"Easy as 1, 2, 3," by Stu Ockman

Constructor's Comments

My inspiration for this grid was realizing that LOLITA, one of my favorites, begins with LOL.  Once I figured out that I could create a four-letter word by adding a vowel to LOL and the three answers would span the grid, the theme was set.  The next step was finding parallel themers.  I came up with PEPITA, ROSITA, NIKITA, and BONITA in my original grid; NIK and ROS were summarily deep-sixed, and the end result is the puzzle you see today.  As a bonus, the fewer themers allow for cleaner fill.  Hope you like it.

My other part-time job is President of the Project Management College of Scheduling.  If you'd like to learn more, check us out at www.pmcos.org.

Editor's Comments

I always love when a constructor comes up with a type of theme I've never seen before!  It's also rare that a new idea is straightforward enough to run on a Monday.  With that in mind, I asked Stu to rework his original submission using just the three theme entries we felt were strongest, instead placing an emphasis on keeping the fill smooth for beginners.  I think Stu did an excellent job, and I especially like the bonus 15-letter (!) entries IN A RELATIONSHIP and PLAY IN THREE ACTS.  Finally, did you notice that this puzzle has a top-bottom symmetric grid?  Some traditionalists might consider that cheating, but I'm personally all for experimenting with different forms of symmetry.