New York Times, Friday, January 16, 2015

I first constructed crossword puzzles in the late 1960s, using pencil and graph paper. To cut down on erasing, I set portions of grids with letter cubes — dice with letters on all six sides. I sold several puzzles to Master and Quality puzzle magazines. Considering the time it took I was earning about 50 cents an hour. I gave up until the 2000s, when I discovered Crossword Compiler.

I have a varied publication history:

• For several months I constructed the daily crossword puzzle in Metro, Canada's largest independent newspaper.
• I have a collection at Puzzazz, "Crosswords, Eh?," Canadian-themed puzzles — Canadian spelling and usage in entries and clues.
• I did 20 puzzles for "The Everything Crossword Challenge Book."
• For four years I constructed a monthly poker-themed puzzle for Poker Player Newspaper.
• For five years I did a monthly crossword for PokerPages.com.
• For two years I was the crossword constructor for Advance for Nurses and for three for LA Direct.
• For five years I contributed several crosswords a month to the online portal Puzzle Planet.

I have also been a columnist for Card Player magazine, the best-known poker publication and online poker portal, since its inception in 1988. I have written seven books on computers and on gambling, most of which can be found on Amazon.

As for this puzzle, I've used this grid before. I chose it again because it's particularly hard to fill cleanly and I like a challenge. I maintain a list of fresh words, phrases, and expressions that I hear in conversation and on TV and that I see in my reading, entries that I think may not have previously appeared in mainstream puzzles. I try to fill my grids with as many of these I can. While I am using Crossword Compiler to fill the grid, as words suggested by the app pop into place that I feel are less than sparkly, I lower their scores such that they are less likely to appear again or even that they will never appear in my puzzles. I constructed six variations of this puzzle before I felt it was good enough to submit.

I don't have a lot of construction-specific analysis for today's puzzle, since it fits squarely in the 70-word themeless mold, so I thought I'd go off the beaten path and delve into depth with some clues. And since INTERROBANG is a great example of a lively one-word answer, I'll employ its components as I go, giving EXCLAMATIONS! and question marks?

! [Not beyond one] had to mean zero, a negative number, or some fraction like one-half, right? Crosswords tend to use "one's" much more than "your" in phrases, i.e. ANTS IN ONES PANTS instead of ANTS IN YOUR PANTS. So to play on "one" here is brilliant. [Not beyond you] is much too straightforward for a themeless puzzle, [Not beyond one] is elegant and clever.

! [Take the edge off] is a great repurposing of a common phrase. A FILE indeed takes the edge off.

? A TALL ONE also takes the edge off. Missed opportunity here for a nice clue echo (a similar clue used twice for completely different meanings).

? [Where many arrests take place, for short] had me thinking about police arrests. Even when I uncovered ERS, I didn't understand the clue. Sure, there are police arrests when criminals in shootouts get taken to the ER, but that didn't totally feel right. Then I thought of "cardiac arrests." And then wished I hadn't. Generally crossword editors stay away from death and disease, as they're not something solvers like to see in their diversions. I do appreciate the wordplay, but I personally didn't feel it was worth it.

! [It may be found in preserves] has nothing to do with jellies or jams. Me and my stupid jelly-loving ways! Nice misdirection, away from "nature preserves."

Overall, a good mix of long entries (!) + an average amount of gluey filler (?) = ?!. Strong and appropriate 1-Across.