Colin Maxwell

@Isabeau I am aware of both channels but surely Will Shortz knows that only TCM is "for cinephiles". Turner Classic Movies educates its audience with foundational movies from classic stars and directors. It provides context and trivia with intros and outros for nearly every film they show. The Movie Channel shows whatever schlock Showtime doesn't want. The Friday night line-up this week on TCM is Second Chance (1953) with Jack Palance and Robert Mitchum, Show Boat (1936) with Irene Dunne and Paul Robeson, and finally Island in the Sun (1957) with James Mason and a young, hot Harry Belafonte. Meanwhile on the channel that the puzzle says is "for cinephiles" they have: Cursed (2005) - Siblings (Christina Ricci, Jesse Eisenberg) search for the werewolf that attacked them. Venom (2005) - A killer stalks teens (Agnes Bruckner, Jonathan Jackson, Laura Ramsey) in the swamps of Louisiana. The Collector (2009) - A desperate thief finds that the house he planned to break into is rigged with deadly traps. If they need to have TMC in their grid because it makes it easier then I want them to stop cluing it as "for film buffs" or "cable home of cinephiles"

@SP Agreed! Also, I think window washers generally start at the top and work their way down throughout the day!

@R. Finn I agree with people that this puzzle seemed like a Wednesday or Tuesday level gimmick. But I like your hyphen idea. If the constructors had figured out a visual way of representing the hyphen as a rebus square and then clued them down as the whole word (ie "insured" =bond-E-D or "have a wild night" =tie-O-N-E-O-N) then it might have had that fuller Thursday feeling of depth and cohesion.