And then, as they say, it hit me: The first and second words in each theme phrase are opposites. Constructor NotesPerhaps some will say this theme is OLD NEWS. When I sent in the FINAL DRAFT of this puzzle, I thought it had REAL POTENTIAL, but likely faced EVEN ODDS for acceptance. So I was TERRIBLY PLEASED when I got the good news it would be in The New York Times. I like the challenge of constructing Monday puzzles because it’s HARDLY EASY to make them clean, interesting and accessible to new solvers.

Source: New York Times March 10, 2019 21:56 UTC