New York Times, Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Back in 2020, Kevin Christian and Brad Wilber gave us a "Psycho"-themed puzzle, and it inspired me to create this tribute to another—and in my opinion, better—Hitchcock classic. In 3-D, no less!

If you haven't seen "Vertigo," today's crossword was probably more baffling than thrilling (though hopefully, you've looked up a clip of the scene that the layout of the grid pays homage to). It also bends a lot of crossword conventions that might rub some folks the wrong way: diagonal symmetry, long themeless entries, and a lot of short fill, all in service of a film released 65 years ago. And yet I'd be lying if I said I didn't love this weird little puzzle just the way it is. I hope some of you did too.

If you have a suggestion for the next film that should enter the Hitchcock Cinematic Crosswordiverse, feel free to DM me on Twitter.

I'm getting dizzy thinking about how much I loved this puzzle! It had been ages since I saw VERTIGO, but who could forget that vertiginous swirl? I've watched a lot of old 100 greatest movies in various attempts to broaden my knowledge gaps, and too often, I get bored by the slow pace or the lack of tension that might possibly hold my attention span that measures in microseconds.

Not VERTIGO. I rewatched it after doing today's puzzle, and it held me captive in the same way that Casablanca or The Godfather does with every viewing. It's a wonderful life to have a few of these grab me so strongly.

Beautiful use of diagonal symmetry to achieve a spiral pattern. I'd have been impressed simply to have a spiral made of asymmetrical entries, but to have it composed of matching 9s, 7s, and 5s is as dazzling as Jimmy Stewart's performance.

AND to get rare 15-letter bonuses in MONKEYING AROUND and I DEMAND A RECOUNT? They're so juicy that I demanded my annoying analytical self to stop monkeying around, trying to figure out if these muddied the theme.

Maybe one could argue that CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) is a tough way to start a puzzle. As long as the crossings are crisp, though …

Along with evocative fill like APOPLEXY and FIGMENT, it all felt too good to be true. Thankfully, there were only pluses — like the one in the lower right that reminded me of the TOWER!

The Spirograph opening credits might seem a little hokey now, but Bernard Herrmann's brilliant score still shines.

For cinematographers, the basic camera movements are: Zoom, Pan, Tilt, Dolly (move camera forward or backward), Truck (move camera side to side), and Pedestal (move camera up and down). Some people also include Rack Focus (adjust focus to highlight near or far).

When Zoom and Dolly are combined (zoom in while dollying out), you get this disorienting effect that perfectly captures Jimmy Stewart's acrophobia. You can see it here: