New York Times, Friday, October 11, 2019

I'm so proud to once again be involved in a project called Queer Qrosswords, which is a collection of top-notch crosswords made by folks in the LGBTQ+ community. To purchase the puzzles in the newest Queer Qrosswords anthology (subtitled 2 Queer 2 Qurious), all you have to do is donate $10 or more to a LGBTQ+ charity and email Queer Qrosswords the receipt, and they'll email you a copy of the puzzles.

Now on to this puzzle, which was inspired by Andrew Ries in many ways. For one, around this time last year, Andrew held a contest to have a guest themeless puzzle published as part of his weekly crossword subscription; this puzzle was my entry into that contest, and Andrew gave me a lot of great feedback.

For another, I was initially inspired to tackle this grid design after solving Andrew's STAGGER SESSIONS, a self-published collection of themeless crosswords that all had this similar pattern of stagger-stacked central entries (that is, long entries offset from each other usually by one square, so that they loosely resemble stairs). What I love about this particular grid design is that it allows you to start with three fresh marquee entries, and then you still have a ton of flexibility when building outward from the center of the grid. I started this one with WHO ASKED YOU, and I liked the way the WH- of WHISKEY RING looked underneath it. From there, it was off to the races.

I'm very happy with how this puzzle turned out. Some of my original clues were way too out there, but I'm glad a few of the weirder ones stuck around, like the clues for ROLEPLAY and EWE. And major props to Will for the great EROTIC ART clue!

Beautiful feature entry in WHO ASKED YOU, a phrase I used to employ frequently. These days, I simply nod a lot and give people a deep look when they offer unsolicited advice. Makes them go away much quicker.

Fantastic combination, WHO ASKED YOU, WHISKEY RING, and TAINTED LOVE. I didn't know the middle one, but what a colorful term. Thankfully, it's two recognizable words, so even if you're a history boor like me, it shouldn't interfere with a successful solve.

And EROTIC ART running through those? Andy, so edgy today! Did anyone else get a Georgia O'Keeffe vibe? No? Well, WHO ASKED YOU?

Oh, I did? Wise guy.

At first, I wondered if EMILY POST, PREWAR, and WHISKEY RING gave the puzzle a dated feel, potentially alienating the younger crowd. I've been working with a younger constructor who asked me the other day, "What the heck does ‘turnabout is fair play' mean?"

Wow, did I feel old.

But it's important to remember that the NYT has a wide and varied solving base, with older folks being a huge market segment. I doubt any of them would remember WHISKEY RING from personal experience, but EMILY POST, sure. With EMILY POST and DWAYNE Johnson representing ends of the spectrum, Andy did well in giving something for everyone.

I'd bet $20 on EMILY POST in a cage match vs. the Rock. She'd etiquette him to death.

A fantastic clue for GUIDE DOG — appropriating "lab assistant" is brilliant.

Well-crafted stair stack themeless; not much gloop holding together this 68-worder. A tad too many entries that didn't resonate with me, though — as with EMMYLOU vs. EMILY POST, BIG GUY and MOO COW did a lot more for me than MULETA and ENCINO. That's a potential danger of "something for everyone," especially when names are involved.