I enoyed this puzzle for its theme, which puzzled me at first. BURNUPTHERD made no sense. Neither did MANONTHEST. Finally it came to me. DR..., AVE..., and HWY... rounded out the covert theme, though I expected them to be at the end of the answers.
I liked NOU and CCED since I doubt I would have thought of how to use them if I were constructing.
I thought this was tougher than normal, but maybe it was me. Perhaps some days one's mind is sharper than others. Anyway, I wonder what the percentage was of cruciverbalists who completed this puzzle perfectly. I did, but it took longer than I would have expected. I think it would be interesting if LAT solvers were polled daily on their success rate. Amy Reynaldo does a speed poll, but perhaps one that just tallies the percentage of completion might also be worthwhile.
