New York Times, Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Hey there everyone! So thrilled to make my debut in the New York Times and on XWord Info!

Crosswords started becoming a passion of mine in high school when my science teacher would take a look at the newspaper I brought to class, and we would solve the crossword (she would do the heavy lifting while I helped out with the sports clues). Crossword puzzle tournaments the past decade have been magical experiences, and I've had the honor of being able to share my thoughts on various crosswords at crosswordfiend.com since 2014.

I had thought about today's puzzle theme for at least four years, seeing OHIO PLAYERS displayed on my iPhone screen any time a song of their played. Initially, I wanted to see if CAV or CAVALIER could also be part of the theme as well but thought that would just slow me down even further. After dragging my feet on buying crossword constructing software and forcing myself to start this process for the first time for a 15 x15 puzzle, I finally put the final touches on this grid in April.

The goal was to make sure a sports-related theme was accessible to everyone, especially given the somewhat polarizing nature to the genre in crosswords. Initially, I wanted to have no clues in the entire grid with a sports reference outside of the gimmick itself. Was pretty close to that, but that darn ELGIN got in the way! Only a few edits on entries were made to the original submission, but I did want one other clue to reference sports afterward, as my ACE clue was [Many a winning shot by Serena Williams].

Speaking of Serena and Elgin, getting in a lot of Black figures was paramount in this first-ever submission, from ELGIN to SUN RA to SHAFT to the OHIO PLAYERS ensemble.

And if you're wondering, I wholeheartedly believe the Cleveland baseball team should change its name, and there was no way I was going to refer to INDIAN as the misnomer used for indigenous tribes of the Americas. Even in a small way, I hope this continues to a discussion about representation and the uses of identities in sports that are offensive and the need to rectify it.

Alright, got to check in to see if my old high school science teacher has tried solving my puzzle! Take care, everyone!

Ade! Back when I was going to the ACPT (in the pre-kid era), I always looked forward to hanging out with Ade. So much fun to be around, always with a big smile on his face. Great guy, and super interesting. He's interviewed a lot of sports celebs, and his crossword reviews at Crossword Fiend are among my favorite. He always ends them with a "Sports Will Make You Smarter" segment, and indeed, it consistently does!

Knowing him made today's (debut!) solve extra fun. I didn't know the OHIO PLAYERS, but what a perfect revealer to explain the theme: Cincinnati BENGAL, Cleveland BROWN, Cincinnati RED, Cleveland INDIAN, covering most of the major OHIO sports teams. It's not complete without the Cavs, but something like CAVALIER ATTITUDE could have sounded contrived and possibly given away the game.

There's BLUE JACKET and CREW, but I bet even sports fans wouldn't know these NHL and MLS teams as readily as the ones Ade included.

It's not a perfect grid, with some AMAIN, O SOLE, ITE, SHA, SRS, DSL, but there was nothing keeping me from a victorious solve. I'd have liked more bonuses, too, perhaps by opening up a corner — perhaps taking out the black square between ALIAS and EEL.

I did appreciate some nice touches, like the fun Electric SLIDE, cluing SHAFT to the classic movie, and a funny NACHO ("not your") cheese dad joke. And gridsmanship comes with time and practice. Practice?

I'm hoping that Ade will continue to make us smarter with future crossword offerings!