New York Times, Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Hello everybody! How cool is this?

I am a software engineer who took up crossword construction as a pandemic project, writing my own construction and word list software. Of the ten or so themed puzzles that I submitted to the NYT, this one is the simplest conceptually. With the help of a Python script, I found a few sets of anagrams in my word list of 11 letters or longer, but only sets of three. Luckily, for one of these sets, an online anagram solver uncovered TACO HOLDERS, which was not in my list.

The original version of this puzzle had REMIXED in the center as a revealer, but the editors made a great call to remove it in favor of a circular cluing strategy and better fill. Of course, the circular theme and clueing warranted 90-degree rotational symmetry as well!

I'll leave you a few more long anagrams — I'm sure there are other good ones out there to discover!

COORDINATES, CAROTENOIDS, DECORATIONS
INTEGRATION, ORIENTATING, TEARING INTO
LASTING PEACE, EATING PLACES, SPECIAL AGENT

Anagrams have a long and rich history. Given that anagrams and crosswords both involve placing letters in various orders, they make a natural pairing.

Since crossword anagrams have been around since the Maleskan days, it's essential to do something to elevate your theme. Anagram-based crosswords have been forced to grow and evolve to keep the genre fresh. Our last two featured descriptions of movies that anagram into the titles and a word in the clue that, when anagrammed, perfectly describes the grid entry.

TACO HOLDERS is a fun phrase. I've never used one, but look how fun they can be! Maybe my ultra-picky kids would even try tacos if served from them. (Zero chance.) That such a long entry rearranges into another great phrase, RED HOT COALS, is neat.

But is a simple pair of anagrams enough to lift this crossword from the anabyss? There have been dozens of anagram pairs themes—

Wait. It also anagrams into TRADE SCHOOL?

And DOOR LATCHES?

Okay, now you've latched my attention.

The coder in me wants to determine how many other "letter banks" can form four solid phrases. I'd code it up if I weren't so busy figuring out what to make for dinner that my kids won't spurn.

I hope solvers follow the cross-referencing in the clues closely enough to figure out that it's not just two anagram pairs but an anagram quartet. I bet laying out all the themers horizontally instead of in the "windmill" pattern would have helped, so the referenced clue numbers could continually increase in a progression rather than having a haphazard feel of seemingly jumping around to random Across and Down numbers.

Neat discovery, so appropriate for a software engineer's debut.