New York Times, Saturday, April 8, 2023

This grid dates back to mid-2020, when I first started toying with ultra-low word count themeless puzzles (as I unexpectedly had a lot of free time). Despite many attempts at 60-word puzzles since then, I've yet to assemble a grid center as clean and colorful as this one. I consider myself pretty lucky to have found it.

The technique I used to fill this puzzle is one I call "spot seeding." (I'm almost certainly not the first person to use this technique, but I haven't seen it described before, so I figured I'd give it a name.) Typically, themeless puzzles are built around one or more preselected "seed" answers. It can be risky not to do this, since crossword solvers and editors look for at least a few outstanding marquee answers in a themeless. Eschewing this wisdom, a grid can be "spot seeded" by building a grid around strategically placed letters, not full phrases.

Here, I spot seeded with the R of COAL MINER, the Y of CANDY BARS, and the first S of ART SCENES — all favorable terminal letters for the intersecting Downs. The remaining fill soon followed with computer assistance. Voila! Oh, and I also wrote some clues.

Lastly, a plug for my first crossword book — a collection of hard 10x10 themelesses in the "Sip and Solve" series! This book has some of my favorite puzzles I've ever made, and it's available for preorder right now.

Interesting riff on the "black square pyramid" low word count design that we've seen more and more and more recently. I enjoy watching the evolution of a themeless design motif as it progresses from its birth to maturity to beyond.

There are a ton of black squares today, but I enjoyed the gentle curve formed by the five solo squares from lower left to upper right. Although certain editors don't like single-corner black squares, it's completely subjective.

This puzzle qualifies for our fewest words page, though many of the other 60-worders have a ton more white space. I remember this Kevin Der masterpiece with awe; a ground-breaking achievement at the time. That's not to say I like records for their own sake—although there's something amazing about certain achievements, they don't always make for the most pleasurable solves.

I appreciate that Sid worked in an above-average number of long slots. That's sometimes difficult with these low-word counters, so it was great to be treated to evocative entries like COAL MINER, BEER BONGS, ART SCENES. I wasn't impressed by more neutral entries like ENTWINES and CANADIANS, but Edmontonian Jim Horne might have something to say about that.

My daughter, who insists on going by TESSA instead of Tess now, made me some "ties" for Father's Day last year. Although I might have preferred PIE TIES to paper ones, it's the pieties that count.

POND SCUM typically grosses me out, but not when its clue uses such delightful misdirection toward dirty films. And I've seen a ton of clever clues for TSA, but having "bags under their (watchful) eyes" set off my metal detector in the best of ways.