Fender

22A I’m assuming that the answer JUL is abbreviated “July”? If so, then the clue “7/“ ruffles my clue logic feathers. You can abbreviate a date as 7/4/1776, or Jul 4, 1776, but the slash after the 7 isn’t part of the abbreviation of “July”;‘it’s the space between the Jul and the 4. (If the slash is part of the abbreviation, what would the right clue be for a British puzzle? “/7” or “/7/“ or “7/“?) If this was musical notation, it would be like saying a rest after a note is part of the note. It looks like it was trying to be a tricky or clever clue, but I just don’t think it hangs together.

Just checking: the sexiest man alive in 2021 was NOT Rand Paul, right?

Going all in on “atta way”, apparently.

First and foremost, I think this is a beautifully constructed puzzle. Now, I got the gold star when I filled in 69A with THE NORTH WEST, not having a clue about puzzlecraft behind the alternative solutions until reading the article. If the gold star is awarded for any of the four possible 69A answers, then kudos all around. But I f I just got lucky with NW being the answer that triggers the win, while entering NE, SW, or SE would have had me tied in knots, then I can sympathize with potentially frustrated solvers.

Am I the only one who thought it was a little clunky to have ACAI intersect with another entry that ends with “acai”?

Straight cis white guy here, so it’s not really my issue to raise, but doesn’t the Q in LGBTQ stand for “questioning” rather than “queer”?