S | A | L | S | A | B | E | E | T | I | W | O | |||
E | M | A | I | L | A | R | C | H | R | A | P | T | ||
R | U | S | S | I | A | N | R | O | U | L | E | T | T | E |
I | N | S | S | F | O | D | I | N | E | I | N | |||
F | R | E | N | C | H | F | R | Y | M | E | R | C | H | |
A | S | I | A | A | S | P | L | I | U | |||||
E | L | E | M | E | N | T | B | O | A | T | ||||
A | L | L | I | T | E | R | N | A | T | I | O | N | ||
D | U | E | S | S | T | A | I | N | E | D | ||||
E | T | A | L | Y | E | C | E | L | S | |||||
T | O | D | D | Y | D | U | T | C | H | D | O | O | R | |
E | S | P | O | R | T | N | A | H | R | U | E | |||
C | H | I | N | E | S | E | C | H | E | C | K | E | R | S |
T | O | P | O | P | O | L | O | P | E | A | C | E | ||
P | E | R | S | N | E | E | A | G | L | E | T |
When the pandemic shut down my UCLA dorm in the middle of my freshman year, I didn't think I'd be coming back, a year and a half later, with a New York Times crossword on my résumé. But with a sudden abundance of free time, I decided to make the leap from solver to constructor—how hard could it be?
Pretty hard, it turns out. A massive thanks to my test-solvers (i.e., my parents) for putting up with my quizzing them on Icelandic monetary units and Pakistani provincial capitals as my construction skills developed. Originally, I had FRENCH FRIES paired with DOUBLE DUTCH, but the change for consistency (having all of the nationalities as the first word) fortunately freed up the grid a bit and let me work in some much-needed revisions.
I'm pleased to put ESPORT and AUTO SHOP in the NYT for the first time — both related to hobbies of mine, although my original clue for the latter [Where one's body may be worked on?] may have been a little too devious.
The working title for this puzzle was "La La Land". I hope you enjoy it!