"Wide-Open Wednesday V," by Mary Lou Guizzo and Jeff Chen

Constructors' Comments

Mary Lou Guizzo:  I asked Jeff for his help to redo a themeless that I'd been too ambitious with, trying to incorporate four 15-letter entries that intersected.  We kept three of the originals:  DROP OFF THE RADAR, GEOCENTRIC ORBIT, and PUBLICITY STUNTS.  Jeff came up with a skeleton grid running STRAIGHT SHOOTER down the middle and refined it to the final version.

Many moons ago I took an astronomy class and enjoy learning terms such as geocentric or earth orbit.  But even if you're not into science terms this one should be inferable from the root words.  Dubailand was a new term for me that Jeff introduced and I enjoyed learning about.  It's another word that even if you're not familiar with is inferable.

At any rate, I hope you enjoyed your solve.

Jeff Chen:  I'm not usually a fan of themelesses seeded with crossing 15s, since they force so many constraints, but it was a fun challenge to try to work in other long entries like FBI REPORT and DUBAILAND.  I had a layover in Dubai a few years ago—it's one of those places that you can't quite believe is real.  Imagine what DUBAILAND might be!

Always a pleasure to work with Mary Lou!