See the 9 answer words debuted by Gary Kennedy.
S | W | I | S | S | I | K | E | C | A | S | I | N | O | ||
P | O | R | C | H | S | O | X | E | S | C | R | O | W | ||
O | T | E | R | I | B | R | O | O | P | I | A | T | E | ||
C | A | N | O | P | E | N | E | R | E | S | S | E | S | ||
K | N | E | L | L | S | A | C | O | R | N | S | ||||
L | O | P | N | I | K | E | O | N | T | O | |||||
A | G | E | A | N | T | S | A | P | R | A | I | N | |||
P | A | R | T | D | A | R | M | Y | N | S | Y | N | C | ||
S | L | A | W | T | R | A | S | R | O | S | T | E | |||
E | L | S | E | S | P | C | A | A | A | A | |||||
E | R | A | S | E | D | C | H | R | I | S | T | ||||
C | R | A | Z | E | C | O | R | K | S | C | R | E | W | ||
L | O | V | E | T | O | A | N | O | A | T | A | R | I | ||
E | M | E | R | I | L | R | I | O | R | A | N | I | N | ||
F | E | S | S | E | D | S | S | T | K | N | I | F | E |
Although I was thrilled to receive Will Shortz's notification that my puzzle would publish today, I was even more thrilled to learn that my daughter in California just gave birth to a baby boy, Orion. We'll be headed out there next week.
I'm a math professor at Ohio State, two years away from retirement. This is my first solo puzzle, but I constructed a couple of Thursdays in 2009 with my son Stephen. The puzzle's theme stems from his great enthusiasm, way back in elementary school days, for Swiss Army Knives. He made a special school project full of arcane information about them, printed on the hinged paper blades of a gigantic knife.
Stephen and I went to ACPT together a few times; while I stayed consistently in the middle of the pack, he kept getting better, totally kicking my ass. We haven't managed to get back since the arrival of his own little boy Charlie, now 2 years old.
H | O | T | M | E | O | W | S | D | E | V | I | L | ||
A | N | A | A | L | P | H | A | O | V | I | N | E | ||
R | E | N | D | E | P | O | T | L | E | X | U | S | ||
M | A | G | L | E | V | L | I | K | E | E | R | S | ||
V | I | S | C | E | R | A | K | N | E | E | ||||
S | I | T | I | N | O | T | I | S | U | S | S | R | ||
T | R | O | I | C | A | T | C | H | E | R | ||||
E | A | R | P | A | T | H | M | O | D | E | L | A | ||
P | E | T | R | O | V | E | R | I | N | T | A | G | ||
B | R | E | E | D | E | R | R | O | M | E | ||||
S | E | M | I | A | J | O | B | Z | O | N | E | D | ||
A | X | E | S | R | E | G | A | L | E | S | ||||
M | A | N | A | T | M | S | O | P | E | N | U | P | ||
O | C | T | A | L | P | O | A | C | H | O | L | E | ||
A | T | A | L | L | L | U | C | K | Y | S | N | L | ||
S | A | L | T | Y | O | T | T | E | R | E | A | T |
A | G | R | A | C | R | A | B | C | H | O | K | E | ||
W | E | A | N | N | I | L | E | H | O | T | E | L | ||
O | R | I | G | I | N | O | F | S | P | E | C | I | E | S |
L | E | N | I | N | A | T | O | M | S | P | A | |||
S | N | E | A | K | I | N | L | A | ||||||
C | H | A | R | L | E | S | R | D | A | R | W | I | N | |
P | L | O | T | A | R | T | B | E | A | M | E | |||
A | I | W | A | S | N | A | C | K | A | F | E | W | ||
S | M | E | L | T | H | O | E | S | F | A | T | |||
A | B | R | A | H | A | M | L | I | N | C | O | L | N | |
N | E | R | O | L | O | R | R | E | ||||||
O | K | S | A | A | R | E | A | N | I | S | E | |||
R | E | P | U | B | L | I | C | A | N | P | A | R | T | Y |
B | R | O | N | C | T | R | O | Y | T | O | L | E | ||
S | I | T | E | S | Z | U | L | U | E | N | O | S |