Gustie Owens author page
1 puzzle by Gustie Owens
with Jeff Chen comments
Gustie Owens, of New York City, is a research assistant at MDRC, a nonprofit education, and social policy research organization.
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I've now watched every season of "The Great British Bake-off" and have binged every available "The Great Canadian Baking Show," "The Great Australian Bake Off," and "The Great Kiwi Bake Off." Is it any wonder I loved the punnery around how a cooking show contestant STIRS UP DRAMA?
It's a shame that this puzzle had to be edited before Musk blew up Twitter. My next-door neighbor (still employed there but not sure if that's a good thing) SHARES many ACCOUNTs with me.
Not all of the themers resonated. AIRS THEIR DIRTY LAUNDRY has been punned upon many times in crosswords and HAS ALL THE JUICY DETAILS didn't give me a smooth connection to a smoothie bar worker. Overall, a solid example of a tried-and-true "punny reinterpretations" theme.
It's difficult to land a debut in the NYT, and it's much harder to do it with a Sunday 21x21. Simply filling a 140-word grid is hard enough, and filling it well is an accomplishment to celebrate. I liked the decision to keep the themers to six (average is seven), which allowed Gustie to work in great bonuses like TRUST FUNDS, SHAKA SIGN, even TAX CODE. I haven't read AMERICANAH yet, but the plot summary in the clue piqued my interest.
Nice touch to cross SHAKA SIGN with DANGLE, both using "hang loose" in their clues.
Some fun wordplay, too, like your ELBOW as a "sneeze guard." (Not the case for my son, who's had back-to-school colds for two months now — my face is his sneeze guard.)
I love seeing the fruits of the Diverse Crossword Constructor Fellowship. This puzzle is a solid offering for casual solvers, with some fresh SPILL THE TEA type phrases.