Continuing to work at improving my themeless construction with this 68-word grid; I recently said 20-Across during a conversation with family and decided it would make a good seed.
To those who are frequent solvers and/or constructors of themeless puzzles, I’d welcome comments re: what does and doesn’t work here.
Happy solving.
Very nice! The puzzle is interesting and clean (as in no junk fill) with wide-open corners. I liked all the grid spanners. I’m not sure how many people will know 29D, though he was one of my favorite players growing up. There’s always writer James to fall back on if you want to give an alternative. Great to see 23D clued with respect to Steely Dan – it’s a really good early song of theirs. A few very minor suggestions/comments: (1) Given the similarity between 10A and the clue for 40D, you might consider (or not) changing the clue for 40D. (2) The clue for 17A uses a word contained in 20A. Another small change to consider or reject. (3) I’m fine with the clue for 27A not indicating a shortening of the answer, but sticklers might object. After plunking down YAMS at 13D I was going to suggest making the clue plural, until I realized that I had the wrong answer!
Thank you so much for your careful review and comments, Jeff! I’ve addressed all three of your suggestions. There were many clueing options for 23D; had to go with an all-time favorite band of mine. 😊
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