Monday October 29th 2018, NY Times Crossword

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Time: 4:10
Monday Average: 8:38
Best Monday: 4:10

Who knew that Peter Gordon of Fireball Crosswords could make Monday level easy crosswords? As I flew through this one while riding in an Uber in Bucharest, the word that kept coming to me was "crunchy." I'm not really sure why. I'm really impressed with the theme, which seems to be black and white animals in phrases. The fact that all of these fit into the grid symmetrically blows my mind a little bit, but maybe that's only because I'm just recently getting into crossword construction mechanics and guidelines.

  • "Children's publisher whose name includes a black-and-white animal:" PUFFIN BOOKS
  • "Foul-smelling swamp plant whose name includes a black-and-white animal:" SKUNK CABBAGE
  • "Areas for pedestrians whose name includes a black-and-white animal:" ZEBRA CROSSINGS
  • "Restaurant chain whose name includes a black-and-white animal:" PANDA EXPRESS
  • "Men's fancy duds whose name includes a black-and-white animal:" PENGUIN SUIT
Again, I'm highly impressed with the theme, which probably justifies some of the junky fill, such as ACADS ("Mil. schools) and GAI ("Moo goo ___ pan). There's also both AAS ("Some small batteries") and AAHS ("Sounds at spas"), which must be in violation of some construction rule, right? But, I suppose sometimes a strong theme RELIES on some less than ideal fill. I said YES plenty of times during this puzzle, especially loving ZANINESS, even though I got it entirely from crosses. If the bad fill NAGS you, so be it, but I'm betting most people who would be bugged by it finished this puzzle before they even noticed it. Hey, look at that, a new Monday record for me!

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