New York Times, Monday, August 1, 2022

I'm a rising high school senior at Riverdale Country School in New York City. It's beyond an honor to have today's puzzle!

I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure I thought of this theme on a Sunday night while I was sitting on the red chair in my living room trying not to do my homework, although, admittedly, that's how I come up with most of my puzzles. I sent this grid in with a bit of trepidation — since I know a hidden word theme is a tough sell these days — I was so happily surprised when the team told me this one was going to be a yes.

I want to thank the editing team, especially Wyna Liu and Tracy Bennett, for giving me kind and thoughtful feedback on my puzzles. Most of all, thank you to Andrew Kingsley for being the best cruciverbal partner-in-crime (and English teacher!) in potentially the history of cruciverbal partners-in-crime. Collaborating with him has made me the crossword constructor I am today, and for that, I am eternally grateful. Andrew and I have some cool stuff in the works, so hopefully, you'll see us under the bright lights sometime soon.

Happy solving!

Come on down, crossword solvers! THE PRICE IS literally RIGHT, synonyms for "price" at the end of three long phrases. WHOLE BEAN COFFEE, CARE TO ELABORATE, GUERILLA WARFARE ... there's something elegant about 15-letter grid spanners because they leave no residues or stowage in the rest of the row.

Hopefully, those puns don't make you want to charge at me.

"Disguised synonyms" puzzles are usually done using whole words, like with DEPTH CHARGE or TARGET HEART RATE. "Hidden words" typically get tucked in the middles of themers. It's fun to get something different from THE USUAL FARE today.

Four grid-spanning themers can be challenging to grid around, especially in the west and east regions, where you have a triplet of down entries that will need to thread through the ends of two themers. Garrett did a solid job, the east not only smooth but with an X woven in to boot. I don't know my royals well, but SUSSEX rang a bell.

The west was nearly as solid. I don't mind III since it's a common suffix. (A close friend of mine is Fred, Jr., and his son is Fred, III. His other son is also named Fred, and he doesn't care to elaborate.)

The rest of the grid isn't usually too difficult once you figure out something that works for the west and east sections, but I appreciated the extra touches, Garrett working in the colorful EVEN KEEL and LOW POINT. I'm sure some solvers will balk at LOLCAT, either because they're too old to know what this is, or the kids these days will roll their eyes at the LOLCAT being ten years past its prime. Doze cats still making me lolz, though.

So many hidden words and disguised synonyms take a toll, so I appreciated something a little different.