Monday the 11th

CS 3:30
LAT 3:02
NYT 2:51
NYS tba

Lynn Lempel remains my favorite Monday constructor. She's not doing anything fancy—just a solid group of theme entries for a standard type of theme, amid a solid fill—but somehow it always seems to feel extra fresh in Lynn's hands, as in the Monday NYT. (More below.)

I like to do both the NYT and the Sun the evening before they're published, but the Sun puzzle's not posted online yet. But you know what? That's okay. I'm flexible. I can wait. I'm very patient...although if the Sun puzzle's still not posted by around 9:00 Monday morning, I will get antsy, and may turn to artificial stimulants to keep me going.

I liked Lynn's theme entries, which didn't cohere in my brain until I worked my way to the lower right corner, where EYES revealed itself to be the tie between the theme entries, since NEEDLEs, HURRICANEs, POTATOes, and FACEs all have 'em. Lynn also dropped a couple X's and 10-letter entries in the grid for added seasoning.