REPORT CARD

Randolph Ross, of New York City, is a retired principal for high schools in Queens, Great Neck and Plainview, N.Y. Crosswords helped him get one of his jobs. He says his final interview with the Great Neck Board of Education was devoted mainly to crossword constructing rather than how to run a school. Having had one of his puzzles published in The Times shortly before "was good timing and made for a happy interview."

This is Randy's 50^th Sunday crossword for the paper and his 113^th Times puzzle overall.

This is a milestone puzzle for me — my 50th Sunday NY Times crossword. I thought I'd reflect on this avocation that has given me so much pleasure and has allowed me to meet so many smart and creative people that I may not have met otherwise. Crossword constructing has been a super icebreaker when I meet people for the first time, and having cruciverbalist on my resume has helped me at job interviews more than once. I'm not surprised anymore that in spite of a 50-year career in education doing important things for children for families, people want to talk more about how crosswords are made than how children learn or how we can fix our schools.

I love both the art and craft of puzzle construction. My creative juices flow when thinking of a theme that is hopefully clever, usually punny, and internally consistent. Today's puzzle, for example, of course came from my experience as an educator. Finding appropriate adjectives linked to letter grades is a common task for those of us who have been graders of student work. Using those adjectives in phrases makes for potentially fun wordplay resulting in a set of "Report Card" theme entries.

The craft of fitting those long entries into a grid is my favorite part of constructing. Working within the parameters of symmetry, under 140 words, and fresh entries are like solving a puzzle of another kind. That part of crossword construction has changed over the years with the advances of technology and the liberalization of what is an acceptable entry. My first Sunday Times puzzles about thirty years ago had to be done on graph paper, with hardcover dictionaries and a ton of trial and error. I still get joy out of finishing a tough corner or coming up with a new entry to solve a seemingly impossible crossing. It's hard to explain how when you're stuck and you put a puzzle construction down for a while, how often the solution occurs to you after some sleep or for no apparent reason at all.

The most challenging part of puzzling for me is coming up with good, original clues. I am in awe of my editors and fellow constructors who have that knack and play with words so effortlessly. I especially have admired fellow cruciverbalists like Bob Klahn, Merl Reagle, Rich Silvestri, Mike Shenk , Will Shortz, and so many others who create so much original wordplay for solvers to enjoy. I try to be as eclectic as possible with my word choices. Crosswords appeal across demographic groups. I believe creating and clueing them with one group in mind, whether they are older folks like me or younger solvers who have quite different vocabularies and interests, makes some unhappy but minimizes some opportunities to learn from each other's generational knowledge base.

What fun it is to have this crossword puzzle hobby. I hope everyone enjoys today's puzzle... and to those who like to critique — go to it! But remember, crossword puzzles are entertainment, not to be taken that seriously, just a diversion from the real problems we all face living in a sometimes unfair and irrational world.

REPORT CARD

THEME: GREAT

Excellent concept. PARKING FINE imagined as "Parking: fine" makes me wish I thought of this notion.

THEMERS: GOOD

SCARBOROUGH: FAIR is another solid example, as is BATTING: AVERAGE. Not all of them worked, though. MOTHER: SUPERIOR isn't consistent, as it ought to be "mothering" to match the overall structure. BUCK PASSING is a questionable base phrase, as is TASTE GREAT.

GRID: NEEDS IMPROVEMENT

Randy and I had a useful exchange after his last low word-count experiment. There's nothing wrong with wanting to keep yourself challenged. After 100+ puzzles, the risk of getting bored is high.

There is something wrong about producing a grid like this, though, featuring pile-ups of ON UP / ONE AS, NOT US / ARTES, AGITA, BIERS, SIDER, THORO, and so on.

The center of the grid is the biggest offender, and that could be addressed by using more black squares to separate the themers. There is something to be said for adding JOCUND and INROADS into your grid, but their spice is not worth the moribund price. Any time you leave so much real estate open between three themers, gloop is bound to happen. It was so unpleasant to wade through.

Such a shame. New ideas are precious in crosswords. I'm officially begging Will Shortz to crack down harder on these low-word-count stunts. A couple rounds of theme and grid revision, and this could have garnered POW! consideration.