Alan Siegel lives in Rancho Palos Verdes California and is a soccer referee. In the off season, he volunteers at the local senior center with the AARP Tax-Aide program preparing tax returns. He has been a long time crossword solver and was inspired by a lecture given at the local library by David Steinberg. A high school student at the time, David explained the history of crosswords and the terminology used, what a rebus was, and also served Oreos — the favorite cookie of Cruciverbalists owing to their colors. Alan tucked away the idea of creating puzzles until time permitted — which came during the Covid-19 pandemic. His debut entry in The New York Times, was actually his first submission to The Times. He is indebted to the mentors and guides met on the Facebook groups Cruciverb and Crossword Puzzle Collaboration Directory.
S | A | M | O | A | D | U | O | E | P | C | O | T | ||
C | L | O | W | N | F | I | S | H | C | L | O | V | E | |
O | I | L | L | E | A | S | E | S | H | A | D | E | S | |
W | E | D | M | I | C | O | R | E | C | A | R | T | ||
D | O | N | S | A | C | E | ||||||||
S | P | R | I | N | T | T | I | C | K | B | I | R | D | |
C | A | I | N | E | C | A | S | E | O | C | H | O | ||
A | R | C | C | O | U | L | D | A | I | S | ||||
R | E | E | F | U | L | N | A | W | A | N | N | A | ||
F | R | U | I | T | B | A | T | C | A | T | T | O | Y | |
G | R | E | P | E | L | E | ||||||||
L | A | C | T | O | S | E | A | L | L | M | E | T | ||
S | N | A | R | L | T | E | L | E | S | C | O | P | E | |
A | N | S | E | L | S | Y | M | B | I | O | T | I | C | |
T | O | T | E | S | Y | E | S | N | O | T | C | H |
K | P | O | P | A | C | A | I | S | P | I | T | |||
H | A | Z | E | A | C | O | R | N | T | I | M | E | ||
A | L | A | R | M | C | L | O | C | K | I | V | A | N | |
K | E | R | M | I | T | P | E | P | L | O | G | O | ||
I | R | K | E | D | P | E | D | O | M | E | T | E | R | |
D | I | N | A | R | T | A | T | |||||||
F | O | E | A | L | S | O | U | T | I | C | A | |||
C | O | M | P | A | S | S | R | O | L | O | D | E | X | |
C | H | O | I | R | Y | O | D | A | S | E | E | |||
E | L | F | P | E | R | K | Y | |||||||
C | A | M | C | O | R | D | E | R | C | O | S | M | O | |
U | T | A | H | E | R | R | Q | U | O | T | E | D | ||
B | O | N | A | S | M | A | R | T | P | H | O | N | E | |
E | N | G | R | N | O | T | E | S | O | R | S | O | ||
S | E | A | T | O | M | E | N | O | M | A | N |
This, of course, is a very simple theme. Spoiler Alert: I listed 30 items that have essentially been obsoleted by 63-Across and went to town with the best 5. Since this was my first ever submission to The NYT, I was blown away when Tracy Bennett replied that "this hits a sweet spot for charm and interest." Two minor word changes later, and tightening up of the clues by the team and here I am!
About me: I live in Rancho Palos Verdes, California and am a soccer referee. In the off season, I volunteer at the local community center with the AARP Tax-Aide program preparing tax returns. I've been a long-time crossword solver and was inspired by a lecture given at the local library by David Steinberg. A high school student at the time, David explained the history of crosswords and the terminology used, what a rebus was, and also served Oreos — the favorite cookie of Cruciverbalists, owing to their colors. I tucked away the idea of creating puzzles until time permitted — which came during the Covid-19 pandemic.
I'm indebted to the mentors I met on the Facebook groups Cruciverb and Crossword Puzzle Collaboration Directory, especially Mark McClain and Andrea Carla Michaels for their sage advice.