"What's Buried?" by Evan Kalish

Constructor's Comments

When you construct crosswords, you might begin to develop some interesting mental "background processes."  They might involve subconsciously parsing conversations and TV shows for crossword-friendly phrases, tallying the number of letters in said phrases, and jotting them down on paper or in your phone's Notes app.  Some of these phrases just scream "Crossword theme!"  Such was the case with RUBS THE WRONG WAY, which probably came to mind as I was petting my cat.  The letter string -SBUR- is just common enough that there were a few theme entry options available, yet uncommon enough so as not to be trivial.  The opportunity to give BOB'S BURGERS its cruciverbal debut sealed the deal!

I didn't want to include any two-word phrases wherein the -SBUR- did not span both words (like SALISBURY STEAK or SAINT PETERSBURG), which I considered a bit arbitrary for this context; this left me with no 15-letter counterpart to the revealer.  After testing some options I decided that the -SBUR- answers needed room to breathe—featuring just three entries led to a more satisfying puzzle in terms of fill.  I'm glad David was willing to let me change up the normal layout!

"Thoroughly Themeless III," by Evan Kalish

Constructor's Comments

I've never found stacks of 15-letter entries satisfying to work with, so I thought I'd tweak the form to get some underappreciated 14-letter entries in on the cruciverbal fun.  The first phrase in the grid was YOU ARE NOT ALONE, which is both a) a statement many people need to hear, and b) a subtle reference to Doctor Who (series 3).  I was pleased with the entry directly underneath that as well.  Of course seats are limited.  Everything is, ultimately, limited!  Ah, marketing.

That stack in the middle allowed several long entries to shoot vertically through it, 4- and 10-Down being my favorites among them.  I tried to throw in some fun with those tight SW/NE corners; hope you weren't seeing double in the bottom left!

Fun fact:  16-A has never appeared as a New York Times crossword answer in any form!  We’ll resolve that little oversight sooner rather than later . . . right?

"Free for All XXVII," by Evan Kalish

Constructor's Comments

You might imagine the impetus ("seed entry") for this puzzle:  MSNBC HOST, a wonderful car accident of consonants.  I liked being able to go all in on the blue state theatrics with CHAI LATTE and CARBON TAX—crossing McCAFE, of course.  These entries effectively fixed the layout of the grid, as well as entries out through TOE TAG and TEXAS TEA.  Working east I couldn't help but complete the string SOT- with SO, THAT'S IT?—a phrase that's almost impossible not to speak in your mind with dramatic flair . . . and possibly arm gesticulations.  I love seeing phrases like that in crosswords (another great example:  I KNOW, RIGHT?).

While the top half of the puzzle coalesced rather quickly, the bottom half took much more work.  For my second set of seed entries, I chose to focus on the dynamic duo of APPLE LOGO over REALLY, NOW?—two more entries that, to my knowledge, are making their crossword debuts here.  I personally love them both—two phrases that are imbued with an outsize dose of meaning/symbolism.  I attempted dozens of fill options before David helped me settle on what you see here.

It is my hope that my constructor notes are entertaining for solvers and insightful for budding constructors.  I would say that, particularly with this puzzle, my fill preferences tend to skew a bit toward the avant-garde.  In practice, what this meant was that while I thought MSNBC HOST and APPLE LOGO were refreshing and vibrant, the initial venue to which I submitted it had doubts as to whether they were a bit too arbitrary/contrived (aka "green paint").  Allowing in APPLE LOGO could open the floodgates to a whole slew of other (and possible more arbitrary) answers:  Toyota logo, Target logo, BMW logo . . . all technically valid things, but where would you draw the line?  Totally understandable.  Re: the former, I feel somewhat vindicated by the obituary titles in numerous publications surrounding the death of Ed Schultz recently, though I see how an entry like this could be a matter of taste.  MSNBC HOST is not something you normally say in everyday conversation—it's more of a specialized descriptor.

Anyway, hope y'all enjoyed my first published themeless puzzle!

"Right Wrongs," by Evan Kalish

Constructor's Comments

When I started dabbling in construction several years ago, I found developing original theme ideas very difficult.  What I had was a slew of then–New York Times debut entries scribbled on scraps of paper, including MARGIN OF ERROR.  Then, one night, it struck me:  What if the puzzle had entries that extended beyond the grid, into the margin . . . literally, some margin of error?  And what better a stand-in for ERROR than . . . —OOPS!  "This is fantastic," I thought.  "Just think, these entries are marching along, minding their own business, then suddenly they come up against the end of the grid and then . . . —OOPS!  It works on so many levels!"  Full disclosure:  I was not entirely sober at the moment of this epiphany.

The New York Times didn’t find my initial (2013) submission compelling, which was fortunate, since that enabled me to revisit and enhance the idea with the benefit of additional experience.

This theme would be super uncool if all the answers were just arbitrary -OOP plurals.  David initially thought I SUPPORT THE TROOPS was a bit too contrived, and I'm glad he came around. JUMPING THROUGH HOOPS would have made the perfect grid-spanning central entry for this grid, but working around that forced excessive grid compromises.  Another possibility I loved:  EVERYONE POOPS!  Unfortunately, that might just be a little too scandalous for the general solving public.

I hope you didn't get too startled by my sneaky little theme entry in the top row.  If so, MY MISTAKE!  I'd tried to include that as the grid's final entry (at 68-Across)—a cruciverbal exclamation point, if you will.  Again, it wasn't worth the compromises in the resulting fill.

I was pleased with several of the long down entries, including AERIAL MAPS, which I utilize all the time in travel planning.  You can see some of the results of my travels at Postlandia, stories and photos from the (presently 9,100) post offices I've visited across the country.  It's fun, I swear!

Oh yes, and thanks to David for reviving this otherwise dormant idea!

Editor's Comments

I've seen a handful of outside-the-box themes over the years, though never one that works quite like this.  I had fun imagining the "margin of error" to the right of the grid!  Evan also knocked the fill out of the park—in addition to keeping things extra-smooth, even in areas constrained by multiple theme entries, he worked in fun bonuses, such as DON'T FORGET, PIE CRUST, USB PORTS, HEY MAN, MY MISTAKE, and, as he mentioned, AERIAL MAPS.  I also laughed when I saw Evan was considering using EVERYONE P(OOPS).  I still own a great children's book with that title—saving it for my future kids' potty-training days!