New York Times, Wednesday, October 26, 2022

There are dozens of terms composed of 4+4+4 common, unrelated components (FEAT+HERB+RAIN, say). But I could only find a handful of good 4+4+4+4 candidates where the compound answer is also crossword-worthy. This theme begged to have four themers (4x4x4... "ALL FOURS"), so there were just enough to make it work.

The original submittal included COVE+RING+MATE+RIAL ("covering material") and the editors wisely asked me to keep digging. GOOD+SAND+CHAT+TELS, HOTS+TONE+MASS+AGES, and THUR+GOOD+MARS+HALL were all flawed contenders. Thankfully, Branford Marsalis showed up to save the day.

My penultimate submittal eliminated the Star Wars reference at 68A: I had second thoughts about a long proper noun with no inferable spelling. But the editors asked that I keep it in, saying "... yeah, it might be a polarizing entry — but its inclusion will also be many solvers' favorite thing in the fill..." I found that interesting. Puzzles try to entertain a wide variety of solvers… but the editors know they won't succeed for all of them at once, with every clue or answer. Still, hopefully all solvers find enough goodies in each puzzle to keep it fun!

Jim here, sitting in for Jeff Chen, who is still telling his often-repeated golf story.

I know, I know, you're disappointed Jeff's not available, and you're afraid I might bring up the dreaded RegEx. Fear not! Today, we talk Python. If you know a little bit about programming, I have a recipe for how you can find words that fit today's theme yourself at the end of this post. If not, we can still discuss technology in crosswords.

Everyone suspects that computers are somehow involved in construction. That might feel like cheating. There were undoubtedly some master craftsmen and women who created impressive grids before personal computers were available, but trust me, the overall quality of fill now is way better than it was 20 years ago. Still, we don't want our puzzles to feel computer-generated.

They don't because computers, at least today, can only take construction so far. Machines can quickly find many alternatives for your fill or, just as important, quickly determine if a corner is likely unfillable, but many iterations informed by a human's artistic sense are needed to create a puzzle worthy of publication. It's common for constructors to spend months working on an idea that might never work out.

Computers help in other ways too. If you're the thousandth person to include EMU or OREO in a grid, you can search the web for an interesting tidbit to include in a clue. If your theme is words that include some peculiar property, maybe all the letters are in reverse alphabetical order, you can find lists of such words. And if you want to find words with no vowels other than E or E is the only vowel, you can have your neighbor's kid write a Python script or a RegEx query after he mows your lawn.

Someday there will be a successful Crossword Turing Test where it will be impossible to tell if a new puzzle had any human intervention. Computers can already solve puzzles as quickly as all but the fastest humans. I hope they feel the same joy I do when I complete a grid.

Here are the promised programming steps:

1. Crank up your Python environment. (Here's a good free one.)
2. Copy and paste script #3 from our Python Samples page.
3. Download the latest XWord Info word list (requires an Angel account) and copy it into the same folder as your Python program.

Running that program returns many results, including all of today's themers, but most are boring: ONLY TIME WILL TELL and CAST YOUR MIND BACK are just phrases. LETT HERE CORD SHOW is better, but "show" is a full word. TWOD RINK MINI MUMS is better. There isn't a lot, and Mr. Seigel found an impressive set.