Boaz Moser author page
1 puzzle by Boaz Moser
with Constructor comments
See the 4 answer words debuted by Boaz Moser.
| A | B | S | V | A | L | I | D | T | A | B | ||||
| C | R | A | P | A | L | A | M | O | S | O | R | E | ||
| M | A | L | E | S | I | X | F | I | G | U | R | E | S | |
| E | N | M | A | S | S | E | I | N | A | N | E | |||
| D | O | N | T | A | N | S | W | E | R | T | H | A | T | |
| A | N | N | U | A | L | H | O | R | D | E | ||||
| P | A | R | T | Y | P | A | R | A | S | A | I | L | S | |
| E | M | U | S | O | R | T | S | N | I | L | ||||
| X | E | N | O | M | O | R | P | H | S | H | A | N | E | |
| N | O | L | T | E | C | H | A | S | E | D | ||||
| C | I | T | A | T | I | O | N | N | E | E | D | E | D | |
| E | N | A | C | T | A | L | P | A | C | A | S | |||
| A | C | T | I | O | N | P | O | S | E | G | O | N | E | |
| S | U | E | D | S | O | F | A | R | O | N | C | E | ||
| E | R | R | A | P | T | L | Y | D | E | N |
Newer constructors are sometimes advised to stay away from themeless puzzles, as they have higher fill standards and a lower demand at outlets. But I've always preferred them, with their wide-open spaces and fascinating word choices. I started constructing puzzles June 2023 and it took me five theme rejections and four themeless rejections until I landed this one. So, I'm thrilled to be one of the exceptions that either proves, or disproves, the rule, depending on how you choose to look at it.
The seed for the puzzle was CITATION NEEDED with the clue [Note for future reference?]. The editing team's clue, [Response to not getting the reference?] is arguably cleaner, but I'm still partial to my original. I think 14s make great seed entries because they're an otherwise awkward length to fit in a puzzle. It seems these days every good spanner has already been scooped, but both CITATION NEEDED and DON'T ANSWER THAT are debuts at the NYT and, to my knowledge, most of the major outlets. Plus, they're standalone phrases that couldn't appear at other lengths with -S/-ED/-ING endings.
I'm happy to report that I currently have another themeless grid in the queue that should be scheduled for publication in the following months! If you enjoyed this one, good news! If you didn't enjoy this one… well, I'd appreciate a second chance.
I love talking about crosswords and you're welcome to reach me at ThetaDelta12 [at] Gmail [dot] com. More than ever constructors these days are encouraged to bring their personal identities into crosswords. As a born-again Christian myself, I'd be particularly excited to hear from other Christians about how they see the overlap between faith and hobby!
Soli Deo Gloria.