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Some of my favorite puzzles are those that take two different theme types and combine them in an interesting way. I thought Matt did well to start with two-part phrases, where the halves differ by one letter (in the same spot) — Patrick Berry did something in the same vein a few years ago, as did Patrick Merrell. PITTER PATTER entered into the grid as P(I/A)TTER is pretty fun already. But adding a Schrödinger element in the down direction? Very fun!

It's sort of a rebus meets a Schrödinger meets … a repeated word theme? Not sure exactly how to describe it, but it was creative.

I was especially delighted by the AS GOOD / AS GOLD find. I've seen similar theme concepts using PITTER PATTER, JELLY BELLY, and GALILEO GALILEI, but there's something golden about the AS GOOD / AS GOLD find. It was so interesting I had to stop during my solve to admire it.

I also liked how accurate most of the Schrödinger clues were for both options. [Sticky stuff] as GLOP or GOOP = perfect. Same goes for [Scratch, say] to describe FLAW / CLAW. I thought that one was particularly brilliant since it works so well for either option — but in very different ways. FLAW as a noun, CLAW as a verb.

And this former MBA loved the MICRO / MACRO find! How have I never thought of that before?

On the downside, BLOT felt much more apt for an ink stain than a BLOB. And although LET ON / LET IN worked well both ways, it wasn't as interesting to me, as a change of preposition isn't going to win any awards.

ADDED NOTE: Astute reader Luke Vaughn points out that although it's "just" a preposition change, look at how cleverly both fit the clue. LET ON, as in admitted a truth, and LET IN, as in admitted into a party. I stand corrected!

Overall, such an enjoyable experience to uncover those themers. This is a well-made puzzle with great bonuses like DOGGEREL and APTITUDE.

ADDED NOTE: I forgot to mention, Matt is (among many other things) an author! I enjoyed Factor Man, a thriller about a tech guru's world-changing invention.

– puzzle by Matt Ginsberg

My favorite aspect of this puzzle was the clever clues — a ton of them! My top three:

1. AD BLOCKER is already a great entry, but appropriating "spot remover" and using it obliquely was fantastic.
2. I had GASC?? filled in and was baffled. So innocent, that [Tank top] clue, without a telltale question mark. That's a (gas) tank top, ha!
3. Game in which I is I? What the … ah, I misread that. Game in which I (letter) is 1 (number). Love it!

I struggled to complete the puzzle, the last letter of RATED M taking me the longest time. That's M for … money? Murky? Mature? Right, I knew that!

That M was an appropriate way to end the puzzle, given the presence of BOOZE CRUISE, SEX TOY, WINE STORE, THRASH METAL. COME AT ME BRO; I'd say it's RATED M for sure!

A couple of other entries that didn't resonate with me in VEEDUB and THE ZAX. People call the VW a "veedub"? And I've read a ton of Dr. Seuss to my toddlers, but I couldn't dredge up THE ZAX, much less tell you that it's not just one creature, but two.

Dr. Seuss is seriously trippy.

A well-constructed puzzle filled with liveliness and color. It wasn't my favorite of David's creations though, as it felt a bit too frat bro-ey to me, what with all the booze and sex references. Nothing wrong with that, but not quite the type of escape that resonates best with me these days.

– puzzle by David Steinberg

Ooh, a wide-open 62-worder! A daunting construction challenge! The SW / NE corners are hard enough — 4x7 stacks, not at all segmented from the rest of the puzzle.

And the opposite corners? It takes some serious guts to tackle areas as big as those. Themeless constructors can usually rely on a dab of short crossword glue here or there, helping to hold their feature entries together. But take a closer look at that NW corner. There are virtually no short slots! Impossible to slip in a CUL or a SIL when every darn entry is mid-length or more.

What, AND there are four long entries locking the grid skeleton in place? Hatchi matchi! Talk about an uber-duber-challenge.

I was mighty impressed that Ryan was able to use such lively feature entries — ANTIVAXXERS is such a neat-looking string of letters. (Not so neat are the anti-vaxxers themselves, harrumph.) Loved DORA THE EXPLORER and SAINT PETERSBURG, too. Not personally taken by DEE DEE MYERS, especially with her oh-so-friendly constructor-friendly letters, but she works.

It's so difficult (impossible?) to escape a whoppingly-gigantic corner without a CAPEMAN. Or SERENER (more serene?). Or UNIPED (un-ip-ed = no IP address, ha ha). Or a NON HERO. These are all real, dictionary-supported things — and likely not at all odd to some (I can already hear Paul Simon fans' outrage). But to me, they're not nearly as juicy as APPARAT, AMUSE ME, STYGIAN, IGNOBLE.

There's much subjectivity here. But AMUSE ME is at least figure-out-able if you haven't heard someone say that. CAPEMAN, not so much.

Mighty fine fill overall. Especially given the immense level of difficulty, I considered this one for the POW! It just gave me one too many moments of pause to get it to the promised land.

– puzzle by Ryan McCarty

"Themes are fun." To me, that's a drastic understatement, especially when it comes to Sunday grids. There's so much space in a 21x21 grid for creativity, for artistic license, for dreaming up the bold. We've seen so much audacious grid art, visual puzzles, even standard theme types taken so beautifully to the grand stage.

Sunday grids have so many squares that I think it takes a lot to hold a solver's attention through the entire solve. I've seen many friends walk away from a puzzle halfway through because they figure out roughly what's going on … and then there are more interesting things to do. I felt a touch of this today.

No doubt, there were more clever clues than a typical Sunday puzzle — probably by a factor of two. I was particularly taken with the ONE WAY STREETS / [You can't go back on them] pairing. That's brilliant!

But for me, it wasn't enough to hold my attention through the entire solve.

Perhaps a less ambitious grid — say a 136-worder? — would have allowed for more jazzy feature entries, and for even more clever clues? Maybe that would have made up for the lack of theme for me.

I'm in full agreement with Jim about the uniquely Berryesque craftsmanship. I'm a huge admirer of Patrick. And I think experimentation in anything is generally good. But man oh man do I appreciate a fantastic theme that's able to carry me through a 21x21 grid with gusto. There's a huge world of untapped themes floating around in the ether, and I hope that Will doesn't let unthemed Sunday puzzles intrude upon that.

Jim and I enjoy comparing reactions to a week's worth of puzzles, and I've found that much of the time, he enjoys the Fridays and Saturdays more than the others. For me, I'm always in search of the next great theme. Vive la différence!

– puzzle by Patrick Berry

There's something wickedly clever about SOUND BITES imagined as "foods with a sound in their name." CAPN CRUNCH and GINGER SNAP are just perfect — not only do they fit that description, but the noise in their name is exactly the noise they make. I can just hear the cereal crunch crunch crunch in my teeth, and the cookies snap snap snap in my hands.

TOOTSIE POP didn't work as well for me since it doesn't actually make a popping sound. It's more of a lick lick crack munch CRUUUNCH OOOOOOWWWW MY FILLING BROKE!

I think I'm eating it wrong.

POP ROCKS would have been better for me, since there's that distinctive POPping sound as they melt the lining of your mouth.

I used to enjoy candy so much. Sigh.

Of course, POP ROCKS (8) and SOUND BITES (10) don't match lengths. Bah! Though, it would have been possible to use mirror symmetry in a 16x15 grid, with POP ROCKS and SOUND BITES horizontal, CAPN CRUNCH / GINGER SNAP vertical.

With just four themers of length = 10, I'd expect a jazzy, smooth grid. I love that Roland worked in a bunch of long downs — ON THE DL, PAPER CUT, CAROUSEL, BAD SIDE check off that first criterion. The second was close, but a bit too much poeticality in ANON / ETERNE / ERE. You cheeky ROUE, Roland! It's an acceptable quantity of crossword glue, but it would have been better if it all hadn't all been drawn from the same well.

Fun theme idea that came close to super-cleverosity. If only TOOTSIE POPs actually popped! False advertising, that.

– puzzle by Roland Huget

I love me some superheroes. I'm not quite to the level of dorkitude as my twin brother, who can not only name all four people who have been the Flash, but who can also list off all the alternate Flashes in the DC Multiverse. (I'm not-so-secretly in awe of him, although sometimes I wonder if his brain cells could be used for better purposes.)

I wish I had that level of ability when it came to pop culture! I stared and stared at FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE, sure that it must be some play on words or a kooky phrase formed from a solid base phrase. My realization that it's a real band was alas, far from Flash-quick. They had a hit called "Stacy's Mom"? I watched the video and was amused.

I had a similar issue with DUKE OF KENT. That band's hit was …

Wait, that's the person, the Duke of Kent?

You're saying he's Superman?

No?

WELL HE SHOULD BE.

Thankfully STARK NAKED, NOSY PARKER, and BANNER YEAR worked perfectly for me. I especially liked the first, so apt for playboy billionaire Tony STARK. Ten years ago, I would have worried that no one would have recognized these alter egos, but thankfully the "Avengers" movies have brought them more into popular consciousness.

Theme concerns aside, such solid gridwork coming from two newer constructors! Five themers, including a 16-letter one, is rarely easy to build around. I hardly noticed a blip during my solve. Even going back for a second look, the only thing I picked up was a stray OTRO. That's a much better than many established constructors can produce.

Working in IN ANY CASE, HEAT MAP, and especially ALTER EGO? That's dynamite. Notice how carefully they deployed their black squares in the middle of the grid? They separate all the long slots so well.

Neat idea and superb craftsmanship. If all the themers had worked for me — I think it'd be tough to argue for FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE being something educated solvers ought to know — this could have been in POW! territory.

– puzzle by Alan Southworth and Yacob Yonas

The LEA/NIN/GTO/WER — literally leaning! Another Tim (Croce) and I had bandied around this idea years ago, but we couldn't find enough relevant theme material to flesh it out. We were aiming for a Sunday, where I was originally hoping we'd be able to represent Galileo on top of the LEANING TOWER, dropping an apple to the ground.

(There are so many things wrong with that …)

I'm envious of Tim (Polin)'s much stronger notion today. I like the way he fleshed it out — TIP, ANGLE, TILT, PITCH all hinting at the leaning-ness-osity. And PISA ITALY rounds things out nicely.

Also nice that LEA NIN GTO EWER breaks out into decent entries, too! It would have been just about perfect if Tim had made the ___WER slot one square longer so he could have turned EWER into SEWER, but what are you gonna do. It's already a tricky grid layout given how the trigrams need to be chunked apart, requiring so many black squares deployed in the center.

Speaking of black square deployment, you might be wondering why Tim left his SW / NE corners so wide open. Triple-stacked long answers, like in a themeless? That usually isn't done, at least not by sane people! Well, Tim didn't have a choice, given that he'd already spent so many of his black squares in the middle of the puzzle — note that the grid has the max allowable 78 words.

Tim did so well in those corners. I love SNOWBALL, AFRAID SO, TIE ON ONE (says this Taiwanese boy). Along with great mid-length fill like BUSTED, GAL PAL, SPEEDO, Tim's excellent gridsmanship came through in spades. All of the themage, plus great long fill … and only a HOO to show for it?

There's a reason why he's won a ton of POW!s.

This one could easily have been my POW! choice — I wish Tim (Croce) and I had seen this direction way back when — but there's one coming up that I absolutely love.

– puzzle by Timothy Polin

Loved this concept, GO WEST YOUNG MAN = take phrases ending in LAD and move that young man all the way to the west. I'm usually not a fan of themes that result in bizarre-looking grid entries (nor is Will), but this worked well for me. Even if you don't know what a POWER BALLAD is (philistine!), it's easy to figure out what LADPOWERBAL started as. Just the right amount of kookiness.

My first reaction after solving was that I wanted different synonyms for "young man," to avoid repetitiveness. You know, BOY … uh … and ... BOYO … Welp, never mind. I thought there'd be a ton of synonyms, but things like SONNY and JUNIOR don't do it as well as LAD. Especially given the old-timey feel of GO WEST YOUNG MAN, I decided that using LAD each time was perfect.

I also like how Sam threw us a curve ball at the very end, using a LAD broken apart in its base phrase, SUPER BOWL AD. Some might say this is inconsistent, but the base phrase was so great that I didn't mind.

I wasn't wild about ENE, SSS, ADIG, or DABBA — the last can't really be clued except for the Fred Flintstone cry — but the total quantity of crossword glue was passable. And to get some great bonuses in SPACE LAB, ROOM TEMP, OIL BASIN made up for it.

Part of the reason for the crossword glue was that the grid is 16x15, which often makes for a surprisingly tricky construction. Along with Sam's choice to stick under the usual 78-word maximum, there was bound to be a little strain. I think it was a fine decision, although I might have personally gone to 79 words and tried to smooth things out just a touch. Personal preference.

I enjoyed the theme so much — and the sagacity of Sam's comments about constructor Sam vs. editor Sam, something that all constructors ought to take to heart — that I was all set to give this one the POW! There's one coming up that edged it out though. Sorry, Sam!

– puzzle by Sam Ezersky

★ At my favorite cookie place, Hello Robin, their bags have the tagline "You had me at Hello (Robin)." Hello, Robyn, you had me at CLOWN CARS! What a brilliant clue — high-occupancy vehicles indeed. I was stuck on the notion of carpools, vans, etc. for the longest time. Made an already great entry even better.

Jim sometimes quotes a single entry in a themeless as the reason he loves the entire puzzle. It often seems like such is his level of delight, that he can overlook anything else in the puzzle. I rarely have that experience, but today, Robyn could have thrown in about ten dabs of crossword glue and three asymmetrical blocks and a two-letter word, and I doubt I would have stopped smiling.

But it didn't end there! Like with all her themeless, Robyn had so much color elsewhere — WHO GOES THERE, FUNNEL CAKES, GLASS CEILING, CANDY CANE, among others — and all of it felt so relatable to a broad audience.

I don't mind when a themeless constructor starts with some person or phrase I'm too uncool to know about — just as long as the crosses are fair. But it's hard to get excited about something that feels unfamiliar (or makes you just plain feel old).

Not the case for something like CLOWN CAR, a term which I'd guess that most everyone knows. And even if you don't know it, it's not hard to figure out. Who doesn't love clowns endlessly streaming out of a tiny VW Bug?

Okay, people who are scared of clowns. Right.

There were a couple of blips in the fill, but they were minor (all short and easy to figure out): SIE SEE TIAS YDS. And CREEL may cause consternation for some — I remember when I first learned the term ... in a hard crossword! But it no doubt is a real thing, and I can't see any of the crosses possibly seeming right any other way. CREAL / THALMA perhaps?

Nah.

Another Weintraub themeless, another POW! Robyn's voice comes through loud and clear in her themelesses, and it's such a joy to experience. When I find a (book) author I like, I go off in search of everything that person has written and devour it. Here's hoping that Robyn continues to be prolific.

– puzzle by Robyn Weintraub

Ha, SEED ENTRY would have been hilarious as a seed entry! I'm not sure it's a solid enough phrase (outside of our little constructing community) though, so I'm glad that Will replaced it.

A toughie right off the bat in THE MOLDAU. I played in orchestras for 20+ years, so I was able to plunk it in immediately (with no crosses!), but I doubt many others will have that experience. I imagine YOGA PANTS will be much more relatable to a bigger number of people — especially if you live in Seattle, where it seems that most women have wardrobes composed solely of YOGA PANTS, all the way from dressy to casual!

Seriously though, there's a weird obsession with YOGA PANTS here.

Will injected a ton of fresh-feeling entries, COSPLAY, WWE RAW, FLU VIRUS, GYOZA (Japanese pot stickers, yum!) and SIR PURR my favorite. I don't know how many people will know SIR PURR, but come on, what a hilarious name for a mascot! Along with the "rhyming" hint in the clue, it ought to at least be gettable if you didn't already know it.

The level of freshosity was high enough that it began to feel like too much, though. There's something so classic and relatable about an entry like ROMAN EMPIRE. Not so much WWE RAW. I love the latter (I admit, I was a huge fan of Bobby "The Brain" Heenan as a kid), but I wonder if too much that's too new will turn some solvers off?

ZAPATISTA: classic, right out of history books!

TURNERESQUE … I can hear the sound of heads being scratched. "Ted Turner is a painter?" I wondered. Ha ha ha, I didn't really think that!

Okay, maybe I did. It's … hmm. Maybe Joseph Mallord William Turner?

Probably not Nat Turner.

Lana Turner was an artist, wasn't she?

Excellent craftsmanship, as I've come to expect out of Will, hardly a dab of crossword glue in sight. Great voice and color, too, although I wondered if it was more appropriate for an ALT WEEKLY instead of the NYT.

– puzzle by Will Nediger

My first escape room experience involved a former MBA classmate standing over me and my brother, yelling "SOLVE IT, SOLVE IT FASTER, SOLVE IT NOW OR WE AREN'T GOING TO ESCAPE!"

My escape room experiences since then have gotten remarkably better.

There's something so alluring about having a fixed amount of time to get out, just you and your teammates' collective wits as your only tools.

Good luck to all who enter today's contest! (We've hidden the solution grid, to be revealed after the contest ends.) I can't emphasize enough how pleased I am to see another NYT crossword contest. They're such fantastic tools in engaging existing solvers even further, as well as drawing in new solvers too. Who doesn't love winning things?

I worry that the NYT has lost out on huge untapped potential here, with the WSJ and especially Matt Gaffney doing an amazing job of building a rabidly dedicated base of meta solvers. Thankfully though, it's never too late. I'm hoping that we see many, many more contests from the NYT going forward. How about a regular monthly feature, Will?

– puzzle by Eric Berlin

A proper debut! How well-mannered, using colorful phrases with a FORK, SPOON, KNIFE, wrapped up by a call to COME TO THE TABLE. I liked how the TABLE was set following all the rules, the fork going on the (racing to read Wikipedia) FORK to the left of the knife, and the KNIFE and SPOON set to the right of the FORK. Just like at my dinner table!

Okay fine, I never use a KNIFE. That's what the side of the FORK (and your teeth) are for. Don't get me started on the uselessness of spoons. Drink straight from the dang bowl, and you have fewer utensils to wash.

I have hundreds of these genius ideas that save oodles of hours.

(My wife begs to differ)

I usually don't like seeing long theme answers run vertically — horizontal ones are so much easier to read — but today I would have liked an exception. Pretty much every table setting diagram I reviewed (in my hopes of pretending that I'm no barbarian) are set with the utensils pointing up.

Oh, and how cool would it have been if there had been a circular "plate" made of black squares right in the center of the puzzle! That would have made for a very difficult grid, but I think it would have been doable.

Okay, this grid is already hard enough to fill cleanly. For example, check out the west region, almost always a trouble spot with long themers. I think the black squares ought to have been rejiggered to avoid the troublesome ?G?U sequence. When your only options are IGLU (ugly variant) and OGPU, it's time to restart with a modified grid skeleton. There would still likely be some trickiness in that west region, but I'm sure it could have been done with a much more minor ding.

Overall, I appreciated the proper ordering of the place settings, as well as the great phrases. More testing on the grid skeleton before filling would have helped, though.

– puzzle by Kathy Bloomer

Second debut in two days! Love it, new blood injecting new ideas and thoughts into the NYT crossworld.

I thought I had today's all figured out — plural words changing meaning by injecting an E — but then I got to HOOVER DAMES.

There are multiple HOOVER DAMs?

Ha ha ha, I didn't really think that! Only a complete moron would spend five minutes Googling "multiple Hoover Dams"!

Excuse me while I erase my search history.

The real theme idea is to take singular words and add ES, changing both pronunciation and meaning. Even though I try to avoid politics, something about HOUSE PETES tickled me. And BEAR CUBES made me think of baby bears all pixelated a la "Minecraft." Squee!

FOR THE WINES, BABY SITES, and GUESS NOTES didn't do as much for me — they seemed a bit too much like quasi-real things. I've gone to Napa for the wines, for instance.

Kooky themers are so hard to make universally pleasing.

Man oh man did this mechanical engineer love seeing BERNOULLI in the fill! I can't imagine a lot of non-engineers feeling similarly, but I spent so much time studying the BERNOULLI effect (regarding airspeed and lift) that it brought back good memories.

Man, am I weird.

Also weird: YAREN. I've long held fast that world capitals are fair game. I've maintained that even after getting tripped up by MANAMA, Bahrain. Then again with VADUZ, Licehten … you know, that bizarrely-spelled country. Now with YAREN ... I'm beginning to wonder if I should put a caveat in my steadfastness, especially when it comes to early-week puzzles.

A bit too much crossword glue for my taste in XKE, TO BED, FAS, ONEK, STA, STE, etc. Even STOAT is going to be tough to recognize for some newb solvers. Given the simplicity of the theme — early-weekish in nature — I think a smoother grid would have been more appropriate. As much as I like the color that "parallel downs" bring in ANGIOGRAM and BERNOULLI, I think it would have been better to forgo one of those answers, allowing for some cleanup in the SW and NE.

Overall though, I appreciated that John chose interesting sound changes, like CUB to CUBES. Made me want to search for more that were equally as interesting; a rare occurrence for me.

– puzzle by John Ciolfi

Ha! Ian Livengood and I wrestled with this exact theme almost ten years ago, wanting it to end with BEARD TRIMMER [Device needed after finishing this puzzle]. I don't remember why we abandoned it. Drat, I wish we had followed it through! BEA ARTHUR was our middle themer, and I'm pretty sure we had BEAR TRACKS on our list of potential phrases.

Double drat!

Ah. One of the big reasons we gave it up was that we couldn't find a starting themer that matched the length of BEARD TRIMMER. We were dead set on having B start that first phrase so that every themer consistently began with the BEARD growth. I think that's why we stalled out.

Funny. Now that I see BEARD at the end of the last phrase — the only one not at the start — it doesn't bother me. Makes me wonder if I should be less anal about consistency in themes. Four at the start and one at the end seems perfectly fine.

I like Sam's gridwork, especially in the big NW / SE corners. At first, I was skeptical, wondering if things like AFFAIRE and RESEAT were worth it to get FALSE IDOL and THIS IS WAR. I'm still not sold on the cost of AFFAIRE, but FALSE IDOL is such a colorful bonus that it's hard to pass up.

Speaking of added color, there's so much goodness packed into those four corners. THAT GUY made me laugh, as in "don't be THAT GUY who takes all the fun out of crosswords due to his annoying overanalysis." Along with MALWARE, AT LARGE, and PLANET X, JOB FAIR, MALL MAP, it's a ton of gold worked in.

I think I'd have loved it if the themers had been vertical and the BEARD grew from left to right (or the BEARD was in the middle column, at the bottom). But it is easier to read the themers horizontally.

Overall, a solid concept. Along with really strong gridwork, it made for an enjoyable solve.

– puzzle by Sam Trabucco

I've been interested in MICROLOANS for a while now, and I still think that it's an interesting concept even though the research doesn't show great economic results. The jury's still out on whether the MICROLOAN industry will eventually provide wide-ranging financial lifts to the poor, but it was a fun enough crossword conceit that I put aside my rebus fatigue (I rarely work on them these days, considering how few editors take them) and agreed to hop on board.

Such a tall order, to spread out the five rebus squares. But I understood where Will was coming from — not a lot of fun to work through a rebus puzzle and then realize an entire region wasn't thematic.

Getting a fifth square around the MICROLOANS revealer was so tricky. Tucking it into VARIOUS / ENVIOUS didn't make for fantastic rebus entries (I prefer jazzy multi-word phrases like GRACIOUS ME or broken across words like WHY I OUGHTA), but it did end up working out.

Wish we could have worked in just a bit more spice in addition to STEINEM, ZINGERS, ALADDIN, IT HELP, but you can only do so much when working with a ton of constraints. Made for such a tough set of trade-offs. Hope it was enough to keep solvers happy!

– puzzle by Mary Lou Guizzo and Jeff Chen

The most basic themeless pattern starts with a set of triple-stacked mid-length answers (8-10 letters) in each of the four corners. You don't want to totally separate them from each other, because that makes for choppy flow for solvers. But the more separation, the better — it's so much easier to construct an individual corner when it doesn't affect what's going on in the other three corners.

Running a grid-spanner through the middle makes things so much harder. Wouldn't seem so, perhaps. What's the problem of starting to nail two of the corners into place? NO BIGGIE, right?

It's surprising how much more difficult it is to fill a single corner with just a couple of letters fixed in. But the WHI- of WHITE BLOOD CELLS makes things tougher because of the W, restricting choice a great deal.

And even the -LLS at the end — you'd think that the letters are common enough that it wouldn't take away many options at all. But using two consonants together adds difficulty, messing up the preferred pattern of vowel-consonant alternation that makes things easier on constructors.

I like Kyle's decision to add "cheater squares" at the ends of SNO-CAPS. Eating away at the margins of the grid makes filling so much easier, probably a factor of two or even three in the SW / NE corners. I don't mind the visual either, although Rich Norris over at the LAT has said that he wants constructors to avoid black squares in the corners of themelesses.

It's a tough construction, and Kyle did well to keep it generally free of short crossword glue. I wish there had been a bit more sizzling stuff like DONUT HOLE and SLIME MOLD though — stuff like THREE STAR and SHOUTING aren't that exciting — but NO BIGGIE.

Still, a solid grid.

– puzzle by Kyle Dolan

Standout clue for WORLD SERIES RING. Given that Erik is about an order of magnitude cooler than me (Doug only about a factor of nine cooler, sorry Doug!), I thought the [Band since 1922] had to be referring to some subculture group I'm not privy to. Love that misdirect — band, as in the type of band that you can wear around your finger!

I love mini-themes in themeless puzzles, and I love what Erik and Doug did to connect WORLD SERIES RING and TELEVISION PILOT. They have nothing in common. Or do they? It's so brilliant to direct away from baseball in the WORLD SERIES RING clue ... and toward baseball in the clue for TELEVISION PILOT! I got them all mixed up in my head, what was baseball-related and what was not, and that produced a great synergistic effect for me.

Super glad this ran on a Saturday because I had to stare at the grid after finishing, wondering if it possibly could have been right. CABOCHON is a thing? TRACEEELL could start a real name? Apparently, yes and yes! [CABOCHON = a technical term in gem-er-ology.] I've seen several episodes of "Black-ish" but didn't recognize the name. Looking back on it, I probably should have, as she has a major role in a big TV hit. Now I definitely will!

Also on the Saturday wavelength, what a great misdirect on the ESPY clue. I read "best play" and plunked in TONY. Took some long minutes of head-scratching to realize that it was talking about an athletic play!

One more baseball-related note, a clue I missed out on. [Missed out, e.g.] is an ERROR? I shrugged without fully grokking it — maybe it referred to missing out an opportunity? Super glad that I went back and thought about it some more. It's talking about a baseball error, where an out is missed (flubbed) by a fielder.

A lot to love in this one; I enjoyed THE BOOK OF MORMON crossing LES MIZ as well as all the aforementioned great cluing. It's tough for me to get elation from a themeless when I don't personally know who/what a couple of the long answers are, even after finishing, though. I have a feeling bigger fans of "Black-ish" would have given it their POW!

– puzzle by Doug Peterson and Erik Agard

★ False portmanteaus is on my (extremely) long list of theme concepts, but I never could quite figure it out. I even had SKORT along with SKI RESORT, but I couldn't come up with a clever way of cluing it. SKI RESORT as the entry, [Skort?] as the clue didn't seem like it would have produced a good enough a-ha moment.

Byron and Joel are more clever than me.

What a great idea, combining the two to help solvers figure out what was going on. SKI RESORT SKORT as a piece of clothing on the slopes, that's fun!

They did such a nice job of finding enough solid themers to fill out a Sunday, too. I kicked myself that in my own searching, I hadn't found BRADY BUNCH = BRUNCH, BURNING LOG = BLOG, and especially GREY POUPON GROUPON. That last one is a beaut.

Great color in the grid, too. HAUL ASS made me chuckle. NATO SUMMIT, yeah! This math dork loved RISE OVER RUN. Even PAID AD made me stop and think — is there such a thing as a non-paid ad? PEER GROUP, GOJI BERRIES, KIDDERS, RIBEYES, it just went on and on. Even if the theme didn't tickle you, there's plenty of solving entertainment to be had.

As with most Waldenesque constructions, there were a couple of entries that made me cock my head. NONREAL was the one that got me. I know imaginary numbers well, but calling them nonreal seems just ... unreal. It turns out it's a not a non-real dictionary term, but, huh.

(It looks like NONREAL may be replacing "imaginary" in math classes, chalk up one demerit for Jeff. Sigh.)

CORNETTI was another one I didn't know, but it was much more on my wavelength — it was fun to learn. I've gotten unhealthy fascinated by baking shows, and now I want to try my hand at making CORNETTI. I also appreciated that it's related to "cornet," which made me feel like I should have gotten it quicker if I had only thought a little harder.

It wasn't a surprise that this was a low-word-count grid (130, much less than the max 140). Joel and I have discussed this issue a couple of times, and I understand his perspective, that going low helps to introduce freshness. You're forced to not rely on short entries seen all the time in crosswords. But I personally tend to gloss over those shorties, while entries like NONREAL and EX-PARTNER tend to make me pause.

Going to a higher word count would have also allowed for smoothing, getting rid of AKEY, AGRIP, IMRE, etc. Don't get me wrong — this grid is way smoother than an average Sunday grid, even at 130 words — but I have an extremely high bar for these two masters.

That's all super-picky nit-picking, because I do have such astronomically high expectations for these two. Overall, so many great theme entries + strong gridsmanship = POW!

– puzzle by Byron Walden and Joel Fagliano

Beautifully consistent set of themers today. Look at all the layers:

• All movie titles
• Each fitting the pattern, THE ___ OF ___
• Both blanks containing exactly five letters
• All three cluable in a punny way

In this day and age of dense themes, I often find that three 15-letter entries feels thin for my taste. But when they're this consistent, I'm okay with it.

Low theme density opens up huge possibilities for sparkly bonus fill. I'm a big fan of BIG CHEESE and BABY BUGGY — they inject nice color into the solve. Even mid-lengthers like HEY NOW! and MAKE ME elevate the quality of the grid.

I was hoping for more snazzy bonuses, though. With just 45 theme squares, I'd expect at least four long bonuses. One way to do this might be to remove the black square between EVAN and SAT ON. The black square between GATO and ALOE is another candidate, too.

Another advantage of doing one of these is that it'd open up the grid, letting the solving feng shui flow a little better.

There's a case to be made, that focusing on the short fill is way more important, when it comes to Monday "starter" puzzles. But I think it would have been possible to both add in more long bonuses while at the same time smoothing out WHELM / ORFF, MATRI, NEER. These aren't terrible offenders, but it's important to make early-week puzzles as accessible to newbs as possible.

TWOD (2-D) is a divisive one. I use to think it was fun and even a little clever. The fact that it's never seen written like this in real life was beside the point! Now that I've heard lots (and lots and lots) of complaints from rookie solvers though (similarly, things like AANDE, VEIGHT), I avoid them in my own constructions.

The theme piqued my interest enough to figure out what other titles fit the tight pattern. If only THE ILIAD OF HOMER had been made into a movie!

(Okay, good thing it wasn't. Man, was that boring. Sorry, ancient Greeks!)

– puzzle by Jim Hilger

★ I like to play the "guess that theme" game with early-week puzzles. Not difficult with today's! Turkey's place = POULTRY FARM, okay. Turkey's place = RAZZIE AWARDS ... game over! Oh well.

But even with the premature giveaway, I still had more a-ha moments. Fun to figure out where other types of turkeys could be found. A bowling turkey is three strikes in a row, and Turkey is a country in WESTERN ASIA. Four very different turkeys!

This type of theme is often done with a single word clue, TURKEY, and the entries are dry dictionary-entry-esque. (Think BIRD WITH A WATTLE). I like C.C.'s implementation so much more, each of the themers snappy phrases I'd happily use as fill in other crosswords.

And the fill! C.C. has built a well-deserved rep as one of the top constructors when it comes to assets in her fill. CLEAR AS MUD and LEMON WEDGE are in the positions you'd typically see bonuses. She goes above and beyond just that though: VAMOOSE, OPEN MIC, DO TELL. Not a lot of long slots, but she used her mid-lengthers to such advantage.

With just a couple of EUR and OUTA minor dings (I have a soft spot in my heart for grape NEHI, Radar O'Reilly's drink of choice), it's top-notch craftsmanship.

If that weren't enough, the clues for PARLOR and DROOL made me laugh. Not sure I'd visit an establishment that serves ice cream at the same time they're tattooing you, but that might be "Shark Tank" worthy. And I had a moment of panic after reading [Baby wipe target], as my two-year-old has many baby wipe targets do not pass the breakfast test. Thank goodness it was DROOL!

Ticked all the boxes. I'd be delighted to give this puzzle to a newer solver, trying to get them hooked on crosswords. POW!

– puzzle by Zhouqin Burnikel

Debut! A constructor friend of mine, Jeb Bennett, came to me with this idea a while back. I wasn't fond of it because his themers didn't change meaning that drastically when the words were flipped, but there were one or two that were neat. In that vein, I liked Brandon's TRADE FAIR (FAIR TRADE), since FAIR drastically switches meanings.

I also liked OVERPASS (PASSOVER). The individual words don't change their sense, but what a difference does the order make. I've been to a Passover Seder, but never one on an OVERPASS. It is true that Passover got its name from the spirit of the Lord passing over marked homes, but the juxtaposition of Passover on an OVERPASS amused me anyway.

HOUSECAT to ... people call a brothel a "cathouse"? I like the meaning change of "cat," but talk about icky!

Strong revealer in FLIP FLOPS. I think most mid-week solvers would have figured it out on their own, but probably better to be safe than sorry, risking confusion or even irritation.

A little too ambitious of a grid, I think. It is true that with mid-week puzzles, you can get away with more esoteric or oddball stuff than for early-week puzzles because entries like ANTIFA or OGEE aren't going to stump (some) solvers. Even the KISLEV / DURST won't baffle (okay, maybe). But when you also have to also resort to a load of crossword glue: EFF, ESTO, IATE, OTT, SRA, STA … and SIEG?

Part of the issue is the theme density. Crossing pairs of themers in each corner makes for an incredibly hard job of filling. I would have been fine with fewer themers, but if you decide to go big, I think it would have been better to stick to the max of 78 words.

I'd rather have broken up AGREES TO and APPLE PAY to clean things up. While I do like APPLE PAY, AGREES TO isn't more than neutral. And some older solvers might even consider APPLE PAY to be a liability (it's an electronic payment system on iPhones).

I liked that Brandon came up with some strong FLIP-FLOPS, but it would have been nice to get another round of grid rework.

– puzzle by Brandon Koppy

_OWARD is such an interesting clue. It obviously is missing something, but what? COWARD, HOWARD, or TOWARD? Or maybe it's missing multiple letters, as in UNTOWARD? Delightful to finally uncover the jazzy phrase, HEADLESS CHICKEN, and realize that it's literally describing (C)OWARD.

BOTTOMLESS PIT is a great phrase too. QUARR_ was a bit too obvious of a clue for my taste though. I suppose it could have misdirected some to QUARREL, but how about CHAS_, which would have more easily misdirected to CHASE?

ENDLESS SUMMER wasn't as familiar to me. It's … an album? A movie?

Is a TOPLESS SWIMSUIT a thing? What is the term for the swimsuit bottom of a bikini set? Isn't it just a "swimsuit bottom"?

I like what Randy did in the west and east sections, which tend to be tricky in this sort of layout. Just an ALAR and an ESSO is a good result.

I hitched on the big corners, though. No doubt, going down to 70 words with giant corners makes for a tougher, more Thursday-ish solve. And I fully agree with Randy on RAPPELS and YACHTER. But entries like ONE UNIT (seems arbitrary), the odd partial AT A TIME, along with ENS, ITA, NUIT, STER — and that's just the bottom of the puzzle — made it not worth it for me.

It's a tough call. Will and Joel often nudge constructors to go lower in word count for later-week puzzles, a philosophy I generally agree with. I think some reining in would have helped this one, though. Breaking up the big corners by going to 74ish words might have produced better trade-offs.

I liked the concept a lot, strong notion for a tricky Thursday, making the work in solving worth the a-ha moment. If they had all been as great as _OWARD / HEADLESS CHICKEN, it could have easily garnered POW! consideration.

– puzzle by Randolph Ross

Debut! I'm impressed to see a new constructor using mid-length slots so wisely. It's often tough to wring juice out of them, as so many entries in the 6-7 length are ordinary, overlookable words. Not so with VIP PASS / MILK BAR (a high-end place that's too fancy for the likes of me) / PT BOAT. Not SUBPAR at all!

Heck, even APBIO and CBSTV / CSPAN elevated the joint. Well done.

I was doubly impressed to see how little crossword glue Temple used. Such a smooth solving experience; virtually nothing that gave me a hitch as I went along. I've heard complaints from solvers about the Thai BAHT and other currencies, but as a finance junkie, they seem like terms that ought to at least be in an educated solver's cloud of knowledge. (Floating in the periphery, at least.)

Seriously, the Thai BAHT played a central role in the worldwide financial crisis of … okay, you've stopped listening. I don't blame you.

With a traditional 72-word layout — four sets of triple-stacked 10s in the corners — it's critical to make every precious long slot count since there are so few of them. I'm a huge sci-fi fan, so TIME TRAVEL was a standout for me. And that clue! [Not live in the present?] is a brilliant repurposing of "live in the present."

I use the terms billions, jillions, kajillions, bazillions. Not SQUILLIONS, though. A little research leads me to believe it's one of those words I'm not cool enough to be permitted entrance to (see: MILK BAR). And when I start using it, everyone else will stop.

Humph.

It's tough for a debut to push into POW! territory for me, but this one made a good run. Having never seen ANIMANIACS, feeling like BLOWS APART was more neutral than an asset, and being undecided on ABOMINATES ("abomination" seems great to me, "abominates" less so), it didn't quite get there.

But quite a strong debut; smart decision to go for a low level of difficulty and execute on it well.

– puzzle by Temple Brown

I shudder a bit when I see triple-stacks. These days, constructors have elevated this art form to the point where the stacks don't need a lot of crossword glue to hold them together, but there usually are blips, and often something that produces a needle-scratching-record effect.

Not today! So many 3- and 4-letter words running across each of the big stacks, and the offenders were so minor. There's an argument that EMS is suspect, especially when it's clued as the plural of M (what, no question mark on the end of the [Trio of mummies]?), but I think it's fine as Emergency Medical Services. SRTA, NCOS, KAN are easy to overlook, too.

A smooth solving experience — unexpected since the grid contains two triple-stacks, yet expected since this is a Steinberg joint.

I loved how David wove great long fill through the stacks. RAP SHEET and NIETZSCHE right next to each other? Yeah! And I'm wondering if David had a bad experience with ESCARGOT, given his placement of RETICENCE next to it. Along with TAP DANCER and RED BULL, these long crossers were outstanding, my favorite feature of the puzzle.

Don't get me wrong; I did enjoy the 15-letter entries, HIGH MAINTENANCE and ACCOUNTING ERROR in particular, given the latter's awesome "lose your balance" misdirect. I hesitated on THE CLAWS COME OUT though — seemed a bit like a dudebro yelling "catfight!"

And I suppose I'll eventually have to see Dora the Explorer. I've read a couple of books featuring her, but I had no idea what SWIPER NOSE WIPING meant. He pilfers boogers?

I crack myself up.

So much to enjoy in this well-crafted puzzle. With triple-stacks, it mostly all comes down to how well the solver connects to the long feature entries, and this one didn't quite resonate with my personal tastes. But the strong gridwork earned this puzzle a glance toward the POW!, anyway.

– puzzle by David Steinberg

SILENT FINALES … or SILENT FINAL ES? A-ha! I loved UNCALLED FORE (from "uncalled for") as what a golfer might forget to say. And SEMI PROSE (from "semi-pros") made me chuckle.

At first, I was a bit shruggy on this idea, seeming like it was a simple E addition puzzle. But the more I thought about it, the more impressed I was with joon's finds. The difference between RUNNING LAPS and RUNNING LAPSE is huge! The tremendous transformations were impressive.

I could have used a little more snazz in the bonus fill. UMPTEEN and MAIN DRAG are solid gold. I understand that there's not much real estate left after the nine (!) themers are in place. But given that the shorties, EITHER ORE and CASTE LOTS, didn't do a lot for me, swapping them out for a pair of great bonuses of the UMPTEEN-level would have been nice.

I was surprised to see a good amount of crossword glue in this one, especially knowing how meticulous joon is (definitely check out his "Outside the Box" subscription service!). It's about average in terms of Sunday puzzles, with things like LOGY, ARAL, RASA, EFTS, ERLE, ESSES, and the tough ISSEI. But I have such high expectations when I see joon's byline.

It's tough to impress me with a standard(ish) theme type, but I enjoyed this one. Not quite homophones, not quite letter additions, and certainly not sound additions. A sweet spot somewhere in the middle, with some humorous theme finds.

– puzzle by Joon Pahk

Just like products, insects, and styles, theme types have a life cycle. The very first time a theme is published, it's often groundbreaking. Amazing. Eye-opening. Memorable. Constructors and editors pile on to get in on the new hot thing, and we see more and more examples of it — sometimes as a near copy, sometimes with a little twist. Then, the crest of the wave; fatigue starts to set in. And like all good things, it eventually falls to the wayside as an entry in the history books.

Hidden word themes are in their last stages of the cycle, especially with the same word repeated over and over. However, as with all established theme types, there's usually room for something a little fresh to keep the genre breathing for a little longer.

Today, I appreciated both the juiciness of the revealer — proud to say that I have both an INNER NERD and an outer nerd — and the quality of the themer finds. All of them were good to fantastic, WIENER DOG my favorite. (At my climbing gym, the manager sometimes brings in his little WIENER DOG — it's so dang cute!)

Neat that Evan used a nearly-complete set, too. I couldn't figure out any others besides ZENER DIODE. I imagine all the other electromechanical gearheads out there are screaming in protest along with me, but I think it's a safe bet that this component wouldn't have been Monday-friendly to newer solvers.

Strong execution on the grid, too. Six themers (I think Evan's hindsight is unwarranted; I like every themer a lot), with ACTIVE PLAY, ESCHER, HIDE ME, Nina SIMONE crossing CROON? The puzzle is up … AND IT'S GOOD! Evan's construction skills have taken a quantum leap in the last year or so. Very impressive.

(One minor point: as much as I love D WADE as a player, I'm not sure his nickname is fair game for newer solvers.)

It's tough for me to get excited about a theme type far into decline — the NYT team recently mentioned that they have too many hidden word themes on file already — but it's a rock-solid Monday.

– puzzle by Evan Kalish

Erik gives us the RUNs today!

Wait.

That didn't come out right.

(pun intended)

Such a fun revealer in GOTTA RUN. I enjoyed the diverse meanings of Erik's themers, a FRIED EGG being sort of runny if you don't cook it enough, a CANDIDATE running for office, a COMPUTER PROGRAM running, and a newspaper running an EDITORIAL.

What, no MARATHONER?

(Actually, I'm okay with that. My half-marathon days are likely behind me. I'm okay with that.)

It did feel a bit loosey-goosey, as there are so many things that run, in many different ways. A dripping faucet, hot and cold moods, ships running aground, run a tab, run the show, etc.

But sometimes you just gotta run with what you have.

So much good fill, as to be expected in an Agard joint. HOT HOT HOT indeed! Loved DUKE IT OUT, THYROID, NO NAMES, PET RAT (the entry, not the thing), and I proudly filled in RETINUES. Not that I could remember what it meant. But it looked like a word, and that counts for something. So there!

I wasn't familiar with WOMANISM, but it was easy to piece together the word. And I'm glad to have read up on it now. Whoever did the logo design (above right), that is incredible work!

Overall, an interesting take on "things/people that run." I'd have put it up for the POW! if it had felt like a tighter set of themers in some way.

– puzzle by Erik Agard