To revise or not...

[Raymond Hansen]

I submitted a puzzle to NYT and got a "no" reply with the comments, "We all agreed this was a very cute idea, and the visual element excited us, but..." word count too high, only needs one revealer (it has two), and too many 3-letter words... They did not ask for a revision of the puzzle, but I reworked it and fixed these issues.  I assume it would be inappropriate to resubmit the revised version via the email, but I was foolishly hoping to hear otherwise from some veteran constructors here.

Thanks for any input

[mmcbs]

I think your instinct is correct. In my limited experience with NYT approvals (2), my sense is that if they thought the idea was "cute" enough for an approval they would have requested a revision. A common phrase in the NYT rejection email ("it didn't excite Will enough to say yes") suggests that he and his staff can be excited by a theme, but not "ENOUGH" to want to use it. Of course, it only costs you $0.50 (and a few months' wait time) to submit your reworked version, but perhaps you should try it with another publisher, perhaps one who accepts theme queries.

[Raymond Hansen]

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. Thank for the feedback. I thought I'd throw the idea out there before re-submitting and waiting months for response, or sending off to another publisher. Here goes round two.

Thanks again!

[andrewmc]

I submitted a puzzle to NYT and got a "no" reply with the comments, "We all agreed this was a very cute idea, and the visual element excited us, but..." word count too high, only needs one revealer (it has two), and too many 3-letter words... They did not ask for a revision of the puzzle, wsj crossword but I reworked it and fixed these issues.  I assume it would be inappropriate to resubmit the revised version via the email, but I was foolishly hoping to hear otherwise from some veteran constructors here.

Thanks for any input

You should never give up. While NYT and Shortz can be very strict sometimes, I would definitely recommend you to submit it to other crossword publishers.