Lee Taylor author page

Anyone for some number crunching? Fun finds, especially the marquee NEWS EVENT = NEWT with a SEVEN inside. I bet, as a constructor, Lee yelled IT WORKED!

Letter string replacements are easy, but "both chunks are real entries" is a whole 'nother story. The code to algorithmically search for these types of finds is straightforward(ish), but it still requires some basic knowledge of coding, and getting up the learning curve can be daunting.

The puzzle's four corners might look equally challenging to fill, but there's a world of difference. The upper left and lower right are nicely (quasi)sectioned off from the rest of the puzzle, making them much easier to fill. Beautiful material in TABASCO / ERASERS / APRICOT. ARP and OST could be challenging for newer solvers, but they're passable.

The other two corners are so much tougher. With BONINESS inflexibly linked into NEWSEVENT, and two mid-length Acrosses running through, this is a challenge. LICHENS is a bit of an odd plural, and while BIOTIC is a word in the dictionary, it's not one I'd strive to use in an early-week puzzle. Neat to see Luipta NYONG'O though — she was amazing in the latest "Black Panther" movie.

I enjoy these types of finds, though having a sharp revealer can bring the concept to life. Looking at the clue [Poets + 10 = Serves drinks] ... that does get at BAR/DS + TEN = BARTENDS, yes. Without some riff on "number-crunching" or "do a number on," it's more of a curiosity than a fist pump for me as a solver.

Telling a zombie to hurry up and LOOK ALIVE is hilariously punny! Enough to make one roll their eyes (right out of their sockets). I bet if a head chef told their omelet cook to GET CRACKING, he'd have egg all over his face (from the dozen thrown by said cook). Along with a server being impatiently told I'M WAITING, this is my type of restaurant.

Taste in humor is so subjective, especially when it comes to puns, but these were my jam.

Not so much a batter being hurried by saying ON THE DOUBLE. It felt so strained, like something out of an Abbott and Costello early draft that got scrapped. And HIT THE GAS was apt for a nitrous user, but it sure would have been nice to pun on a profession, like the others. Perhaps a hot air balloonist?

With six themers, sometimes interlocking pairs helps with real estate. There's something efficient about packing ON THE DOUBLE and HIT THE GAS tightly into the top left. However, it often causes problems in the crossing region. Today, HOB is an unfortunate by-product.

I do like how Lee used a cheater square in the very NW corner though, which I'm sure facilitated better cleanliness as well as some fresh MAISEL fill. Curious that MAISEL has only been used once before — by Lee!

The rigid grid skeleton put too many constraints on the grid design, forcing so many trade-offs. There is a case to be made, though, that getting interesting METEOR GRENADE BEST MAN (now there's an image!) might stave off the AGUE that comes from HOB DOI IRES MAL SGT.

I enjoy a solid profession-pun theme, and many of them hit my sweet spot. Cramming in six of them, not all of which elicited a laugh, made it feel like a rush job (sorry). Still, there's something to be said for the "more is more" approach when it comes to puns, since tastes vary so widely. That does increase the chance that at least a few land for most everyone.

My kids are getting into riddles, so I've been studying books of classics so that I can continue my charade as the smartest person alive. What gets wetter as it dries? A towel. What gets bigger the more you remove? A hole. Then I yell "boo-yah!" and rub it in their faces that they couldn't figure it out.

A-hole is right.

If you haven't seen John Krasinski's "Some Good News," stop reading this drivel and go watch it now. "The girl who single-handedly brought back boo-yah" (starts about 7:20) is awesome. (Note the hashtag, #booyah in the background. BOO YA did seem weird without the H. Er, the AITCH. Aitch as in "Huh?" and "Hmm ...")

Having heard all of the riddles before, they didn't do much for me, but if you haven't seen these chestnuts, they might entertain. It feels like there could be some clever modern version for TELEPHONE. As stated, the riddle is not at all accurate, because 1.) Alexa asks all sorts of annoying questions, and 2.) I never answer my phone because Alexa is listening to every word I say.

Lee packed in an amazing quantity of bonuses, such a treat for an early-week puzzle. They're spread out everywhere, from DNA LAB to KICKBALL to CASSATT to HEADSHOP, continuing with SHUTEYE to TAMPA BAY to SOLO ACTS to SASHAY. Wow!

It ended up being a bit overwhelming, though, all that jazz overshadowing the four themers. I'd have much preferred a standard layout, with all the themers horizontal, and most of the bonuses vertical, to keep everything easier to digest. There might not have been as many bonuses, but probably fewer GAFF KASHA ELAL AITCH. Any of those toughies might turn off a newb.

While I had some issues with the execution, I did admire Lee's audacity, trying for something new in grid layout — experimentation is a good thing. Now excuse me while I go use these to further demonstrate my brilliance to my saps. Er, kids.

Sometimes a theme sneaks up on you. In a good way! Not like when my kids hide under my bathroom cabinet at 6 am and jump out, moaning like a devolved Pokémon — no wonder I'm often Drowzee.

One of the first things I noted was that SLOPPY JOE was great fill. No doubt, an evocative term. (My kids make sloppy grilled cheese sandwiches, sloppy waffles, sloppy milk …) It wasn't until I reached LAZY SUSAN that I started to realize that it wasn't just great fill — it's thematic!

I'm not usually impressed with high theme density because it often feels like showing off without extra payoff. Today though, it gave the puzzle meatiness, making me feel full. SLOPPY JOEs do fill you up!

Tight theme, too. I spent five minutes trying to think of another (adjective) + (name) phrase and could only come up with EMPTY-HEADED JEFF. What, you say that's not a real phrase? Oh, how little you know me.

Speaking of SLOPPY JOE … kicking off a northwest corner with AWNS is a big NONO. That's just screaming at a solver to walk away. Even if they make it past that, sticking them with GARRET and HADJ — crossing each other — makes for such a newb-alienating experience.

(When I related this to Jim Horne, he tactfully mentioned that, for example, the artists in La Bohème live in a garret. I tactfully nodded as I scrambled to look up La Bohème. I totally knew that it's a ... ballet. No, an opera! I was just kidding!)

The theme grew on me, to the point where I gave it some POW! consideration. And the bonuses in the fill were so fun! RAY GUNS, ZURICH, GEYSER, KENYAN = great additions. I didn't even mind a bit of SUER sewerage as a price to pay since at least solvers can derive this oddball word from "sue."

With some grid revision — if you already have an extra black square before GEYSER, why not try one at the S of SKYPE too, to remove AWNS? — it coulda been a contender.

I struggled to figure out the commonality between all these random tongue twisters. It's kind of neat that FIVE TIMES FAST is a bit tongue-twisting in its own right. I wish there were some unifying factor that tightened up the theme, though.

Been a long time since I've heard tongue-twisters, and I did appreciate that all of these were new to me. It was surprisingly fun to (try to) say REAL RARE WHALE five times fast. I thought I'd have no trouble, but boy was I wrong. Same with SHE SEES CHEESE SHEEZE SEIZE BAH!!!

Not sure why SHOE SECTION is tough, though. Seemed easy to say five times fast. Maybe it's because it's only two words to remember, while all the others are three?

Sunday 140-word constructions are tough, so I think Lee did pretty well. I like the cheater black square just before TIER, which makes filling that region so much easier. (Same with the one just after ANT.) I'd have welcomed two or even four more, helping to smooth out things like ADAR / ADORER, AN ACT, or COZ.

That last one probably is the product of the Z's allure — it wasn't worth it to me, as COZ feels bizarre, but I can see the other side of the argument, that rare letters spice up a solve.

I can't remember another tongue twister theme (is that a tongue twister in itself?), so points for the novelty. Sure would have been nice to have something to tighten things up though, improving the feeling of "a bunch of unrelated tongue twisters thrown together."

Debut! And from a fellow Washingtonian. Lee found some nice pairs of common maxims … which give exactly the opposite advice. I've heard "Knowledge is power but IGNORANCE IS BLISS" many times before, but the others were newish to me.

I liked how each of the twelve aphorisms are pretty well known, with the notable exception of FOOLS SELDOM DIFFER. I struggled mightily with that middle word, and even after uncovering it, I struggled to figure out what it meant. Fools tend to think the same thing? Really? Then why does no one ever agree with me?

(rimshot)

Anyhoo, interesting layout, with two sets of interlocking answers. It can be a neat effect when answers happen to fortuitously lock together — it's often so tough because even if you can make it happen on one side, the symmetrical spot must also work. Here though, the lower MAN crossing MAN isn't terribly elegant. I usually don't care about small words duplicated in a grid, but to have them crossing each other is not ideal for me.

One really nice clue: [Pairs are often seen in it] for POKER. Made me think of "pairs" as in (human) couples. [Handles] for ALIASES was also clever, in that it refers to the noun version of handles, not the verb. This puzzle played very hard for me, well over my average solving time, I think mostly because of the opacity in cluing. Hardly a gimme in sight! Good workout, although I would have liked more clever clues to keep my interest level up through the frustration.

Sunday 140 word puzzles are so tough — I think it's the roughest way to make one's NYT debut. That very low word constraint makes it tough to avoid gluey bits like TESHES (gah, TOSHES!), APORT, the usual OGEE / AMAH kind of stuff. So tricky to make a super-smooth Sunday 140 worder.

Interesting theme idea with a couple of nice pairings.