Benji Goldsmith’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap

NY Times crossword answer, 11 19 22, no. 1119

A stunning themeless, if a tad on the straightforward facet for a Saturday puzzle. The hourglass grid design lends the look of getting a lot of lengthy fill, whereas round half of the entries are literally within the 3- and 4-letter area.

Fave fill: “OK, SHOOT,” AT ONE WITH NATURE (what’s your favourite pure atmosphere to be in?), CREATES A MONSTER (such an amazing phrase), DIALS IT BACK (additionally nice), SMALL TALK ([It’s sometimes weather-related], true sufficient–it’s chilly in Chicago and snowing in Buffalo, that’s all I do know), MOUSEKETEER, MEAT ALTERNATIVE, the nice “IS THIS SEAT TAKEN?”, and “THEY SAY…”.

Not in any respect eager on “OH ME” (it’s marginally higher than AH ME, which all you constructors ought to purge out of your wordlists!), and RATLIKE feels perhaps bizarre. TERNS is boring fill, however the clue saves it: [Birds that rarely swim, despite having webbed feet]. They simply need to be prepared for something! I don’t assume [Quirky old fellas] is apt for GEEZERS; uninteresting and cranky previous fellas may also be known as geezers, and quirkiness doesn’t enter into it, in my expertise. Is Merriam-Webster off base, or am I?

Four stars from me.