Killian Olson author page

In an incredibly serendipitous moment last July, my parents invited me to tag along with them to visit Starving Artist Brewing in Ludington, Michigan. Unbeknownst to them, I had just recently finished creating this puzzle and was waiting for the New York Times crossword submission portal to reopen the very next day!

The idea for this theme occurred when I had previously heard the phrase "starving artist" and realized it could be a fun revealer for a food art puzzle! I immediately imagined Andy Warhol's "Campbell's Soup Cans" and Vincent van Gogh's "Still Life with Apples," but what's even more appropriate than paintings of individual foods? Paintings of entire meals—and what could be more prominent than Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper"! This new direction allowed me to narrow down theme entry possibilities to well-known artists with paintings titled "The [type of meal]," and I ultimately decided on Claude Monet's "The Luncheon" and Paul Cézanne's "The Buffet" to complete the theme set.

I am especially fascinated with "The Luncheon," which is notable for being rejected by the Paris Salon in 1870 because the jury deemed it improper to display the intimate, everyday moment of a family eating lunch at such a monumental scale! Monet later exhibited "The Luncheon" alongside "Impression, Sunrise" at the First Impressionist Exhibition in 1874.

Like the paintings in this puzzle, crosswords are art. While maybe not appearing as visually delicious as the ladyfingers in "The Buffet" or the grapes in "The Luncheon," I hope you find my canvas just as appetizing!

Hi! I'm a software engineer from Rockford, Mich. Besides solving and constructing crosswords, I enjoy running, skiing and cheering on my favorite sports teams.

I started solving the New York Times Crossword in 2022 during my junior year at the University of Michigan (Go Blue). I was caught up in the Wordle craze, so I figured, why not try my hand at the Crossword? I opened my first puzzle on a Saturday and stared at a mostly empty grid for over an hour before throwing in the towel. (Note to past self: Saturday puzzles are the hardest.) I embraced the challenge and set out to solve a full week of puzzles without outside assistance; a new hobby was born. While accomplishing this goal and continuing to solve daily, I became intrigued by the thought of constructing my own crossword, with the ultimate ambition of being published in The Times. I created my first-ever crossword — a rebus puzzle, naturally — and submitted it. I was rejected, but the process had introduced a creative outlet that I loved just as much as solving. My first published crossword came in 2023, with The Michigan Daily's Games team. However, I graduated shortly after my puzzle ran, and it remained my only published puzzle — until today. Over two years and many more rejections since my construction journey began, I am beyond thrilled to be making my Times debut!

Auto-fill is one of life's greatest conveniences. Never again shall we be encumbered by having to remember complex passwords, or by reaching for our wallets when online shopping! This crossword came about when I realized that AUTOFILLED was also a perfect revealer for a car theme. After scouring lists of car brands and searching for entries with those "autos" hidden across multiple words, I decided on this theme set. While Ford had multiple options, the entries for Tesla, Honda and GMC were much more limited and are all debuts.

To anyone thinking about getting into crossword construction: Please do it! I promise it's worth it.