"Disconnect," by Ross Trudeau

Constructor's Comments

The idea for this puzzle came not from finding the revealer but rather from legitimately seeing the phrase "It takes two to tango" on a storefront with the go obscured.  Thanks, xword gods!

Also, I'm part of the community of folks who manage chronic pain, so I was happy to pay homage to my OUCHIES (it's a word I use daily) in the fill of this particular puzz.

"A Self-Critical Puzzle," by Ross Trudeau

Constructor's Comments

This puzzle was a lot of fun to make.  I imagine it will be more fun to solve for folks who have been crosswording for a while and can nod and laugh along with a puzzle that pokes fun at puzzles.  I also felt okay dropping in a bunch of cheater squares around the periphery of the grid, because I wanted to produce a pretty smooth solving experience . . . including a bunch of CROSSWORDESE or PARTIAL answers would have been a bit too meta. . . .

"Pistons," by Ross Trudeau

Constructor's Comments

Sometimes I think of an idea for a puzzle that necessarily implies an ambitious grid and let it pass blissfully from my mind.  But SIX CYLINDER(S) kept bubbling back to the surface, and I figured a seven-theme puzzle could work if a couple of the theme answers were short (SPOOL, CIGAR).  No one likes excessive grid wrangling, which can grind you down until you start thinking, "You know what?  NENES isn't such a bad word."

Fortunately, David held the line on NENES (and a few other unsavory bits).  He even suggested replacing LINAGE in the NW corner with OWNAGE, a lovely alternative that wasn't in my word list.  David FTW!  And not the first or last time. . . .

"Canceled Performance," by Ross Trudeau

Editor's Comments

I receive so many submissions whose themes involve adding or deleting letters that I've had to set the bar for them extra-high.  Ross's puzzle today really exemplifies what I'm looking for in this theme genre—all the "base phrases" (like lactose intolerant and partisan tactic) are fun and in-the-language, the reveal nicely describes what's going on, and the transformations are all funny.  That last criterion is subjective, though a big part of humor for me is whether the theme entries can be clued in a way that makes sense.  For example, LOSE INTOLERANCE works well from that perspective, though LOSE FREE wouldn't work for me, since I can't imagine a clue for it that wouldn't be a major stretch.

"I'm Out of Here!" by Ross Trudeau

Constructor's Comments

This puzzle was conceived when my eye fell on an old DVD of Meet John Doe with the Me obscured by another DVD box.  E.T. JOHN DOE tickled me so much that I tried to figure a decent revealer on the spot, with DON'T START WITH ME coming soon thereafter.  (ME)TA CENTERS was the editor's suggestion to round out the theme.  Voilà!

Editor's Comments

I love Ross's story about how he came up with this theme!  As a constructor, I have a lot of trouble identifying what inspires me—ideas just pop into my head randomly, especially during stressful times.  In fact, I do most of my constructing right before exams!  The New York Times recently published an article on procrastibaking, so I'll coin my "condition" procrastiverbalism.

Ross also mentions the theme entry (ME)TA CENTERS.  He originally had D STUDENTS in that slot (from med students), though it bothered me that D students was a legitimate expression.  We both dug around to find other possibilities, and for whatever reason, my eye landed on metacenters and confused it with the much more common word epicenters.  Excited that I'd found something, I sent it off to Ross, and he reworked the lower part of the puzzle accordingly.

Fortunately, our test solvers asked me what on earth a metacenter was!  After a quick Google search, I realized I'd goofed.  Discovering (ME)GALOPOLIS, which tickled me and could be substituted in without losing too much of Ross's top-notch gridwork, was a last-minute stroke of luck.  Many thanks to Ross for giving me more credit than I deserve and to our test solvers for keeping me honest.

"Light Meal," by Ross Trudeau

Constructor's Comments

The inspiration for this puzzle was the persistence of the phrase "nothing burger" on cable news television over the last year or so.  If only they'd update the menu. . . .

The trick was coming up with other junky food modified by words or phrases that make the resulting meal "insubstantial."  Ultimately, BIG GULPS OF AIR was the key to being able to lay out the grid in a workable way.  And while it's the least "in the language" of the theme answers, it's also my favorite mental image.

Editor's Comments

I like how each of this puzzle's theme entries is its own "aha" moment.  In other words, the theme entries are consistent yet so different structurally that you can't just fill them all in once you solve one.  The surprise NOTHING BURGER after the reveal is a nice touch, too.  Also, check out those wide-open upper right and lower left corners!  As a constructor, I would've instinctively added a pair of black squares at the 23-Across/9-Down and 46-Across/33-Down crossings—such open corners are usually impossible to fill, let alone fill smoothly.  But Ross nailed it, which shows serious grid-wrangling skills!