Jill Singer’s New York Times puzzle – Sophia’s write-up

Theme: Bug-related idioms about agitation.

New York Times, 11 07 2022, By Jill Singer

• 17a/58a [With 58-Across, “I’m so nervous! There are …”] BUTTERFLIES IN MY STOMACH
• 24a [“I can’t stop thinking about it! There’s a …”] – BEE IN MY BONNET
• 48a [“I can’t sit still! There are …”] – ANTS IN MY PANTS
• 36a [“Why the troubled look?” … or a hint to 17-, 24-, 48- and 58-Across] – WHAT’S BUGGING YOU?

This is a prime notch Monday theme, for my part. The revealer is what brings it up from simply being an inventory of bug-related idioms. WHAT’S BUGGING YOU is a superb (15 letter!) phrase that explains what connects the theme solutions, whereas additionally including within the “bug” wordplay. All the theme solutions are well-known however I had by no means thought to attach them this manner, and so despite the fact that they have been Monday-easy sufficient to place in rapidly, I nonetheless received an “aha!” second at the same time as an skilled solver.

At first once I went by means of the puzzle, I missed the “With 58-Across” a part of BUTTERFLIES IN MY STOMACH and thought, “huh, that’s slightly inelegant to only have half the phrase”. So I used to be thrilled when the second half confirmed up later within the puzzle! I don’t mine that the phrase must be cut up or that the 2 halves are distant from one another – they’re symmetric, the phrase breaks evenly, and it’ll probably give newer solvers a foothold into the underside half of the puzzle.

Given the 5 theme solutions, the fill is sort of prime quality. The standout downs are PITA BREAD, MASTODON, BY MISTAKE, and SICILIAN. That final one took me some time since I just lately ate Detroit-style pizza, which can also be thick crust and sq., so I stored attempting to make that match. The center of the puzzle is just a little weaker than the remaining, with IONO, BUT I, ENTO, UNI, and UNUM all subsequent to one another, however the crosses are honest.

Overall, a stellar NYT debut from Jill. Can’t wait to see extra of her work quickly.