Well, this was a guarded success!

First, the negatives:

I use spelt flour, which tends to be slack and not raise as well as I'd
like - but I can eat as much of it as I want.

I'd probably use a smaller diameter pot next time, to force a little
more rise.

Damned thing stuck like Gorilla Glue to my very well floured linen
cloth, so the top isn't as pretty as it should be.

Now, the positives:

Wonderful crust! I didn't hear it "sing" as it cooled, but this is a
crackling, relatively thick crust, not tough or hard, but a great crunch.

Nice, open crumb, with what I at least consider good gluten development
and glossy bubbles.

Very good flavor developed. Could handle rich additives like garlic and
olives without losing it's own character.

Baking notes:

I adjusted the published recipe to weights, converting his "42% water"
to 72% hydration. Measured out 1 5/8 cups of room-temp water, which I
then weighed. Added 1/4 teaspoon of instant yeast and 1 1/2 tsp salt,
then hand mixed in 1.38 times the water weight of unbleached white spelt
flour.

Turned into an oiled bowl (maybe a little too much oil) and flipped it
over, then left at ~68 to 70 F for almost 20 hours. (Weekend baking
would be better!)

Turned out onto a lightly floured work surface and did a couple of folds
with the bench knife, then left covered to rest for 15 minutes.

Formed up into a ball as well as I could, given it's very slack, sticky
nature, and flipped it onto a heavily dusted smooth linen towel. Covered
and left it to rise again for 2 hours.

After 1 1/2 hours, fired up the oven to 450 F, with a heavy walled
non-stick aluminum pot preheating. At 2 hours, gently rolled the boule
into the pot. Yeah, right! Hung it by the towel, as I cut the mass loose
with the bench knife, dropping it into the hot pot. Shook the pot gently
to spread the dough a bit, but it was elastic enough to hold onto its
rough shape.

Covered tightly and baked for 30 minutes, then removed the cover and
returned it to the ovem for 20 more minutes.

Was able to hold off my self and wife for an hour, as it cooled, made
the first cut, and took some money shots...

Browse to: http://david-bell1.magix.net/
Click on "NYT Bread" on the left side menu, then on "Image overview"
after the slideshow starts. You can then double-click on the thumbnails
for decently large images.

Dave