A bunch of crosses persuaded me to enter __ EVITE, with that blank being the circled entry. I also figured out PIT__HY at 22A and PRO TEAM at 37A, having established AT ALL at 40D. It took getting the entire top third of the grid to realize that 22A, was PITCHY, with a circled C, and 24A was also PITCHY, with a circled P. So that was the first double take. PRO TEAM and PRO TEAM followed and the rest gradually filled in. Splendid wordplay all around — we’ve had puzzles with doubled entries, one even earlier this year (also by double constructors, coincidentally) — but this example is very elegant.

Source: New York Times December 14, 2019 22:30 UTC