New York Times, Monday, September 20, 2021

I'm a Queens-born counselor/social worker living in New Orleans, and this is my debut puzzle in the New York Times. Fifteen years ago in 2006, I began making crossword puzzles, eventually landing a job constructing them weekly for my college newspaper, The Daily Reveille, at LSU. My puzzles had themes that ran the gamut from campus landmarks to LSU football rivalries to Baton Rouge's Mardi Gras.

After graduating, I moved to New Orleans, and continued making locally themed puzzles for the now-defunct alternative paper, The NOLA Defender. I broke convention from the national puzzles I was used to seeing by allowing two-letter words in the grid and packing in as much South Louisiana-related trivia as I could. As far as I know, these are the first and only puzzles that were made in Louisiana, for Louisianians. I look back on these puzzles with sweetness and reverence, as they were earnest expressions of the most important crossword value of mine: making people feel seen. The puzzles were odes to my community in South Louisiana, vehicles for me to validate the cultural perspectives of a region that is so profoundly unique and special to me. Alas, in 2012, I stopped making puzzles entirely after a few rejections from the Times. The learning curve from amateur local puzzles to the Times crossword seemed too steep for me to grasp.

After a decade-long hiatus, I came across a resource that renewed my sense of puzzlemaking purpose: the Crossword Constructor Collaboration Directory, a Facebook group offering mentorship to constructors who identify as women, people of color, queer, and other groups that have long lacked representation in the puzzle world. The group connected me to a larger movement of constructors who likewise saw the sphere of crossword puzzles as a platform to reimagine whose voices are being heard. Through the group, I met constructors whose encouragement and feedback empowered me to continue making puzzles, so that I could finally fulfill a dream I've had since 2006 — to publish a puzzle in the New York Times. It was a much longer journey to a debut than most. For all the moments of self-doubt I've fought through, I feel proud of myself today for making it here.

Quick notes on the puzzle:

• It feels poetic to debut on a Monday.
• I regret not being attentive enough to the representation of proper nouns within the puzzle. The number of White folks and Eurocentric locations significantly outweighs the number of people of color and any other geographical locations.
• After watching "Shang-Chi" last week, I requested to change the clue for LIU to reference the "Shang-Chi" star Simu LIU. Unfortunately, it was too late to make the change. As an Asian-American, it would have felt personally meaningful to draw attention to either the actor or the film. I selfishly hope to debut Simu Liu or "Shang-Chi" in a future puzzle.
• As a gluten-sensitive person whose favorite food is unfortunately pizza, I'm happy to draw attention to 17-Across for those with similar food sensitivities or allergies (and similar loves of pizza).
• It means a lot to me that my pronouns THEY/THEM are debuting in the NYT crossword. I remember how nice it felt to complete this puzzle. Even if the fleeting sense of validation during a crossword puzzle is such a small consolation in the grand scheme of life, if my puzzle can make anyone feel a little bit more seen, that's what I'm here for.

Now this is the kind of theme that brings you down to Earth!

The puzzle gave me an initial tremor with that crazy [What lava becomes after an eruption] clue for ROCKS. I've heard research that some solvers view 1-Across as a predictor, going as far as to stop if they can't get it right away. Glad I don't do that, because what a neat a-ha when I arrived at MAGMA at the symmetrical location.

MAGMA bubbling up through the CORE, MANTLE, and finally erupting out the CRUST? A ROCKS solid theme.

Fantastic themer selections. GLUTEN FREE CRUST is fresh, ASSUME THE MANTLE is colorful. ROTTEN TO THE CORE is more common in crosswords, but it's still a great figure of speech.

Amazing debut gridwork. Pao took full advantage of the freedom given by only three themers. THEY/THEM is excellent, easy to figure out even for a Monday, and it's a piece of fill that declares that this is not your grandpa's NYT crossword. With ET CETERA, MEGADEAL, and EGOMANIA, that's four out of four big winners.

Such excellent bonuses in SQUEEGEED and ASTEROIDS, too.

The two Qs are interesting in the west, though I don't know how fair it is for a newb to encounter SISQO crossing CINQ.

Constructors typically jump on complete sets of three, four, or five, so most of them feel stale to me these days. It's rare indeed when I can only remember one previous instance of a known set.

I gave this serious POW! consideration, but the initial quake from 1-Across was enough to set me off balance. I'm curious if some solvers don't figure out the theme today. Joanne's EARTHS LAYERS felt too overt for my taste, but perhaps something in between — EARTH by itself? — would have been perfect.

Overall, though, wonderful debut.