New York Times, Wednesday, June 28, 2023

MATT: It is so exciting to see this puzzle run on my birthday — thank you to the Times for this awesome and memorable present!

Victor wrote me after the publication of my last Times puzzle expressing his interest in learning more about crossword construction. While I struggle to devise theme ideas and prefer the later stages of filling grids and writing clues, Victor had no shortage of theme proposals and was eager to develop them further. After some exchanges in which Victor brought up phrases involving animals like "Pigs in a Blanket" or "Elephant in the Room," it occurred to us that we could represent those "___ in the ___" expressions using literal Across and Down crossings. That realization also meant we could eliminate the inconsistencies or redundancies of articles and pronouns from one phrase to another.

Since my last puzzle, I started graduate school in architecture and am currently living in Cambridge, MA, where I understand the puzzle community is strong. It's tough to balance puzzle constructing with the school schedule, but I hope to find more time for it and to branch out further in the world of puzzle people!

VICTOR: This puzzle is dedicated to the memory of my father, Gilbert Sloan, who died peacefully on May 24 at the age of 94. While he didn't get to see the puzzle in print, I did tell him it had been accepted, and he was one of our test solvers. Whenever we would visit, I would photocopy the puzzle (yes, I still solve on paper) and we would work on it side by side. We would also listen to the Sunday Puzzle on NPR (with Will Shortz) and we would race to solve it and call the other person.

I got the theme idea from a book about English language curiosities and realized there were a number of animal idioms in the form (animal) in the ____. I reached out to Matt, who graciously agreed to work with me to bring this to fruition. I learned so much in our collaboration.

My portion of the payment for this puzzle will be donated to the Newark Museum of Art's Explorers Program, which is the successor to the Junior Museum program that gave my father his first exposure to science in the 1930s.

About me: I am a rheumatologist currently working for the Peace Corps (I was a Volunteer in Cameroon from 1981-83). This October, my wife Sandra Gong and I will celebrate our 35^th anniversary. We are the proud parents of 2 amazing daughters, ages 24 and 19.

We've seen plenty of literally IN themes and X through Y, but this is something a little different. PARTRIDGE (in a) PEAR TREE, FROG (in one's) THROAT, etc. It's cool that all pairs intersect through a common letter, and the image of a FROG lodged in one's esophagus is exactly what that figure of speech evokes.

I had initial qualms about this crossing approach for X IN Y phrases. It's strange that only the R of PARTRIDGE is literally in the PEAR TREE, so if you're going to go with a literalisms puzzle, the linear approach feels more solid.

However, I like that there are no nonsensical entries anywhere in the grid. It's also neat that most of the entries play off of vertical items. I can imagine the PARTRIDGE hiding out in a vertical PEAR TREE, for instance.

BEE in one's BONNET, not so much, but what can you do.

Themes requiring heavy cross-referencing can chop up solving flow. This is one area in which digital approaches have so much potential to outclass print media. Instead of slogging through "where TF is 44-Down?!" angst, a well-tuned app could highlight both entries together. Curious to see how the NYT's app handles it today.

Pairs of crossing themers are notorious for causing fill problems, so to escape with one dab for each of five pairs — A PAT in one corner, odd plural AIOLIS in another, etc. — is a reasonable result. Smart layout, pseudo-isolating each of the five themer pairs.

Not the strongest a-ha, but solid enough for a Wednesday. I appreciate the effort to do something a little different.