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New York Times, Monday, July 15, 2013

Author:
Jeff Chen and Angela Olson Halsted
Editor:
Will Shortz
Blog:
4-Down : Item strapped over a horse's head
TotalDebutLatestCollabs
1577/5/201010/27/2024109
SunMonTueWedThuFriSatAcr
431017263711121
RebusCircleScrabDebutFresh
11411.6292255%
Jeff Chen
TotalDebutLatestCollabs
56/14/20114/4/20213
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
1210010
ScrabDebutFresh
1.662651%
Angela Olson Halsted

This puzzle:

Rows: 15, Columns: 15 Words: 76, Blocks: 38 Missing: {Q} This is puzzle # 16 for Mr. Chen. This is puzzle # 3 for Ms. Halsted. Monday freshness: 84%
Constructor notes:

Jeff:

Such a pleasure to with Angela on this puzzle. I had been thinking about vowel progressions, and noticed that RAID READ RIDE RODE RUDE worked pretty well. When RAID THE FRIDGE and RUDE AWAKENING came to mind, it seemed like we ought to give it a shot.

However, the fact that these first and last themers were both 13 letters long created a challenge, since 13's can't go in rows 3 and 13 due to black square constraints. That means all the theme answers had to get squished together. With five theme answers spaced just one row apart apiece, I wasn't sure it was going to be doable without including some ugly fill.

Luckily everything worked out out after a couple of attempts and Angela and I were off to the races! We really liked FLAME WAR and wanted to put in more sparkly long down stuff, so were pleased that NOLAN RYAN and HOLE IN ONE would fit without much compromise. And then FEED BAG and FRET OVER fell into place so nicely we held up our hands and said "I like!" in a Borat voice.

The only area we had to really work at was the center, which was constrained by the three middle theme answers. Having ICI, NDAK, and ATF all in close proximity wasn't ideal, but in the end we figured in the grand scheme of everything that was working in the puzzle, this was a good tradeoff.

Finally, I tried to sneak it in with Angela's name first but she out-sneaked me.

1
S
2
T
3
A
4
F
5
F
6
M
7
A
8
T
9
S
10
C
11
H
12
E
13
W
14
C
U
T
E
R
15
A
S
H
E
16
H
O
Y
A
17
A
G
R
E
E
18
Z
O
O
M
19
A
L
E
X
20
R
A
I
D
T
21
H
E
F
R
I
22
D
G
E
23
T
A
B
O
O
S
24
I
R
I
25
S
26
H
27
A
V
E
28
R
29
E
30
A
D
I
N
T
O
31
B
32
I
33
N
G
E
34
N
E
W
T
35
N
O
E
L
36
E
G
O
37
R
38
I
D
E
O
F
39
F
40
N
E
D
41
E
L
L
42
A
43
C
A
S
K
44
L
45
E
E
R
S
46
R
O
A
D
47
B
I
K
E
48
Y
A
M
49
S
O
N
J
A
50
H
U
M
A
51
N
52
E
53
R
U
D
54
E
55
A
56
W
A
K
E
N
I
N
57
G
58
D
59
A
Y
S
60
X
M
E
N
61
W
A
N
D
A
62
S
W
A
T
63
P
I
N
K
64
A
T
E
A
M
65
L
E
N
S
66
O
D
D
S
67
R
E
S
T
S
© 2013, The New York Times7/15/13 ( No. 23,260 )
Across
1
Five lines on sheet music : STAFF
6
Wrestling pads : MATS
10
Mull (over) : CHEW
14
Cuddlier, say : CUTER
15
Tennis's Arthur ___ Stadium : ASHE
16
Georgetown athlete : HOYA
17
Concur : AGREE
18
Whiz (by) : ZOOM
19
14-time All-Star Rodriguez : ALEX
20
Get a midnight snack, say : RAIDTHEFRIDGE
23
No-nos : TABOOS
24
Fighting ___, Notre Dame athletes : IRISH
27
N.Y.C.'s ___ of the Americas : AVE
28
Find a subtext of : READINTO
31
Spree : BINGE
34
Former House leader Gingrich : NEWT
35
Yuletide song : NOEL
36
It might be inflated or bruised : EGO
37
Leave by horseback, as into the sunset : RIDEOFF
40
He calls Homer his "neighborino" : NED
41
Jazz's Fitzgerald : ELLA
43
Poe's "The ___ of Amontillado" : CASK
44
Wolfish looks : LEERS
46
Tour de France conveyance : ROADBIKE
48
Candied vegetable at Thanksgiving : YAM
49
Skater Henie : SONJA
50
Compassionate : HUMANE
53
Unpleasant shock : RUDEAWAKENING
58
Components of S-M-T-W-T-F-S : DAYS
60
Mutants of Marvel Comics : XMEN
61
"A Fish Called ___" : WANDA
62
Hit with a rolled-up newspaper, maybe : SWAT
63
Flamingo's color : PINK
64
Mr. T's TV group, with "the" : ATEAM
65
Camera part : LENS
66
Gambler's numbers : ODDS
67
Pauses on sheet music : RESTS
Down
1
Reminder of an injury : SCAR
2
Pull on : TUGAT
3
Two of the heart's chambers : ATRIA
4
Item strapped over a horse's head : FEEDBAG
5
Worry about : FRETOVER
6
Labyrinths : MAZES
7
Starting on : ASOF
8
Norse thunder god : THOR
9
Big rig : SEMI
10
Embarrassment : CHAGRIN
11
Ace on the links : HOLEINONE
12
Ogle : EYE
13
Candle's composition : WAX
21
Garden tool : HOE
22
Performed : DID
25
Have the helm : STEER
26
Waits on the phone : HOLDS
28
Witherspoon of 2012's "Mud" : REESE
29
Furry inhabitant of the forest moon of Endor : EWOK
30
Govt. bureau concerned with bootlegging : ATF
31
Coors and Corona : BEERS
32
Domed home : IGLOO
33
All-time career record-holder for strikeouts : NOLANRYAN
34
Fargo's home: Abbr. : NDAK
38
Here, to Henri : ICI
39
Nasty online argument : FLAMEWAR
42
Alters : ADJUSTS
45
Spring (from) : EMANATE
47
Naughty : BAD
48
Big laugh : YUK
50
Tom of "Forrest Gump" : HANKS
51
Dressed to the ___ : NINES
52
Last until : ENDAT
54
World's fair : EXPO
55
Surrounded by : AMID
56
Go, as one's way : WEND
57
Pinup's legs : GAMS
58
Internet connection inits. : DSL
59
Bowl over : AWE

Answer summary:
4 unique to this puzzle, 1 debuted here and reused later.

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