David Alfred Bywaters author page
4 puzzles by David Alfred Bywaters
with Constructor comments
The photo is of Mr. Bywaters's great-grandmother, Maria Thusnelda Steichmann Kuraner, who he called a crossword connoisseur.
| S | N | I | T | B | O | O | R | G | E | S | S | O | ||
| W | I | N | E | A | N | T | E | A | G | A | I | N | ||
| E | X | T | E | N | S | I | O | N | B | O | R | N | E | |
| D | E | O | E | S | T | H | E | R | C | A | P | |||
| E | D | W | A | R | D | E | X | C | L | A | I | M | ||
| N | O | R | T | H | S | H | E | S | ||||||
| P | A | S | T | U | R | I | S | I | N | T | W | O | ||
| E | X | C | O | M | M | U | N | I | C | A | T | I | O | N |
| R | E | U | N | E | E | T | C | H | I | C | E | S | ||
| L | I | S | T | S | K | I | L | L | ||||||
| E | X | P | O | S | E | S | C | O | S | M | O | S | ||
| P | E | T | A | L | A | S | K | A | A | R | I | |||
| I | N | U | S | E | E | X | P | E | N | D | I | N | G | |
| C | O | R | E | R | E | L | A | N | A | N | O | N | ||
| S | N | E | E | R | K | E | Y | S | B | E | T | S |
There are two kinds of crosswords — those that try to be funny, and those that don't. I prefer the first kind. Even when, as often happens, they're not actually funny, I respect the impulse behind them. And you'll find that impulse expressed weekly, in the puzzles I offer free on my website, davidalfredbywaters.com.
In this puzzle, however, for once, I seek to strike a more serious note. With XENON, isotopes of which are used to monitor test-ban compliance, I call attention to the dangers of nuclear proliferation. And NERO is here as a warning to tyrants everywhere: you may flourish for a season, but your name (particularly if it's crossword-friendly) will live in infamy!
| C | A | P | E | D | C | A | L | L | B | R | A | T | ||
| O | V | I | N | E | O | M | I | T | R | E | D | O | ||
| C | O | L | D | S | O | B | B | E | R | O | H | O | K | |
| A | W | E | S | U | R | E | A | W | A | R | E | |||
| D | I | E | T | A | R | Y | F | I | B | B | E | R | ||
| M | R | S | O | L | D | E | ||||||||
| A | D | A | P | T | G | O | Y | A | A | D | A | Y | ||
| T | O | B | E | O | R | N | O | T | T | O | B | E | ||
| M | I | S | C | R | A | T | S | T | I | T | A | N | ||
| U | S | E | D | M | E | N | ||||||||
| C | H | I | N | E | S | E | C | A | B | A | G | E | ||
| R | E | M | I | X | A | M | A | T | L | A | P | |||
| A | L | S | O | W | E | W | A | S | R | O | B | E | D | |
| B | L | E | U | O | W | E | S | A | L | O | O | F | ||
| S | O | T | S | W | E | D | S | Y | A | W | N | S |
For me, the best crosswords are those with the most entertaining theme answers, involving the most ridiculous images, the most absurd incongruities. Mechanical consistency, such as might result from a simple computer algorithm, doesn't interest me. I want a puzzle obviously created by a human being, preferably one with a sense of humor.
The more answers a theme generates, the more a constructor has to work with. In this puzzle, for instance, COB SALAD (Side dish with extreme roughage?) would also fit the theme, as would the similarly salad-related BIB LETTUCE (Consequence of infant salad consumption?), the bilingual HONEST ABBE (Trustworthy French cleric?), the grim RUSSIAN RUBBLE (Crimean war consequence?), the grimmer BOMB BAY DUCK (Weaponized waterfowl?) — and no doubt there are others. I chose what seemed to me the best symmetrically fitting possibilities consistent with my groan-worthy pun revealer, and I'm delighted that the Times has published the result.
If you want more such puzzles, try my website, where I post a new one every Saturday.
| C | H | A | P | H | E | M | G | R | A | V | E | L | M | E | C | C | A | |||
| H | O | L | A | A | P | O | E | U | R | E | K | A | I | N | L | O | W | |||
| E | W | E | S | W | I | T | H | O | N | E | A | C | C | O | R | D | I | O | N | |
| A | S | P | C | A | C | E | O | L | O | E | B | P | C | T | S | |||||
| P | A | P | A | L | B | U | L | L | I | O | N | D | I | D | O | K | ||||
| D | O | L | L | A | R | E | S | T | E | E | M | T | R | I | B | A | L | |||
| S | A | L | E | S | N | O | V | A | E | P | A | N | A | M | A | |||||
| C | R | O | W | N | S | I | S | T | H | A | T | A | F | A | C | T | I | O | N | |
| H | E | R | A | A | T | T | U | S | L | I | G | O | T | S | K | |||||
| U | N | A | G | I | R | I | F | F | E | D | D | E | N | S | ||||||
| G | O | L | E | M | U | N | I | O | N | I | Z | E | D | I | T | S | M | E | ||
| R | A | C | E | R | E | P | E | A | L | C | A | L | E | B | ||||||
| A | W | E | G | O | U | D | A | A | V | E | C | G | A | G | A | |||||
| M | I | S | S | I | M | P | O | S | S | I | B | L | E | L | E | E | W | A | Y | |
| I | N | S | A | N | E | S | T | E | N | O | S | M | A | R | M | |||||
| E | N | A | M | E | L | O | I | L | R | I | G | A | N | N | O | Y | S | |||
| Y | A | S | I | R | F | I | L | L | I | N | G | S | T | A | T | S | ||||
| A | T | T | N | E | A | S | T | U | N | A | T | H | R | E | W | |||||
| R | H | E | T | O | R | I | C | A | L | Q | U | E | S | T | S | E | R | L | E | |
| K | A | S | H | A | L | A | D | I | E | S | E | E | O | R | O | L | E | |||
| S | I | T | A | R | S | T | A | N | D | S | T | E | N | S | W | A | P |
If you liked this puzzle, you should visit my website, "David Alfred Bywaters's Crossword Cavalcade & Weekly Victorian Novel Recommender", where every week you'll find, free of charge, a moderately easy themed crossword (and a novel recommendation). If you didn't like this puzzle, you should still visit my website, where this week you can take out all your crossword frustrations by hate-solving "The Worst Crossword Puzzle Ever Made."
| P | H | E | W | A | R | O | M | A | E | R | S | E | ||
| E | A | C | H | M | A | N | O | R | Q | U | I | T | ||
| T | H | R | E | E | P | I | E | C | E | S | U | I | T | S |
| S | A | U | E | R | D | U | H | W | I | N | E | Y | ||
| D | R | I | P | A | G | A | N | |||||||
| A | B | A | L | O | N | E | O | N | E | A | C | T | ||
| B | O | X | E | R | B | R | I | E | F | S | B | A | R | |
| B | O | L | D | O | N | R | Y | E | V | A | P | E | ||
| E | N | E | B | A | S | K | E | T | C | A | S | E | S | |
| Y | E | S | S | I | R | S | C | O | R | E | R | S | ||
| C | O | D | E | S | H | A | M | |||||||
| I | D | I | O | T | A | P | E | T | I | N | G | E | ||
| D | E | N | T | A | L | R | E | T | A | I | N | E | R | S |
| L | E | F | T | A | T | A | R | I | T | R | I | P | ||
| E | R | O | S | S | H | R | E | D | S | O | N | Y |
I'm delighted to have a puzzle in the Times, as would have been my great-grandmother, Maria Thusnelda Steichmann Kuraner, an early crossword connoisseur, shown above. (She took a better picture than I do.)
I've enjoyed comparing my submitted version with Will Shortz's finished product. Of my 76 clues, 36 (47%) were changed, almost always (I confess) for the better. I've tried to assign a reason for each change, failing only in one case ("per unit" for "apiece").
- Ten clues were made less obscure.
- Eight were improved in style ("prefix," for example, became "lead-in," and "retailer" "seller").
- Four were made less stupid—that is, some attempt at cleverness on my part was tactfully removed.
- Three were made more accurate (apparently, the coati's range is not restricted to South America).
- One was better spelled (there's no "e" in "chocolaty").
- And nine were made more interesting, of which my favorite is 6 Down: RAID "Unwelcome cry at the front door." I wish I'd thought of that.