"Outlying Areas," by John Guzzetta

Constructor's Comments

This word-that-follows type of puzzle is pretty common, but I was really hoping I could go big with six theme phrases plus the revealer.  Thanks to David for helping to smooth out clunky fill in the bottom right.  Also, here's hoping David goes with my nerdy clues for 14-Across and 53-Down!

"Wide-Open Wednesday VI," by John Guzzetta

Constructor's Comments

SRIRACHA was the first seed here, a spicy sauce that was once a specialty item but is now added even to potato chips and fast food.  The second seed was 34-Down.  I love glued-together words like PROMPOSAL.  This one may not be familiar to everyone yet, but hey, I have teens in the house.

"Sunday Freestyle XXXI," by John Guzzetta

Constructor's Comments

31-Across was my seed, and I was tickled when I found a stairstep stack that was a lovely mixed-up combination of jovial, nerdy, and sophisticated.  Hope you enjoy!

"Wide-Open Wednesday II," by John Guzzetta

Constructor's Comments

When I first started constructing themeless puzzles in 2016, I dared not stray far from the same basic grid pattern of triple-stacks in each corner (see, for example, The New York Times 1/27/17, 5/19/18, and this Friday, 9/14/18).  Which meant that my notebook was full of 11-letter seed answers.  In 2017, I got my legs under me enough to venture into more challenging and interlocking designs.  But I still had a whole bunch of 11-letter seeds to try out.  Thus, RAREFIED AIR and SERIAL DATER were the seeds for this puzzle.  Enjoy!

"Change of Venue," by John Guzzetta

Constructor's Comments

I think this "playing surfaces-to-verbs" theme was one of the first I ever came up with, back in 2011 or 2012.  I found it sliding around in the bottom of a filing cabinet and decided it deserved a second look.  David wisely DQed a fifth themer that used pitch, since it's more of a Britishism for a soccer field.  These were the four that remained.

Looking again at the fill, I may have gotten a little too cutesy with the two-word phrases WHAT IF, KIND OF, LESS SO, and SING OF, but it's hard to say.  Maybe two out of four would have been better?

"Flavor of the Week," by John Guzzetta

Constructor's Comments

This puzzle started out with a couple of weird versions that were impossible to work with (STRAWBERRY BLOND/E, CHOCOLATE LAB, and VANILLA ICE, if you must know), but David came to the rescue by suggesting the ice cream sandwich angle.  David is always helpful and engaging to work with!  Now, back to my late-night bowl of calories. . . .

"Sunday Freestyle XXI," by John Guzzetta

Constructor's Comments

On a recent trip to the northeast, my family took the COG RAILWAY up to the observatory on Mount Washington.  At that very moment, I thought that word would make a lovely starter for a themeless puzzle.  I was happy when so many other good entries cooperated.

Editor's Comments

I like how all three long entries in this puzzle's top and bottom stacks sparkle—I mean, how can you get more sparkly than FOOL'S GOLD?  All kidding aside, John went above and beyond here:  As if the triple stacks weren't lively enough, all four entries in the double stacks are also fresh, and there's even plenty of fun midlength fill like TED TALKS, MOJITO, COLLOQUY, JICAMA, DYSTOPIA, and POP TARTS.  And finally, I'd like to give a shout-out to John's [Like giving a vacuum as a Valentine's Day gift] clue for UNROMANTIC.  That one had me laughing out loud!

"Few and Far Between," by John Guzzetta and Michael Hawkins

Constructors' Comments

Michael Hawkins:  John and I often text themes to each other, and in this case, it turned out we were working on similar ideas.  Once we combined our lists, we had a good set of theme entries.  Over the next few days, we shot grids back and forth until we were satisfied with the rest of the fill.

John ceded write-up responsibility to me because he's off hiking where reliable internet access isn't to be found.  This is our fifth published collaboration and we're certain to have many more, presuming he returns to civilization.

Editor's Comments

I always appreciate a good rebus-style theme.  No, I'm not talking about crosswords where multiple letters appear in single squares (although I'm also a big fan of those)—I'm referring to the classic picture puzzles:

Image courtesy of Pinterest

In this case, John and Michael chose one form of rebus to build their theme around.  The consistency is elegant, and I'm amazed they were able to find so many great "___ between the ___" phrases!

The requirement that theme entries be arranged symmetrically has tormented every constructor at some point.  In an ideal world, John and Michael would have had all singular theme phrases (as in hit between the eyes rather than HITS BETWEEN THE EYES).  Since symmetry makes using just singulars impossible, though, they did exactly the right thing:  mixing singulars and plurals in a relatively even ratio (two singulars and three plurals).  If all but one of the theme entries were singular, the one plural would stick out as inelegant, and vice versa.  Just one of many excellent calls John and Michael made here.

"Personal Development," by John Guzzetta

Constructor's Comments

A long time ago (like, pre–crossword constructing days) I noticed how BUT, BUTT, BUTTE, BUTTER made an interesting string of words.  That string randomly popped into my head recently, and I started trying to come up with grids around this grow-a-word or shrink-a-word idea.  The additional constraints of crossword symmetry, and having the words be etymologically unrelated, and having some rationale tie them all together, limit what works.  I recently saw another great example, when Paolo Pasco used the revealer EROSION to reduce STONE through TONE, TON, ON, finally to O (The New York Times, January 22, 2018).

The string ME, MET, META, METAL requires the first answer to double as the revealer, but I still thought it was pretty cool.  I'm sure there are other grow-a-word or shrink-a-word possibilities, and I would love for others to beat me to them!

Editor's Comments

As John mentions, having the revealer (IT'S GROWING ON ME, in this case) as the first theme entry is nontraditional:  Constructors usually place revealers at the end in order to maximize suspense/not give away what's going on too quickly.  As an editor, I don't mind breaking this "rule" once in a while.  After all, IT'S GROWING ON ME is perfect as both the first theme entry and the reveal, and I still find the theme just as clever.  The only difference is that the puzzle feels more like a Tuesday than a Wednesday since the theme is a little easier to figure out.  I also love all of John's theme entries, especially the fresh and modern THAT'S SO META.  Funny that RARE EARTH METAL could've worked as a theme entry in John's "High Steaks" puzzle from last month, too.

"High Steaks," by John Guzzetta

Constructor's Comments

This theme started when I heard someone say, "WELL DONE, SIR!"  Once it mentally matched with RAW MATERIAL, the difficult pair was taken care of, and RARE and MEDIUM were easy to come by.  I think this might be the first theme I've ever completed on a slip of paper, without having to scour the Internet for at least one entry.

I prefer my steaks more toward the left side of the puzzle.  Like, walked through a warm room. . . .

I tried keeping the puzzle at 72 words but had to add a block when things got a little too junky.  I've learned the hard way to think of puzzles from a solver's perspective rather than a constructor's and shoot for mostly clean first and foremost.  I hope solvers will find this one entertaining!  And, as always, thanks to David for an amazing job editing!

Editor's Comments

Every once in a while, making a puzzle's theme entries vertical can add another level of complexity.  The "high steaks" wordplay thus brings this theme from good to delicious in my mind!  John went big by bringing the word count down to 72—in my experience, most Mondays are closer to the maximum word count (78)—but the fill is nonetheless very well done.  Entries like RHEE and SERE might be tough for NEWBIES, but they're offset by plenty of juicy midlength entries like LOW GEAR, RUDOLPH, CHIMES IN, BYE WEEK, and DIET COKE.  Here's hoping your feelings about this puzzle are as tender mine and John's are!

"Sunday Freestyle XV," by John Guzzetta

Constructor's Comments

NEVER BETTER was the seed here, and I was happy I was able to use another off my list, THE DARK WEB, when I came around to the top.

Editor's Comments

John Guzzetta is back!  I usually try to space out puzzles from the same constructor by at least two weeks, though John has sent me so many great themelesses in particular that I've ended up clustering them together.  It's all his fault for being so good at what he does.  In this puzzle, I especially like THE DARK WEB, BROKE THE ICE, FILET MIGNON, NEVER BETTER, RIPE OLD AGE, VELVEETA, ECO-SAVVY, PAPER TRAIL, and APPLE STORE.  The short fill is also smooth all around.  John's next two puzzles are a Monday and a Tuesday, so if you find his themelesses challenging, you'll see that he also has a soft side!

"Free for All XIV," by John Guzzetta

Constructor's Comments

I've been playing with this pattern for a while.  It gives me a fighting chance to get the word count into the sixties.  Once I find a snazzy central stack, I start with the grid as wide open as possible, 62 words, then start reluctantly adding blocks as I work on the fill.  (One day, I want to complete a good 62-word puzzle, but 66 is the lowest I've managed so far.)  Once the center stack is in place, I can work on the four sections somewhat independently, usually adding several hundred words to my word list in the process.  It's super frustrating to rejoice in all the long answers but then notice two or three (or ten) pesky short entries that create hiccups in the solving experience, forcing you to start over or accept compromises.

I actually bought a slackline and strung it up between two trees just outside my office, about three feet off the ground.  After a week's worth of barefoot lunch breaks, I could sort of do it.  Pretty amazing to watch people slackline over canyons.

Editor's Comments

John Guzzetta is back with another gorgeous themeless!  I would've been satisfied with the CHRISTMAS LIST/CHANGE MACHINE/SEASON TICKETS stack plus a few bonuses around the edges, but John went above and beyond—he crossed the stack with CHAI LATTE, BOXED SETS, SMACK TALK, SLACKLINING, EVIL GRINS, and FIRE HOSE while still leaving room in the isolated sections for bonuses like KEY LIME PIE and BOOKMOBILE.  What blows my mind is that the short fill is also silky-smooth.  Wow, just wow!

"Free for All XII," by John Guzzetta

Constructor's Comments

I keep a list of phrases on the notes feature of my phone, and every now and then I'll pull a few from it to seed a themeless puzzle.  For some weird reason the SE section usually comes into focus first, and I end up working backward.

In this case, I really liked everything in the SE except EMPTY NESTS, which didn't sound quite right as a plural.  I decided to plunk a cheater square in the corner and try CLICK FARM off my list at 1-Across, and it all came together from there, except for the BANC/ASCH crossing.  I guess the cheater in the corner doesn't look all thaaaaat bad. . . .

Editor's Comments

This themeless is a beauty all around!  All 12 of the long entries are colorful and lively, and if that plus the smooth short fill isn't impressive enough, John even worked some goodies into the midlength fill (such as PLUS SIZE and MAH-JONGG).  If I had to pick five entries that stand out to me the most, they'd be CLICK FARM, FEATHER BOA, HORSE LAUGH, ZERO TO HERO, and MR UNIVERSE.  John has become one of my favorite themeless constructors in the business—watch for another one of his puzzles here in a couple weeks and be sure to solve his New York Times puzzle today, too!