I’m a sucker for cutesy wutesy descriptors these days–something about becoming a dad, I guess–or maybe it’s just that it’s nice to see toddler talk taken seriously by a puzzle. Because: why not? There’s no rule about how prestigious a word has to be to merit inclusion in a crossword, and thank goodness, or we’d lose out on a lot of slang and every neologism until it’s officially endorsed by a major dictionary. Rule of thumb: go with what sounds or looks good, and let that be the way you VET your fill and clues. At any rate, you can tell this constructor loves having fun with language, given all the playful ? clues: One gauging reactions? is of course a CHEMIST while Like you versus me? is literally just LONGER and to Come from out of nowhere? is an apt way of describing a TELEPORT. It’s one thing to clue “Your words mean nothing” and to subsequently fill in TALK IS CHEAP, but a crossword should always aspire to be rich–even if that’s with a bunch of “cheap” words.
- Ada Nicolle, luckystreak xwords+, 2/21/22
The Crossword Scholar 