Nautilus Puzzles

I'll see you all later today at Boswords ! In preparation, have a themeless with some extra Boston-related content. Enjoy, go Sox, wicked pissah etc. PDF PUZ

Got a puzzle in the New York Times! Play it here ; if you don't have an NYT subscription, you can probably figure out other ways to find it. This feels like a good opportunity to go a little more in-depth on my construction and publishing experience; some notes below! On constructing:  This puzzle started with the oversized groups of black squares in the corners, because I liked the look of those big pools of ink. How the crossword looks before you solve it is part of the experience! (I think it's like the plating of a dish at a restaurant, in an awkward metaphor I've tried to force before.) With this many black squares, I could afford a pretty low wordcount, and I'm pleasantly surprised at the quality of fill I was able to get. (ENIGMATOLOGY, most famous as the invented major of a young Will Shortz, was a happy accident, not an attempt to curry favor!) I started filling from the top down; I'm a big fan of conversational fill, and SOIGATHERED is one of those phrases