See the 28 answer words debuted by Dick Shlakman.
Dick Shlakman served his country for over 37 years in the Air Force as both an enlisted Service Member and then as a Civilian for the Department of Defense where he retired as the Director of the Air Force Engineering and Technical Services Worldwide (AFETS).
He received the Outstanding Civilian Career Services Award for 37 years of dedicated Federal Service. He had a BS of Business Management from the University of South Carolina and an MBA from Golden Gate University.
C | I | R | C | E | A | B | R | A | M | O | B | J | E | C | T | O | R | S | ||
U | B | E | R | X | H | U | E | V | O | B | E | A | V | E | R | H | A | T | ||
L | I | F | E | C | O | A | C | H | E | S | I | N | B | A | L | A | N | C | E | |
D | E | T | E | R | S | Y | R | U | P | T | O | N | E | P | O | E | M | |||
R | E | L | A | Y | D | Y | L | A | N | U | S | S | ||||||||
U | K | E | T | E | A | R | N | O | O | K | T | I | B | I | A | |||||
S | I | N | G | L | E | S | B | A | R | S | D | R | I | V | E | N | U | T | S | |
U | N | D | E | A | D | A | T | E | A | M | B | E | E | L | I | S | T | |||
A | D | U | L | T | S | C | E | P | T | E | R | S | S | T | E | L | M | O | ||
L | A | M | E | M | M | A | I | S | O | S | P | U | T | T | E | R | ||||
T | R | O | U | B | L | E | S | H | O | O | T | E | R | S | ||||||
M | I | G | R | A | N | T | O | A | F | P | A | R | M | T | S | P | ||||
A | Q | U | I | L | A | D | O | C | I | L | I | T | Y | O | P | I | N | E | ||
S | U | I | T | C | H | E | H | E | I | D | I | M | I | A | M | O | R | |||
T | I | D | E | P | O | O | L | S | S | P | A | M | F | I | L | T | E | R | S | |
S | T | O | R | E | T | I | E | D | B | A | I | L | C | E | E | |||||
A | L | E | A | R | R | O | W | B | L | A | I | R | ||||||||
B | A | R | E | S | A | L | L | S | I | Z | E | D | E | N | N | U | I | |||
A | N | I | M | A | T | I | O | N | P | O | L | O | G | R | O | U | N | D | S | |
G | E | T | I | N | H | E | R | E | U | N | L | I | T | D | I | C | E | S | ||
S | W | E | L | T | E | R | E | D | P | E | S | T | O | E | T | H | A | N |
Dick Shlakman, who's turning 82 next Sunday, is a retired lawyer and corporate executive from Plano, Tex. Will Nediger, 31, is a professional crossword constructor from London, Ont. Dick saw Will's offer of crossword mentorship on Facebook and reached out for his help. They've now made several puzzles together. "I come up with a theme idea that I think is absolutely perfect," Dick says, "and Will shows me the error of my ways — then suggests how to take that idea and make it ideal."
This is Dick's third crossword for The Times and Will's 37th.
S | P | A | Y | R | O | B | E | N | O | I | S | Y | ||
A | L | B | A | E | L | B | A | O | N | C | U | E | ||
P | E | A | K | S | P | I | Q | U | E | P | E | K | E | S |
S | A | N | M | A | N | S | A | R | T | |||||
D | D | A | Y | B | R | O | W | S | E | |||||
B | O | A | R | S | B | O | R | E | B | O | E | R | S | |
L | I | N | D | T | A | N | O | D | T | R | U | |||
E | S | S | A | Y | D | A | N | A | R | S | O | N | ||
A | S | H | O | R | I | T | L | I | A | R | S | |||
P | A | I | R | S | P | A | R | E | P | E | A | R | S | |
U | P | K | E | E | P | A | X | L | E | |||||
E | L | D | O | G | R | E | C | A | T | |||||
I | D | Y | L | L | S | I | D | L | E | I | D | O | L | S |
N | E | A | L | E | L | I | O | N | U | R | S | A | ||
S | A | T | Y | R | K | E | P | T | O | D | O | R |
H | A | W | S | L | E | E | R | S | A | T | U | N | U | M | ||||||
O | L | I | N | S | I | N | R | E | A | C | H | W | H | O | L | E | ||||
R | E | D | E | E | M | T | E | R | M | I | T | E | K | A | H | U | N | A | ||
E | X | E | R | C | I | S | E | R | S | D | U | R | A | N | D | U | R | A | N | |
B | A | N | D | O | L | E | R | O | P | O | L | O | S | H | I | R | T | |||
K | I | A | T | C | M | B | I | C | ||||||||||||
H | O | W | C | O | S | T | E | A | U | O | A | K | S | T | S | A | ||||
I | N | H | A | L | F | I | N | A | K | N | O | T | K | O | S | H | E | R | ||
H | E | A | V | E | H | O | O | L | E | I | C | E | N | T | R | E | E | S | ||
A | N | T | E | U | H | O | H | T | A | C | O | A | S | T | O | |||||
T | D | S | B | M | I | N | O | R | R | O | C | O | C | O | C | O | N | |||
D | O | R | A | E | P | I | T | A | P | H | K | A | T | O | ||||||
S | N | O | W | I | N | F | E | L | I | C | I | A | W | R | I | T | H | E | ||
I | O | N | E | S | K | Y | E | E | S | E | R | E | H | E | A | T | E | D | ||
N | E | E | K | I | E | L | D | H | S | M | O | O | D | I | R | E | ||||
G | L | I | B | N | E | L | L | T | E | N | S | A | S | S | N | |||||
S | E | N | D | S | E | A | B | I | R | D | T | O | S | H | ||||||
O | R | D | A | I | N | W | I | L | L | F | U | L | H | O | T | P | O | T | ||
T | O | O | D | L | E | O | O | I | O | N | I | C | E | H | O | L | E | S | ||
T | A | N | S | S | H | O | C | O | O | F | O | R | R | A | N | K | ||||
O | D | E | S | O | P | E | D | T | E | W | E | Y | O | S |
This puzzle has everything — a fresh, literary theme, beautifully executed, with a bonus visual element, and a handsome construction to boot. Besides the theme I like DURAN DURAN, POLO SHIRT, IN A KNOT, HEAVE-HO, IONE SKYE, HOT POT, TOODLE-OO, NO HOPE, and THE ROBOT. This should make for a relaxing few hours for most solvers ... or a "relaxing" 6-8 minutes for crossword champion Dan Feyer!