Jeff Stillman’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Fix Me a Double”—Jim P’s overview

Theme: REPAIRS (or RE PAIRS) (66a, [Fixes, or, parsed another way, what 17-, 28-, 44- and 58-Across have]). Each of the opposite theme solutions is a well-recognized phrase that includes paired REs.

Wall St Journal crossword answer · “Fix Me a Double” · Jeff Stillman · Wed., 12.14.22

• 17a. [Lector in a church service] SCRIPTURE READER.
• 28a. [Chemical dropped from a plane] FIRE RETARDANT.
• 44a. [Protected area] NATURE RESERVE.
• 58a. [What instructions might be kept on hand for] FUTURE REFERENCE.

Serviceable theme with high quality theme decisions. Quite a whole lot of actual property dedicated to the theme as effectively, and loads of lengthy fill apart from.

Part of the odd development is as a result of 7-letter revealer’s placement within the backside proper. Often we’d see a revealer of that size within the middle of the grid which could permit for extra flexibility within the corners at the price of tightening issues up within the center. But regardless of the density of theme in that SE nook, it’s stuffed fairly properly, and the opposite large corners have some good property as effectively.

FIVE-STAR is very spectacular contemplating it’s sandwiched between two theme entries. I additionally favored SEURAT, MALAISE, and MINIBUS. RATING A TEN doesn’t really feel fairly like an in-the-language phrase to me, and MID-OCTOBER is just so-so, however contemplate that they every cross three theme entries.

All in all, I’m having a tough time producing a whole lot of pleasure about this grid, however it positively works and will get the job performed. 3.25 stars.