIME, I ATE. Better to spread out your crossword glue — having so many of a single type makes them more noticeable.

But overall, such an entertaining theme, well executed with just a few issues here and there. Plus, a ton of bonus fill, including some stuff you don't usually see in the NYT: NARUTO and PORK ADOBO. I like that kind of diversity. It might not play well to mass audiences, but I like it when constructors (and editors!) take chances like this.