New York Times, Monday, October 14, 2024

I'm not a basketball player or even a basketball fan. I think I came across the revealer for this puzzle because the phrase "double double" randomly popped into my head … not the NBA stat, but the cheeseburger from In-N-Out. I couldn't tell you why. I thought "Hmm, interesting potential for a crossword theme," as one does when one has been bitten by the crossword construction bug — a mind virus that's constantly scanning your thoughts and speech for double meanings. The internet told me that a "triple double" was a basketball thing. I thought, "there couldn't possibly be a QUADRUPLE double," but yes, in fact, there was.

I used ChatGPT to write some code to search my word list for phrases that used four sets of double letters. There's a good amount of luck involved in finding workable crossword themes, and here, I got very lucky: There were only about 10 results, and the four best ones happened to be 15 letters long, thus satisfying the symmetry constraint.

This is my first puzzle published in the The New York Times! I got into constructing about two years ago and it has proved to be a satisfying and, frankly, somewhat therapeutic outlet for my wordplay-oriented brain. (Years ago I had a "problem" with compulsively spoonerizing words. It got so bad that my friend had to stage an intervention. Yank thou, Evan — I mean, thank you — I needed that.)

I'm grateful to have found a hobby where I can channel that dad-joke energy and, hopefully, bring some enjoyment to the solving public. Many thanks to my merry band of test solvers, and especially to Carly Schuna.

I'm currently a grad student at Columbia Journalism School, and I have approximately zero free time, so puzzle-making is on hold for now. But don't worry! I'll be back with more. 😊

We haven't played RegEx in a while, so here's a query that can find QUADRUPLE DOUBLEs in your word lists.

Other interesting 15s include AD HOC COMMITTEES and TENNESSEE VALLEY. If we allow for other lengths, we can have PEEWEE FOOTBALL and SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS. Trying to find more without computer help would probably lead to SUCCESSLESSNESS.

I had never heard of Access Hollywood until this clip surfaced.

A quadruple-double in basketball is when a player records double-digit numbers in four of the five statistical categories in a single game — points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks. The Sporting News says it's been done four times.

Some solvers have expressed consternation at 62-Across. The plural of ELK is usually ELK but can be ELKS.