Daniel Bodily author page
11 puzzles by Daniel Bodily
with Constructor comments
Daniel Bodily, of Woodbury, Minn., is a robotics research engineer.
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| E | X | E | C | U | T | I | V | E | B | O | A | R | D | ||
| G | R | A | D | K | A | M | A | L | A | T | E | E | M | ||
| N | I | X | E | D | L | U | I | S | L | E | T | G | O | ||
| A | C | E | J | F | K | P | L | A | Z | A | R | A | M | ||
| W | A | S | A | B | I | E | S | P | O | S | A | ||||
| C | O | N | S | O | N | A | N | T | S | ||||||
| M | O | T | T | O | T | W | I | X | W | Y | A | T | T | ||
| A | B | O | U | T | A | N | T | I | I | C | H | O | R | ||
| T | O | R | A | H | F | E | R | N | S | H | A | M | E | ||
| H | E | E | L | S | F | R | O | G | H | O | B | B | Y |
The theme in this puzzle really blew my mind.
TL;DR version:
- ~275,000 terms in my dictionary (Jeff's XWordInfo Dictionary)
- ~3.5 quadrillion possible sets of three terms (~275,000 choose 3)
- 19 sets obeying the constraint (every consonant, one time)
- 4 sets that could be laid out symmetrically
Longer version:
Themes are often found by whittling a large set of terms (say 200-300k) down to a smaller subset using some constraint. Loose constraints may allow hundreds of theme entry possibilities, whereas tight constraints may allow only 10 or so. The constraint in this puzzle was about as tight as I've ever seen them come.
For starters, my pool of candidates wasn't the 275k terms in my dictionary, but rather all possible sets of three terms that could be made from this dictionary. So instead of checking 275k terms, I needed to sift through ~3.5 quadrillion sets (275,000 choose 3). How? Python, hash tables, tricks, 3 minutes of data crunching... and voila! With a pool of ~3.5 quadrillion candidate sets, you'd think either no solution set exists, or conversely, many exist... Nope. I was stunned to find only 19 sets that satisfied the constraint, and of these, only four that could be laid out symmetrically with the revealer.
That's four tiny needles in one giant haystack (or maybe… a Sour Patch Kids stack?)
Bonus Puzzle Set:
This set didn't make the cut for symmetry reasons:
EXSQUEEZEME + THEJOYOFCOOKING + ?
Happy puzzling!
Hint: On-site worker?
Answer (Backwards): REPOLEVEDBEW
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| B | R | A | C | O | M | I | C | C | O | N | ||||
| C | A | P | R | I | S | P | E | R | T | H | ||||
| A | R | E | A | S | R | E | E | L | T | A | O | |||
| S | K | A | T | E | B | O | A | R | D | T | R | I | C | K |
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| S | M | I | L | E | C | A | M | E | R | A | ||||
| B | E | E | S | T | I | N | G | Z | I | P | ||||
| J | E | A | N | S | O | R | A | L | S | T | U | |||
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| K | E | N | R | E | S | T | S | D | O | N | T | S |
Daniel Bodily: I sat on this idea for a while, wondering if it needed some kind of Thursday-level trickery. After all, shouldn't a puzzle about tricks be … tricky? Finally, I decided a Monday-level approach was best — and knowing that it wasn't my forte, I reached out to Andrea.
There's an art to keeping a grid both simple and fun, and Andrea's mentorship in exploring that art did not disappoint. She has a knack for keeping the puzzle-making process fun without sacrificing the rigor required to execute on an idea.
On a separate note: After a 20-year hiatus, I recently picked up a skateboard and landed a kickflip, so 38-Across feels timely. With that said, I think it might be another two decades before I try again.
Andrea Carla Michaels: One of the benefits of being one of the "Queens of Monday" is that complete strangers write to collaborate with me, usually in hopes of "hitting for the cycle." Having a puzzle published every day of the week is not an idea I'd care to pursue … but it puts me in close touch with these accomplished constructors who are more adept at creating deep and complicated puzzles than at a bouncy Monday creation (though it's deceptively difficult to pull off at times). This time, I was fortunate to be approached by Daniel Bodily, who was delightful to work with and was coincidentally living in Minnesota where I grew up. As a matter of fact, I'm in town on the day of publication and hope to celebrate with him!
After lightly debating "SantaCon" versus COMIC-CON and figuring out which words best represented the concept of a RACKET, Daniel tackled several iterations of the grid, while I forced him not to get overly complicated. Voilà!
I love being involved with crosswords! WHAT A RACKET!
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| I | S | H | T | R | Y | C | A | B | O | J | S | O | P | T | ||||||
| S | T | A | Y | C | O | O | L | A | G | O | O | K | A | Y | S | U | R | E | ||
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| A | C | T | N | E | X | T | G | E | N | A | L | I | ||
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| H | I | T | B | A | I | L | P | S | Y | C | H | |||
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| T | B | S | N | Y | P | D | D | E | M | O | S | |||
| M | E | S | A | A | S | T | I | N | ||||||
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| E | S | A | U | B | O | W | L | T | A | R | D | Y | ||
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| F | I | E | S | T | S | E | T | B | A | B | Y | |||
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| P | R | O | A | A | H | S | A | N | T | |||||
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| D | E | M | O | M | A | C | L | U | I | S | ||||
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| B | A | R | S | B | I | N | U | S | A | |||||
| D | E | A | R | T | H | A | G | A | S | P | ||||
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| S | C | E | N | E | W | E | N | T | M | A | Z | E | ||
| H | E | R | T | Z | D | E | N | S | I | B | E | X |
RUN UP A TAB was on my list of potential revealers for some time before I pieced together this puzzle's presentation. The constraint set was pretty tight. I required word breaks within TAB, and for the second word (starting with "B") to be clued independently. After applying symmetry and fitting in the revealer, this set made the most sense to me (sorry COSTA BRAVA fans!).
Part of the fun of making crosswords is seeing how seemingly random concepts get tied together. For example, you might consider eating a CHIQUITA BANANA today... while you watch replays of ATLANTA BRAVES games?
Anyway, Happy solving and HASTA LA VISTA, ... uh ... not sure that Terminator line really applies here... BUH-BYE!
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| L | O | O | M | U | R | G | E | S | T | A | X | I | C | A | P | E | D | |||
| L | I | O | N | E | N | O | C | H | O | D | I | N | H | Y | E | N | A | |||
| O | C | T | O | P | U | S | T | I | M | E | T | C | B | Y | N | A | G | |||
| W | E | S | T | I | E | M | I | R | A | C | L | E | O | N | I | C | E | |||
| A | L | S | I | O | T | A | H | A | R | P | O | N | E | S | ||||||
| S | A | C | R | A | C | O | N | S | N | O | N | E | A | R | G | |||||
| A | L | O | O | F | A | C | E | H | Y | P | E | M | U | S | C | A | T | |||
| G | A | R | B | A | G | E | D | U | M | P | S | C | R | E | E | D | S | |||
| A | N | N | O | D | I | N | I | S | P | Y | B | R | A | R | D | A | ||||
| B | E | T | W | E | E | N | T | H | E | L | I | N | E | S | ||||||
| P | E | R | F | A | R | P | A | L | S | N | O | B | I | M | U | S | ||||
| H | A | T | T | E | R | K | A | L | E | I | D | O | S | C | O | P | E | |||
| I | N | H | O | M | E | I | R | I | S | N | E | D | D | E | N | T | E | |||
| E | T | A | T | A | K | E | B | D | A | Y | R | A | Y | O | N | |||||
| A | C | M | E | M | E | S | A | P | O | O | R | H | O | N | ||||||
| D | R | A | M | A | L | E | S | S | O | N | S | U | N | D | O | C | K | |||
| M | A | R | E | X | E | D | F | I | R | E | F | R | E | S | H | E | N | |||
| I | N | K | E | D | C | O | V | E | I | S | A | I | D | L | A | D | E | |||
| N | I | E | C | E | O | N | C | E | S | I | S | A | L | O | R | A | L | |||
| S | A | T | O | N | M | A | R | T | H | A | S | T | E | W | A | R | T |
DAN: Bonus puzzle for the day:
[Attire, 4] + [Spearheaded, 3] + [Soldier's meal, 4] + [A long, long time, 4] = [Some of the entries in today's puzzle?, 7,8]
In the summer of 2021, I wrote some code to identify entries that could be broken down in multiple ways. BET-WEE-NTH-ELI-NES was a notable hit. I sat on that for a few months, then approached Jeff with it. We wrestled with the idea, trying to come up with a tractable presentation (seeding large grids with small entries is such a challenge!). While brainstorming how to present the entries creatively, we serendipitously stumbled on some grid art that strongly resembled the Lincoln Memorial and got sidetracked for a few months. After that escapade, we returned to BETWEEN THE LINES and settled on the presentation you see here. It's fun to see how one idea can lead to another totally unrelated idea, as it did in this case.
Big thanks to Jeff. This is our third puzzle this year in the Times. Having an experienced mentor to filter and process ideas with is such a help. If anyone is looking for someone to bounce ideas around with, feel free to DM me on Facebook.
Finally, big thanks to my parents (Mark and Holly) for their support and willingness to test-solve some of my less-polished ideas.
Bonus Puzzle's Answer (Backwards): SEGASSEM DELBRAG
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| S | K | I | T | R | I | P | R | I | V | A | L | E | D | |
| P | I | M | P | A | B | I | T | |||||||
| S | E | E | P | E | L | F | E | R | O | S | ||||
| W | H | A | T | T | I | L | E | I | S | W | O | R | T | H |
| O | A | R | S | S | L | A | S | H | N | O | R | I | ||
| O | N | T | B | A | A | H | U | P | M | A | N | |||
| S | T | A | R | R | Y | T | A | K | E | I | T | |||
| H | Y | G | I | E | N | E | V | I | S | I | O | N | S | |
| T | W | O | P | O | I | N | T | S | ||||||
| S | T | R | A | P | O | D | D | E | M | B | E | R | ||
| U | H | U | R | U | D | I | E | L | E | A | K | Y | ||
| R | A | N | D | B | E | C | O | S | T | R | E | E |
My solo debut! A multiple choice test, mid-summer? *Sheeesh*
I must confess that I look back on this puzzle with mixed feelings. On the one hand, the critic in me frowns on the blindly clued, seemingly random trivia question. On the other hand, I really do like how this puzzle pushes the envelope. Giving solvers a solid reason to break the norm and "shade" in a square was one clear aim of this puzzle (I'd have preferred for solvers actually to blacken the square, but the rebus is as close as you get on the digital platform I guess...). In any case, I hope this puzzle finds you well and gives you something new to chew on. Big thanks to the editing team for their input and suggestions.
Speaking of STARRY, have you checked out these images on the Webb? Incredible!
...and just in case you were wondering, the combined scrabble score of my commentary here is 1246... I'll show myself out now...
| T | V | A | D | S | P | A | N | G | O | G | H | S | A | S | H | |||||
| H | O | B | O | K | E | P | T | T | R | O | U | T | U | T | U | |||||
| A | N | E | W | B | I | R | T | H | O | F | F | R | E | E | D | O | M | |||
| I | N | T | E | R | N | E | T | E | A | R | C | L | I | P | S | |||||
| L | I | N | C | O | L | N | M | E | M | O | R | I | A | L | ||||||
| M | A | S | S | E | Y | S | O | U | L | S | C | R | A | G | G | Y | ||||
| E | V | A | F | D | A | D | O | Z | E | N | F | A | D | R | A | E | ||||
| L | O | V | E | S | I | C | K | B | A | G | B | E | N | S | T | E | I | N | ||
| T | W | I | G | P | E | R | S | K | Y | R | U | E | H | A | N | S | ||||
| O | R | R | D | O | C | N | O | D | S | E | T | |||||||||
| B | U | R | E | A | U | C | A | S | H | C | O | W | S | T | R | E | S | S | ||
| E | G | O | T | I | S | M | B | E | A | R | D | B | O | O | M | M | I | C | ||
| E | L | F | L | A | P | A | G | R | E | E | A | T | V | A | N | A | ||||
| P | I | T | A | S | H | O | N | E | S | T | A | B | E | E | R | N | S | T | ||
| H | O | P | S | W | A | R | H | E | R | O | S | P | E | C | ||||||
| C | E | L | L | A | R | S | P | A | C | I | F | I | C | |||||||
| C | H | U | I | C | U | T | A | P | P | O | M | |||||||||
| L | E | N | G | T | H | S | P | S | E | O | R | E | G | A | N | O | ||||
| A | V | I | A | T | E | S | R | I | N | M | A | H | A | T | M | A | ||||
| W | R | O | T | E | T | O | E | D | T | S | B | A | L | O | A | N | ||||
| S | E | N | O | R | S | S | T | E | R | N | S |
DAN: The extended quote for 21/23-Across:
"... It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
--Abraham Lincoln (Gettysburg Address)
Here's hoping this puzzle finds you well as we get ready to celebrate the 100th birthday of the LINCOLN MEMORIAL (5/30/22). I'm humbled and thrilled to be a part of today's publication. The story of how Lincoln rose to power and ultimately became both the "SAVIOR OF THE UNION" and the "GREAT EMANCIPATOR" is awe-inspiring. In considering his life, I think the thing I admire most about HONEST ABE is his firm resolve to love his enemies and work alongside his political opponents. If only the snippet "WITH MALICE TOWARD NONE WITH CHARITY FOR ALL" was symmetric...
To read more about Lincoln, check out Doris Kearns Goodwin's book "Team of Rivals." It is a must-read.
Big thanks to Jeff for slogging through this one with me. The tradeoffs were tough, but the 150+ email exchanges were worth it.
| I | C | O | N | S | Q | U | A | B | S | P | U | B | ||
| N | O | V | A | A | U | N | T | I | E | R | N | A | ||
| T | R | E | K | L | I | T | T | L | E | R | O | C | K | |
| O | G | R | E | O | P | I | E | N | A | B | L | E | ||
| W | I | L | D | R | O | S | E | S | I | C | E | E | S | |
| O | L | I | N | H | A | T | E | |||||||
| S | T | O | I | C | A | S | A | P | S | U | P | |||
| T | A | K | E | O | U | T | T | H | E | T | R | A | S | H |
| U | P | S | N | A | Y | S | W | A | N | E | D | |||
| O | D | O | R | L | O | T | T | |||||||
| R | E | T | R | O | I | O | W | A | S | T | A | T | E | |
| A | T | H | E | N | S | R | I | P | A | S | I | S | ||
| S | H | O | O | T | C | R | A | P | S | I | L | L | S | |
| T | E | N | G | O | A | T | E | E | L | A | D | E | ||
| A | R | G | O | W | N | E | R | S | S | P | E | X |
DAN: Coming across TAKEOUTTHETRASH in a wordlist got me looking at some pretty "dirty" words… "SPARE FUSE" , "NEWS JUNKIE", "FLITTERED" ... Having never published before I reached out to Jeff to get his take and in general to learn more about the construction process. When our candidates for a fourth themer (CHAFFINCH/SKISLOPES) failed to please, we relaxed the constraints slightly and allowed the "dirty words" to break apart, eventually narrowing on the theme set you see here. Jeff's a fantastic coach and we've now co-authored a few puzzles together.
Fill: I actually wrote the basic outline of this puzzle on my laptop while waiting near several OVERLOOKS on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. My wife at the time was fulfilling her "mammoth" goal of going rim-to-rim-to-rim (47+ miles in 18 hours!). She's amazing. Happy birthday Morgan!
About me: My wife and I have three kids and have settled in Minnesota where I work as a R&D robotics engineer for 3M. In general, I enjoy all things math/software-related and find crossword construction to be a thrilling application domain in which to toy with ideas and algorithms. Outside of crosswords I enjoy dabbling on the piano, playing basketball at my church weekly, and chasing my kids around the house as "the monster."
— Proceeds from this puzzle will be donated to Ukrainian refugees —