Aaron M. Rosenberg author page
6 puzzles by Aaron M. Rosenberg
with Constructor comments
See the 35 answer words debuted by Aaron M. Rosenberg.
| A | R | C | O | W | E | T | O | B | C | C | S | ||
| B | O | A | N | A | S | A | L | O | O | P | S | ||
| B | U | R | L | E | S | Q | U | E | E | S | Q | U | E |
| A | T | T | I | L | A | S | A | T | |||||
| F | U | B | A | R | T | O | N | G | A | ||||
| S | E | M | I | S | E | M | I | N | A | R | Y | ||
| G | O | R | P | T | A | U | T | M | O | E | |||
| D | A | M | S | C | O | L | D | Y | A | K | S | ||
| E | P | A | C | A | R | E | G | E | T | S | |||
| J | E | L | L | Y | F | I | S | H | I | S | H | ||
| A | S | I | A | N | A | T | A | R | I | ||||
| P | D | A | S | L | A | L | O | M | |||||
| Q | U | A | S | I | Q | U | A | S | I | M | O | D | O |
| B | A | L | E | U | N | C | L | E | F | E | N | ||
| S | E | E | D | A | C | H | E | S | T | S | K |
| B | A | S | T | E | E | R | A | S | W | E | E | D | ||
| E | S | T | E | S | Y | E | L | L | I | D | L | Y | ||
| S | T | R | A | P | P | E | D | F | O | R | T | I | M | E |
| T | H | E | B | Y | R | D | S | O | C | T | ||||
| O | M | A | R | O | U | T | O | F | S | H | A | P | E | |
| W | A | K | E | S | P | A | L | E | S | B | U | T | ||
| A | C | E | R | A | T | B | L | T | S | |||||
| L | A | C | K | I | N | G | V | A | R | I | E | T | Y | |
| O | N | U | S | D | O | C | L | I | L | |||||
| A | T | S | D | O | N | H | O | A | L | L | O | K | ||
| M | I | S | S | I | N | G | O | U | T | Y | E | U | N | |
| W | I | N | S | T | A | R | G | A | T | E | ||||
| S | H | O | R | T | A | F | E | W | P | E | O | P | L | E |
| P | U | R | E | R | O | T | I | F | A | T | A | L | ||
| F | E | D | S | E | G | O | T | S | T | O | W | S |
When constructing crosswords, there's often a tension between the quantity of theme material and the quality of the rest of the fill. I have a weakness for trying to cram in as much theme as possible and work in long bonus entries, which can limit options for filling in the rest of the grid. While I'm generally happy with the end result in this case, If I could take another crack at this puzzle, I would get rid of OUTWIT and OUTLAW, since OUT already features in two of the theme answers.
As for today's theme, I'm glad to be able to raise awareness about an important but often neglected topic: the humble magazine. Consider taking a moment out of your day to thank your local magazine vendor for all that they do. If you'd like to share your favorite #MagazineMemories, feel free to DM me on Twitter.
| C | R | I | S | P | R | R | E | A | P | I | L | K | ||
| H | O | T | T | E | A | I | S | T | O | D | O | E | ||
| A | B | S | E | N | T | A | P | O | P | L | E | X | Y | |
| T | O | S | D | O | L | L | Y | Z | O | O | M | |||
| U | T | A | H | N | O | T | W | A | S | P | ||||
| P | O | D | I | A | T | O | W | E | R | N | T | H | ||
| T | A | N | S | A | V | O | I | D | E | D | ||||
| P | A | N | C | H | O | F | R | E | T | S | A | W | ||
| U | H | O | H | V | O | I | D | H | I | R | A | M | ||
| M | E | R | C | A | N | G | T | E | R | I | ||||
| A | M | M | O | K | A | M | A | F | A | C | T | S | ||
| A | C | L | V | E | R | T | I | G | O | |||||
| M | O | N | K | E | Y | I | N | G | A | R | O | U | N | D |
| A | I | D | D | U | S | T | U | P | S | N | Y | E | ||
| P | L | Y | S | K | A | S | E | T | T | U | B |
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.
| F | A | K | E | M | A | T | E | V | I | C | H | Y | ||
| O | P | A | L | O | V | E | N | A | C | H | O | O | ||
| P | E | R | S | O | N | A | L | B | A | N | K | I | N | G |
| L | E | M | O | N | L | A | W | A | K | A | ||||
| U | S | B | A | N | T | N | O | R | U | N | S | |||
| C | H | E | R | R | Y | P | I | C | K | I | N | G | ||
| L | I | N | E | M | O | N | E | M | T | |||||
| A | N | Z | A | C | P | U | P | S | A | J | A | K | ||
| S | R | O | S | A | W | C | A | N | E | |||||
| D | O | U | B | L | E | P | A | R | K | I | N | G | ||
| S | U | N | D | A | E | I | R | E | L | E | S | |||
| I | N | N | M | A | I | L | S | L | O | T | ||||
| B | A | C | K | W | A | R | D | L | O | O | K | I | N | G |
| I | F | E | A | R | N | E | O | N | A | M | I | E | ||
| D | U | S | T | Y | T | A | N | G | Y | E | L | L |
The inspiration for this puzzle came from Carl Larson's Queen puzzle from 2021. I solved it just after 10 p.m. the night it came out and recall thinKING that I might be able to develop a theme around a different sort of monarch. I wrote a Python script to find words ending in -KING that become nouns if you remove KING and sifted through the stems to search for viable entries. By 11 p.m., I had nailed down the theme set you see in today's crossword.
Why did this one come together so quickly? Frankly, there weren't that many other options to choose from. If you have suggestions on how you would have clued MOUNTAIN BI KING, feel free to DM me on Twitter.
| B | A | S | K | P | I | T | A | W | A | G | S | |||
| C | A | P | O | C | M | O | N | E | Q | U | U | S | ||
| C | H | E | A | P | S | H | O | T | A | I | M | T | O | |
| S | E | L | A | E | L | E | C | T | S | U | B | |||
| C | A | S | T | R | O | O | H | S | U | R | E | |||
| N | A | H | S | E | E | N | H | E | L | P | E | R | ||
| C | L | A | W | A | T | G | E | N | R | E | ||||
| I | D | I | O | M | A | D | S | B | A | B | A | R | ||
| S | O | D | O | I | D | I | P | A | Z | U | R | E | ||
| F | L | O | O | D | F | L | Y | B | Y | S | ||||
| C | A | R | E | E | R | N | E | I | L | B | A | T | ||
| A | V | E | R | S | E | T | A | R | O | I | L | |||
| L | I | N | T | O | U | R | S | O | N | E | S | |||
| M | A | T | Z | O | R | E | I | G | N | I | T | E | D | |
| S | T | E | I | N | G | A | L | A | N | E | A | R | ||
| E | D | G | E | E | D | Y | S | K | A | L | E |
AARON: When I first submitted this puzzle, the editors took issue with one of my proposed theme entries, I'(M) (I)(N)(T)O YOU. First, for not being as idiomatic as the other entries; second, because MINT tea is a subset of HERBAL tea. Not having a lot of good backup options, I considered abandoning the theme. Then I remembered the secret ingredient for when your puzzle needs a little something to push it over the finish line: Just add Jeff Chen!
Jeff was gracious enough to accept my plea for help and the end result speaks to his expertise. In addition to conjuring up PASS A MILESTONE and the inspired TOO LONG, DIDN'T READ, he suggested a vertical orientation for the puzzle to make it seem like the bubbles were being sucked up through straws.
There's a more colorful entry for 3-Down that would have never passed the Breakfast Test. You can DM me on Twitter if you want to know what it is.
| G | A | S | P | W | A | F | T | A | L | F | A | |||
| A | C | E | L | A | I | C | L | A | U | D | I | U | S | |
| L | A | N | A | I | S | T | A | R | T | O | U | R | S | |
| L | I | T | T | L | E | D | I | P | P | E | R | |||
| I | S | T | O | E | L | M | ||||||||
| C | L | A | N | S | M | A | L | L | F | R | I | E | S | |
| H | A | M | U | P | H | A | I | L | B | A | E | |||
| A | T | O | M | I | C | S | U | B | M | A | R | I | N | E |
| R | E | N | T | U | R | F | W | A | D | E | D | |||
| M | E | R | E | T | R | I | F | L | E | T | O | R | Y | |
| N | A | N | A | R | C | H | ||||||||
| M | I | C | R | O | S | E | C | O | N | D | S | |||
| A | F | R | I | K | A | A | N | S | E | L | I | O | T | |
| W | I | N | T | E | R | I | Z | E | D | E | L | V | E | |
| E | B | A | Y | A | D | E | S | S | E | E | P |
I'm pleased as difficult-to-serve punch to be making my debut in the NYT! This puzzle began with me writing down all the examples of "synonym for 'small' + noun" I could think of. Some early candidates included COMPACT DISC (Frisbee) and TINY DANCER (Santa's reindeer). I noticed a lot of them involved food, which led to the party theme. I decided early on that the courses should be "served" in a logical order to build a sense of mounting frustration among the guests, but was left without a fun resolution. After a few weeks of brainstorming with friends, I hit upon MICRO SECONDS as the kicker.
As for the layout, having the first marquee answer be 12 letters long meant that I had to smush a lot of theme material into the middle of the grid. This limited the options for the rest of the puzzle, but I eventually found that opening the NE/SW corners for some long bonus fill actually gave a little more flexibility. Sorry for the partial at 29-Down — if you have a better suggestion to fill A_U_F, you can let me know on Twitter.
Recently, the city of Ottawa has been subjected to a prolonged demonstration that has been extremely disruptive to the people who live here, particularly those in vulnerable circumstances. If you'd like to support our residents, consider a donation to a local charity such as Cornerstone Housing for Women, where the proceeds of this puzzle will be going.