New York Times, Wednesday, February 11, 2015

This crossword taught me the term "sensational spelling" — as in Froot Loops, Cheez Whiz, and the bands referenced in the six theme entries. Artists that didn't make it: CORN, FISH, SALT AND PEPPER, THE MONKEYS, TIMBERLAND, IN SYNCH, and OUTCAST. I'm pleased with the musical diversity in the final draft, which features everything from classic rock to heavy metal to contemporary hip hop.

I originally clued the theme entries not by albums, but by imagining the de-sensationalized spelling as a band, e.g. "Cat that signs and sings?" for DEAF LEOPARD. It was a decent impulse, but the puzzle coheres better after Will Shortz's editing, which instead imagines an overzealous copy editor. He also found a common element in the bands: they all had a number ONE album. It's a testament to his editing skills that he can make a theme work in ways that the constructor never imagined.

Notes from a novice constructor: six theme entries constrained this grid's possibilities, and though I was happy to focus on theme and fill, my next challenge is to write a puzzle with some high-scoring Scrabble letters. I was happy to slot in DARFUR, which I believe is my only non-theme debut word. I was a little sad to lose "How bros shouldn't zap" as my clue for TASE, but the meme reference was probably too internet-based in a puzzle already driven by pop culture.

I'm delighted to be published in the Times! I took up crossword construction for fun this summer — an adolescent viewing of the documentary Wordplay lay dormant in my psyche until then. Currently, I'm getting my Master's in Teaching (high school history), and spend most of my time writing lesson plans rather than crosswords. Honestly, I'm no expert solver; I often google on Tuesdays, and I sympathize with the strugglers rather than the speed-solvers.

Having my first NYT submission published makes me feel like a yokel invited to the king's palace, but the crossword community does a good job of making you feel welcome. Thanks to the Westport Library Crossword Puzzle Tournament for test-driving this puzzle last weekend!

A really nice debut puzzle. Most people would stick to four — or even three — theme answers in their first go-around. But Will goes big with six! Laudable.

And what an amusing theme. I laughed, picturing a junior editor starting out on the job, overzealously throwing around red ink. For all my grumbling about pop songs and hip bands, none of which I know, here's a case where I really welcomed them! It's doubtful that even the most clueless editor would correct THE BEATLES, but I can easily see the person smugly changing LINKIN PARK and deeming the LUDACRIS spelling as truly LUDICROUS.

Smart layout, intersecting two pairs of themers and using black squares to create a lot of space and separation between themers. Doesn't allow for a lot of jazzy fill, but that's okay for me, since the themers were mostly vivid.

A rough patch here and there, but that's to be expected in a six-themer, especially where there's a lot of overlap. And really, only the CWT / TO ERR / EDUC north area stuck out to me. No surprise that it came in one of the two areas with most themer overlap — where four white spaces sit between THE BEETLES and LUDICROUS. I might have tried moving the black square at the end of ITERATE up to the R of RODEO in order to reduce the overlap. Hard to say if that would have caused problems in the center of the puzzle, though.

My wife tells this joke she thinks is hilarious:

Q: What did the fish say when it swam into a wall?
A: Dam.

So DAMS, clued as [Challenges for salmon] made me smile.

And fun repurposing of "Grape Nuts" cereal, a WINO being a [Grape nut?] of sorts. I also enjoyed the homonym play on [Dehli order?] for SARI, a clothing item common in India.

ADDED NOTE: there was a last-minute change to the grid, and apparently the old version was printed by mistake in the NYT hardcopy. It affects only the western section of the puzzle (TOO BAD became TAIWAN, etc.). SARI for the confusion.