Andrew Reynolds author page
5 puzzles by Andrew Reynolds
with Constructor comments
| P | A | S | S | E | A | C | E | D | A | S | S | N | ||
| F | A | K | E | R | G | U | A | R | A | N | T | E | E | |
| C | H | E | M | I | C | A | L | T | E | S | T | I | N | G |
| E | P | C | O | T | K | I | N | D | A | |||||
| T | O | B | E | M | E | A | L | T | I | C | K | E | T | |
| S | T | A | R | R | S | L | A | I | N | O | R | E | ||
| P | I | L | F | E | R | G | I | G | ||||||
| C | L | I | M | A | T | E | C | H | A | N | G | E | ||
| I | E | R | T | H | O | R | A | X | ||||||
| A | T | O | S | T | A | I | R | A | R | I | S | E | ||
| D | I | R | E | C | T | M | A | I | L | S | L | E | D | |
| D | R | A | M | A | V | O | W | E | L | |||||
| S | A | T | E | L | L | I | T | E | C | A | M | P | U | S |
| O | N | O | R | A | B | O | U | T | W | E | A | N | S | |
| N | A | R | Y | J | U | G | S | A | N | N | I | E |
Like any global climate change negotiations, this puzzle took shape with a lot of give and take. Once I came up with 5 theme answers I thought I was headed for a 76 or 78-word puzzle for sure, but with the relatively tame letters that made up my theme answers, I realized I could get more aggressive and ended up with a 72-word puzzle. This sacrificed some quality in the shorter answers (sorry), but I now have an even greater appreciation for those constructors out there that make 72-word themed puzzles look squeaky clean. Also, with a nine-month old in the house, who has time to write four to six extra clues?
I hope you were able to sit outside and bask in the warmth of an extra 1-2 degrees while enjoying this puzzle. And if you didn't enjoy it, please toss it in the recycling and not the trash. The planet thanks you.
| A | R | G | O | S | K | A | T | R | I | F | L | E | ||
| M | O | U | S | E | P | A | D | S | O | R | I | O | N | |
| B | E | S | T | T | H | R | E | E | M | I | S | D | O | |
| I | S | H | H | E | M | P | B | A | S | H | E | S | ||
| E | R | A | T | E | N | E | ||||||||
| H | U | M | B | L | E | R | A | I | S | I | N | |||
| I | V | I | E | S | M | T | I | D | A | C | O | B | ||
| N | E | X | T | H | E | A | D | S | L | I | R | A | ||
| T | A | U | N | O | L | T | E | M | O | N | T | Y | ||
| S | P | R | I | N | T | C | O | U | G | H | S | |||
| A | T | E | H | O | O | T | ||||||||
| S | C | E | N | T | S | A | U | D | I | S | E | C | ||
| T | O | S | C | A | O | U | T | O | F | F | I | V | E | |
| U | N | P | I | N | U | N | I | N | S | U | R | E | D | |
| B | E | N | D | Y | R | T | E | S | N | I | N | E |
Since I expect a lot of XWord Info's avid readers are puzzle constructors, I'll limit my comments here to my quest to wrestle this puzzle into shape, but I'll include some other notes on the Wordplay blog.
The grid layout you see here is the 3rd iteration of this puzzle, and by that I mean the 3rd grid I filled completely. According to my Crossword Compiler folder there were 43 versions that crashed and burned. A quick glance at the theme answers and you might think that an infinite number of grids could have accommodated all those short H/T words, but the fact that those words had to be paired with one another (across and down) put significant constraints on a symmetrical 15x15 grid. Tense was also limiting; BASHED and BASTED work in the past tense, but BASH and BASTE don't have the same number of letters. I added the additional constraint on myself to try* and space the theme answers out into different sections of the grid as much as possible.
Things were further complicated when I got Will's comments back after my first submission. He said he really liked the concept, but wasn't sure about a few of the H/T theme words. For example, I tried to use "Flag" as a clue for HIRE (as a cab) & TIRE, and "Turn" for SHEER & STEER. Looking back, Will's feedback vastly improved the puzzle. So even if some folks take issue with the clues for some of the theme answers... it could have been worse! Once a few of my theme H/T words were tossed out, the whole grid had to be scrapped to accommodate the constraints I mentioned above. Will also had to change the majority of my clues to get this puzzle in on a Tuesday; my favorite clue that was victimized by early-week editing was "Yankee's lineup?" for SCENTS, and the clunky but imagination-triggering "It's only legal if you're shorthanded" for ICING.
I am absurdly excited and honored to be the newest member of XWord Info's Schrödinger puzzles page. I'd put the odds at me attempting another one of these puzzles at no less than 50/50.
| H | O | H | O | H | O | P | R | E | L | I | M | S | I | T | C | O | M | ||
| U | S | O | P | E | N | T | E | X | A | C | O | T | R | I | O | D | E | ||
| M | O | M | E | N | T | A | M | U | S | E | S | E | M | E | N | D | S | ||
| E | R | R | O | R | O | D | E | D | W | A | R | V | E | S | |||||
| M | A | L | A | Y | N | E | V | E | R | M | O | R | E | E | R | Y | |||
| I | N | A | F | L | A | R | E | B | O | U | N | D | A | R | Y | ||||
| M | O | N | G | O | O | S | E | S | E | T | T | O | F | O | O | D | S | ||
| E | N | D | O | R | S | E | S | T | A | T | E | S | I | E | R | R | A | ||
| R | D | S | A | L | A | M | O | D | O | M | E | B | A | R | |||||
| C | L | A | Y | E | M | I | R | R | E | L | E | F | T | ||||||
| H | A | S | M | A | S | S | P | R | O | D | U | C | E | D | L | T | R | ||
| I | T | S | A | B | S | R | U | T | S | S | T | Y | E | ||||||
| P | I | E | S | L | E | E | P | M | O | D | E | E | T | A | |||||
| I | N | M | A | T | E | G | L | E | N | S | S | T | I | L | T | O | N | ||
| N | O | B | L | E | N | E | A | T | O | S | C | A | N | T | I | L | Y | ||
| L | A | R | G | E | S | S | E | K | N | O | L | L | M | A | S | ||||
| S | L | Y | A | R | T | M | O | D | E | L | L | I | R | E | N | E | |||
| C | O | L | L | A | R | D | R | O | I | D | O | Z | E | S | |||||
| O | R | I | E | N | T | S | P | O | U | T | S | A | Z | A | L | E | A | ||
| O | R | N | A | T | E | A | R | I | S | E | S | S | I | M | O | N | E | ||
| P | E | E | K | E | R | M | O | D | E | L | T | T | E | S | T | E | R |
| A | R | B | O | R | R | O | S | S | C | I | D | |||
| P | E | A | B | O | E | L | E | N | I | A | R | E | ||
| E | D | I | T | S | A | D | D | O | N | N | R | A | ||
| S | T | R | E | E | P | A | W | A | R | D | E | D | ||
| U | S | O | P | E | N | F | O | I | L | |||||
| A | M | I | D | N | E | E | G | L | I | D | E | S | ||
| L | A | N | E | S | A | R | D | U | A | A | V | A | ||
| A | U | F | O | A | R | E | M | S | T | A | G | |||
| M | R | I | A | N | S | E | L | H | Y | E | N | A | ||
| B | I | G | S | K | Y | A | M | C | E | S | T | S | ||
| T | H | E | E | C | R | O | O | K | S | |||||
| M | A | T | A | D | O | R | N | O | R | D | I | C | ||
| U | N | I | U | M | A | M | I | A | E | S | O | P | ||
| S | I | N | P | A | N | I | C | F | A | L | L | S | ||
| H | A | G | N | E | R | O | T | R | E | E | S |
| P | A | G | E | A | M | O | N | G | D | I | N | |||
| E | L | U | T | E | F | O | L | I | O | E | L | I | ||
| A | L | I | A | S | T | E | D | K | O | P | P | E | L | |
| L | E | T | I | T | P | A | S | S | D | E | P | T | S | |
| V | A | L | O | R | A | D | Z | |||||||
| S | I | R | P | O | V | A | L | E | J | I | G | |||
| P | A | S | A | W | I | N | B | Y | A | N | O | S | E | |
| A | T | O | L | L | T | E | N | L | O | H | A | N | ||
| D | E | L | T | A | W | A | V | E | S | G | N | A | R | |
| E | D | O | S | H | E | R | I | T | B | C | E | |||
| U | T | O | T | A | C | O | S | |||||||
| A | T | B | A | Y | D | E | B | U | T | A | N | T | E | |
| N | O | R | W | E | G | I | A | N | A | C | H | E | S | |
| T | A | I | A | L | E | T | A | S | T | A | R | T | ||
| S | T | E | R | O | S | S | I | I | M | N | O |