David Karp author page
5 puzzles by David Karp
with Constructor comments
| M | O | Z | A | M | B | I | Q | U | E | S | A | I | L | |
| A | R | E | Y | O | U | N | U | T | S | I | F | S | O | |
| I | C | A | N | R | E | L | A | T | E | T | I | T | S | |
| D | A | L | A | N | O | D | E | S | A | C | H | A | ||
| S | L | O | W | R | E | T | R | I | A | L | ||||
| M | I | T | E | S | S | A | R | A | S | O | T | A | ||
| H | A | N | D | S | T | A | N | G | Y | N | A | M | ||
| A | R | T | S | P | E | T | C | O | D | A | Y | O | ||
| S | T | E | M | E | L | E | E | C | O | D | E | S | ||
| A | I | R | F | A | R | E | S | H | U | G | O | S | ||
| H | A | M | I | T | U | P | R | I | B | S | ||||
| E | L | I | T | E | H | A | I | T | I | N | F | L | ||
| A | L | A | S | P | O | T | D | E | C | R | E | M | E | |
| R | A | M | I | A | N | T | I | C | L | I | M | A | X | |
| T | W | I | N | P | E | A | C | H | E | M | O | J | I |
| T | A | L | C | T | A | S | T | E | I | T | Z | A | P | B | A | T | ||||
| I | K | E | A | E | C | H | I | D | N | A | D | E | C | O | E | N | D | |||
| E | A | T | H | U | M | B | L | E | P | I | E | L | I | P | ||||||
| S | T | Y | R | E | N | E | I | N | H | D | A | L | M | A | ||||||
| M | A | D | A | M | A | T | O | A | S | T | Y | A | L | I | A | S | ||||
| B | L | I | N | D | E | X | P | E | R | I | M | E | N | T | S | |||||
| A | B | E | L | R | E | T | A | I | L | S | U | S | I | E | ||||||
| P | L | U | S | H | E | A | S | E | L | |||||||||||
| K | A | T | E | M | I | D | D | L | E | T | O | N | ||||||||
| M | E | D | I | N | A | C | A | R | O | U | S | E | T | Y | P | O | S | |||
| L | E | D | A | O | B | S | M | A | I | O | W | S | S | I | S | I | ||||
| S | P | U | R | T | A | N | T | O | I | N | E | I | R | O | N | I | C | |||
| S | P | A | R | R | I | N | G | P | A | R | T | N | E | R | ||||||
| Y | E | N | T | A | G | E | N | I | E | |||||||||||
| S | O | D | O | I | S | T | R | E | A | K | E | R | M | A | ||||||
| P | I | N | K | Y | A | N | D | T | H | E | B | R | A | I | N | |||||
| F | A | L | S | E | E | R | O | D | E | S | V | A | I | N | L | Y | ||||
| I | R | E | S | S | T | A | G | T | A | L | E | N | T | S | ||||||
| Z | E | D | F | A | T | F | I | N | G | E | R | S | Y | N | D | R | O | M | E | |
| E | M | U | L | I | L | T | B | E | L | I | E | F | S | E | M | I | T | |||
| R | E | P | O | L | E | C | L | A | M | A | T | O | A | S | I | S | ||||
| D | O | G | S | P | A | S | G | S | P | O | T | E | A | R | G | A | S | M | ||
| I | N | A | P | I | L | E | I | C | O | N | S | G | R | O | U | P | I | E | ||
| P | I | E | R | C | I | N | G | S | H | R | E | K | G | R | A | S | P | E | D | |
| S | T | A | I | N | T | O | T | O | F | O | E | S | ||||||||
| G | I | G | I | O | O | R | I | G | I | N | S | T | O | R | E | S | ||||
| T | U | G | C | O | N | S | L | I | D | O | N | T | H | R | A | S | H | |||
| U | T | A | H | B | E | A | T | D | E | F | I | B | A | S | P | C | A | |||
| F | I | V | E | P | I | L | L | A | R | S | O | F | S | L | A | M | T | O | P | |
| T | C | E | L | L | S | I | T | U | H | U | G | M | O | R | E | |||||
| A | L | I | A | S | B | I | N | G | E | R | O | B | E | R | T | S | ||||
| P | I | C | K | I | N | G | O | N | E | S | B | R | A | N | ||||||
| P | A | P | A | D | A | M | S | T | I | N | K | A | N | O | D | E | ||||
| E | G | A | D | L | A | S | A | G | A | R | F | R | O | D | O | |||||
| T | E | N | C | E | R | T | I | F | I | C | A | T | E | O | F | C | L | A | M | |
| E | G | I | R | L | T | O | D | A | D | G | E | A | R | A | L | M | A | |||
| R | A | N | O | U | T | D | E | V | I | C | E | L | A | H | S | S | N | |||
| S | P | I | T | T | I | N | G | M | A | G | E | P | I | L | O | T | ||||
| C | L | O | Y | D | O | I | T | B | A | H | A | I | ||||||||
| P | A | N | T | H | E | R | T | H | I | R | D | E | Y | E | B | L | I | N | D | |
| E | R | A | S | E | R | S | E | E | R | I | E | T | R | E | K | K | I | E | ||
| I | M | P | A | S | S | E | E | X | E | C | S | V | E | S | S | E | L | S |
My first-ever attempt at making a crossword was a themeless with THIRD EYE BLIND plastered across the middle. The Times editors' overly generous verdict: "It's nice work, but the vocabulary wasn't quite flashy enough for Will to say yes." Eventually, I realized it might be fun if I could find ordinary phrases that made silly new ones when their third "I" was dropped.
I'm grateful for the editors' suggestion to drop the underwhelming DINING ROOM CHARS (Arctic fish dishes in a fancy restaurant?), which allowed for cleaner and livelier surrounding fill. Other candidates that didn't make the cut include RISING TO THE BAT (Really stepping up, in baseball?) BOILING PONT (French bridge that's on fire?), and the rather depressing FAIR IS FAR ("We've got a long way to go to reach equality"?).
| M | A | A | M | S | W | H | A | P | S | |||||
| G | A | L | P | A | L | H | I | G | H | E | R | |||
| H | O | S | T | I | L | E | T | A | K | E | O | V | E | R |
| E | S | C | A | L | E | R | T | E | D | I | P | O | ||
| A | L | A | S | S | P | E | C | S | F | L | E | X | ||
| D | O | R | I | S | L | A | H | S | A | L | L | Y | ||
| W | A | L | K | I | E | T | A | L | K | I | E | S | ||
| K | O | R | S | M | O | O | R | |||||||
| N | O | T | R | E | S | P | A | S | S | I | N | G | ||
| B | E | F | I | T | N | E | C | H | E | A | R | T | ||
| L | I | F | E | V | I | R | A | L | S | P | E | W | ||
| A | G | S | D | O | G | S | L | E | D | S | E | E | ||
| T | H | E | B | A | C | H | E | L | O | R | E | T | T | E |
| S | T | A | Y | A | T | I | N | U | R | E | S | |||
| S | N | O | B | S | T | I | G | E | R |
I submitted this crossword to the Times when my son Mattias was four months old, and there were some SLEEPLESS NIGHTS for my wife and I. Luckily, he is a champion sleeper now!
When I started making crosswords, I found grid design to be the most intimidating part of the process. My early attempts at making themelesses involved taking a blank grid from a crossword I really enjoyed solving (often a Robyn Weintraub!), and then adding my own favorite words and phrases before writing clues.
In the last year or so, I gained the confidence to experiment with making my own grids from scratch. This grid is the result of me wondering whether an X-shaped themeless grid was doable. I'm pleased with the result, which has not only your typical rotational symmetry but also left-right and up-down symmetry. I hope the four grid spanners and two 13's in the middle give solvers some fun aha moments and help them navigate the grid smoothly.
| C | L | A | M | H | A | S | T | A | C | A | S | T | ||
| R | I | L | E | E | C | L | A | T | O | C | H | O | ||
| I | B | E | X | N | E | A | T | O | L | A | I | R | ||
| S | E | X | I | E | S | T | M | A | N | A | L | I | V | E |
| P | L | A | C | A | T | E | D | E | V | E | ||||
| A | V | E | N | U | E | S | C | O | F | F | ||||
| S | W | A | N | E | E | N | Y | E | T | A | R | O | ||
| H | I | G | H | S | T | A | K | E | S | P | O | K | E | R |
| I | D | E | A | H | O | C | C | O | R | S | E | T | ||
| N | E | S | T | S | N | O | B | A | R | S | ||||
| D | O | C | N | A | P | T | I | M | E | S | ||||
| M | O | R | A | L | O | F | T | H | E | S | T | O | R | Y |
| A | K | I | N | B | L | E | A | K | E | V | E | R | ||
| C | R | O | C | R | O | S | I | E | M | I | C | A | ||
| K | A | T | E | A | R | T | S | Y | S | E | T | H |
This crossword started with me trying to see how many interesting 15-letter spanners I could fit into a grid — without cramming them all into stacks, and while trying to keep the rest of the fill reasonably fun and engaging.
My favourite entry is 20-Across, with 42-Across being a close second. I was pleased that my original clues survived the editing process in both cases.
I started making crosswords as a pandemic hobby, learning through trial and mostly error. After 21 rejections from the Times, I had almost abandoned hope of getting a "yes" from Will and the editing team. It seems fitting that their 22nd response was a "yes", as 22 is my lucky number (I like twos, and 22 is even better as it is two twos).