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New York Times, Wednesday, September 7, 2005

Author:
Andrea C. Michaels
Editor:
Will Shortz
39-Down : Skyscrapers, e.g.
TotalDebutLatestCollabs
866/12/20007/8/202455
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
762122300
RebusCircleScrabDebutFresh
241.6430623%
Andrea Carla Michaels

This puzzle:

Rows: 15, Columns: 15 Words: 76, Blocks: 38 Missing: {HQXZ} This is puzzle # 4 for Ms. Michaels. Wednesday freshness: 39%
Andrea Carla Michaels notes:

I had read somewhere that BRITNEY SPEARS was an anagram for PRESBYTERIANS. I couldn't believe that! Plus PRESBYTERIANS anagrammed into BEST IN PRAYERS. All 13s, so this was a natural.

The only problem was, Will didn't think BRITNEY SPEARS would last if the puzzle were reprinted six years hence. I didn't care about that issue because I wanted something fresh. Plus it's a daily newspaper, why should I be concerned about shelf-life? And although I'd like my puzzles to stand the test of time, it only benefits the publishers, as they don't pay royalties, nor even supply the authors with a book, so my feeling is why should I knock myself out worrying who will/won't be known in 10 years time? It was not published for a long time ... and I would argue with Will that BRITNEY would be around for a long time, that all girls knew her, and young folks, etc. It was the beginning of my trying to champion puzzles with a more feminine-bent to the themes. Even though the older male editors and sports enthusiasts that abound might not be a BRITNEY fan, there were plenty of women (and gay men) who were.

In the meantime, I thought it hadn't been accepted as I heard nothing for years. So I created a similar one, with four themes, for Peter Gordon and the Sun. BRITNEYSPEARS/PRESBYTERIANS and PEPSICOLA/EPISCOPALS. She was the spokesperson for Pepsi so I thought that was also a stunning coincidence. Totally different puzzle, as I said, four themes, not three and I hadn't heard from the Times in a couple of years. Suddenly the Times puzzle was printed and someone on line (which was a new phenomenon in 2005) accused me of plagiarizing the theme! He didn't realize that it was the same person who had written both puzzles. I was mortified ... wasn't the first, nor the last time, someone online had been scathing without knowledge, but I was embarrassed. I think over a year went by before I published again.

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© 2005, The New York Times9/7/5 ( No. 20,392 )
Across
1
French cherubs : ANGES
6
Fish often split for cooking : SCROD
11
Field hospital sight : COT
14
"Beavis and Butt-head" cartoon spinoff : DARIA
15
Honky-tonk sight : PIANO
16
Washington's ___ Stadium : RFK
17
Bullfight setting : ARENA
18
Riverbank burrower : OTTER
19
36-Across craft : UFO
20
About 4 million Americans, religiously : PRESBYTERIANS
23
Elephant's weight, maybe : TON
24
Other, in Madrid : OTRA
25
Gutter site : EAVE
28
How the sirens sang, in myth : SWEETLY
31
Lobster's cousin : CRAWDAD
34
Mauna ___ : LOA
35
Politician's goal : SEAT
36
19-Across passengers : ETS
37
Pop artist whose name is an anagram of 20-Across : BRITNEYSPEARS
41
Low-tech missile : PEA
42
Affixes : ADDS
43
Amniotic ___ : SAC
44
Fast-paced sport : JAIALAI
46
Certain drive-thru requirement : ATMCARD
50
Chinese dynasty a thousand years ago : SUNG
51
Greek cheese : FETA
53
Month of l'année : MAI
54
Like the most devout churchgoers ... and another anagram of 20-Across : BESTINPRAYERS
59
Headhunter's big recruit, for short : CEO
61
Not express : LOCAL
62
Allots : DOLES
63
Hairy hand : PAW
64
Tropical palm : ARECA
65
Spring up : ARISE
66
Mozart's home: Abbr. : AUS
67
Short-fused : TESTY
68
Deli choices : MEATS
Down
1
Doesn't stay the same : ADAPTS
2
Taper : NARROW
3
"Brighton Rock" novelist : GREENE
4
Zwei halved : EINS
5
Swedish export : SAAB
6
Poor, as coverage : SPOTTY
7
One making references : CITER
8
Routines bad to be on : RATRACES
9
"Dedicated to the ___ Love" : ONEI
10
"Dumb ___" (old comic) : DORA
11
Follower of Richard the Lion-Hearted : CRUSADER
12
Popular insect repellent : OFF
13
Bout stopper, for short : TKO
21
___ Griffith, 1999 W.N.B.A. M.V.P. : YOLANDA
22
"What's ___?" : NEW
26
Dye holders : VATS
27
Masthead contents, briefly : EDS
29
Inventor Whitney : ELI
30
Demolish : TOTAL
32
50 Cent, e.g. : RAPSTAR
33
Starters : ATEAM
35
Method: Abbr. : SYS
37
Bringer of wine and flowers : BEAU
38
Post-storm effects : RAINBOWS
39
Skyscrapers, e.g. : EDIFICES
40
N.C. State is in it : ACC
41
Bedwear, for short : PJS
45
Subject of a guessing game : AGE
46
Having fun : ATPLAY
47
Carson McCullers's Miss ___ Evans : AMELIA
48
Hardest to find : RAREST
49
Slams : DISSES
52
Put into law : ENACT
55
Bed board : SLAT
56
Burned up the highway : TORE
57
Biblical evictee : ADAM
58
Days long past : YORE
59
Tax pro, for short : CPA
60
Water, in the Oise : EAU

Answer summary:
2 unique to this puzzle, 2 debuted here and reused later, 1 unique to Modern Era but used previously.

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