Danny Lawson author page
1 puzzle by Danny Lawson
with Constructor comments
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I am utterly thrilled to be making my debut in the Crossworld today, and to be making it in the NYT makes it a dream come true!
One of the things I did during The Covid Times was to rifle through old papers and objects from childhood. I found an elementary school essay that specifically mentions my love of crosswords, so this is a long time coming for me! I owe this love of words, puzzly and otherwise, to my parents and my grandparents, and I'm grateful most of them are still around to be able to do this one.
This theme idea came to me when, as I know is common, I was working out an entirely different puzzle concept. I came across the revealer phrase (Oh, Lucy van Pelt, you scoundrel...), and I was off in an entirely different direction. I have fond memories of reading "Peanuts" as a child; as a classical pianist, I particularly love Schroeder.
The puzzle initially had a few more rebus squares, but the fill suffered. Despite trying to make it work, I had to be rid of some them (Farewell, Talking HEADs and Lena HEADey!). I'm quite pleased with the final themer set, particularly 28-Across. The result, I believe, is 40-Down.
Deepest thanks to all the folks who looked over this and other puzzles over the years. I'm hoping that this one, even if the theme doesn't tickle everyone's fancy, will leave solvers wanting some delicious 38-Down or having 15-Across as an earworm!