Hemant Mehta author page
8 puzzles by Hemant Mehta
with Constructor comments
| S | K | I | L | L | W | A | I | T | M | I | S | T | ||
| I | N | D | I | E | B | A | N | D | S | U | M | N | O | |
| G | O | O | U | T | O | N | T | O | P | S | P | I | N | |
| H | T | S | M | O | D | E | L | G | E | O | D | E | ||
| B | E | T | A | A | P | L | U | S | E | S | ||||
| S | P | A | R | E | S | B | T | E | A | M | S | |||
| T | E | L | E | X | K | E | E | P | S | T | I | M | E | |
| U | S | M | A | P | I | R | R | S | O | B | E | R | ||
| F | O | O | T | L | O | N | G | S | T | U | L | S | A | |
| S | H | A | R | K | S | D | U | R | E | S | S | |||
| H | O | T | M | I | C | S | T | O | M | S | ||||
| A | D | D | I | N | H | B | O | M | B | M | I | Z | ||
| U | D | O | N | B | A | R | R | E | L | R | A | C | E | |
| T | E | N | T | I | M | I | S | S | E | D | Y | O | U | |
| E | R | E | S | D | E | M | O | R | A | I | N | S |
| N | I | K | E | S | D | A | N | A | C | R | A | M | ||
| S | C | I | E | N | C | E | L | A | B | H | O | P | E | |
| F | E | L | L | I | N | L | O | V | E | E | K | E | D | |
| W | E | T | D | O | T | T | Y | F | E | U | D | S | ||
| L | E | T | S | C | M | A | S | |||||||
| L | A | H | O | R | E | C | A | B | L | E | C | A | R | |
| E | R | A | S | E | T | I | D | A | L | W | A | V | E | |
| G | O | D | I | M | R | T | E | B | E | G | I | N | ||
| I | M | O | N | A | D | I | E | T | A | D | E | L | E | |
| T | A | N | G | R | A | M | S | M | C | G | R | A | W | |
| S | K | Y | E | B | A | K | E | |||||||
| I | D | O | L | S | S | C | A | M | P | I | D | O | ||
| N | O | S | E | C | T | R | L | A | L | T | D | E | L | |
| H | O | L | E | R | E | A | D | S | A | H | E | A | D | |
| D | R | O | P | U | R | N | S | N | E | A | R | S |
| T | V | C | A | M | B | A | E | C | H | A | P | |||
| B | O | O | T | Y | C | A | L | L | S | R | I | D | E | |
| S | T | U | F | F | Y | N | O | S | E | I | D | L | E | |
| P | E | P | A | C | N | E | D | A | N | D | E | R | ||
| R | U | L | E | B | A | N | G | E | R | S | ||||
| S | P | O | I | L | E | D | R | O | T | T | E | N | ||
| H | I | H | A | T | B | A | R | E | S | F | B | I | ||
| A | K | I | N | B | O | N | E | S | J | E | A | N | ||
| G | E | T | F | L | O | A | T | O | P | E | D | S | ||
| S | H | O | O | K | T | H | I | N | G | S | U | P | ||
| A | M | O | U | N | T | S | E | R | A | S | ||||
| S | I | N | G | T | O | A | C | E | R | P | D | F | ||
| T | A | N | G | U | P | T | O | N | O | G | O | O | D | |
| O | T | O | E | T | I | N | S | E | L | T | O | W | N | |
| R | A | W | R | C | O | T | L | O | R | D | Y |
| H | E | R | A | P | B | J | M | A | M | I | E | |||
| O | M | E | N | C | H | E | E | T | O | D | U | S | T | |
| L | A | D | Y | L | O | T | T | O | B | A | L | L | S | |
| A | S | S | D | O | N | S | R | I | P | L | E | Y | ||
| C | O | L | O | N | Y | B | R | U | T | |||||
| T | U | L | A | N | E | D | A | I | S | B | R | O | ||
| I | L | O | S | T | W | O | R | D | S | A | L | A | D | |
| P | A | C | E | R | A | G | E | T | R | A | C | I | ||
| S | T | U | D | E | N | T | I | D | R | I | M | E | S | |
| Y | E | P | M | O | E | T | B | I | S | E | C | T | ||
| D | I | O | R | H | O | P | E | S | O | |||||
| A | S | C | E | N | D | T | E | A | S | T | U | B | ||
| F | I | E | L | D | G | O | A | L | S | M | O | R | E | |
| A | N | D | I | M | E | A | N | I | T | U | R | S | A | |
| R | E | E | S | E | T | K | O | D | M | E | D |
| O | M | A | N | I | S | E | G | A | S | N | U | B | ||
| V | E | R | Y | C | L | E | V | E | R | C | O | D | E | |
| A | M | I | T | O | O | L | A | T | E | H | I | D | E | |
| L | O | L | M | I | L | L | S | P | O | S | E | R | ||
| P | E | N | S | B | A | L | L | E | R | S | ||||
| H | U | B | R | I | S | N | O | M | A | A | M | |||
| A | P | R | O | N | M | E | R | C | Y | R | U | L | E | |
| S | T | U | M | P | A | W | E | E | S | S | A | Y | ||
| H | O | T | D | E | S | K | E | D | R | H | I | N | E | |
| E | R | A | S | E | R | C | H | I | C | K | S | |||
| A | F | F | E | C | T | S | S | L | A | P | ||||
| P | R | O | S | E | L | I | M | I | T | B | O | A | ||
| A | I | R | S | N | O | T | O | N | E | W | O | R | D | |
| R | A | C | E | O | V | E | R | G | R | A | Z | E | D | |
| T | R | E | S | M | E | M | E | S | H | O | O | S |
Here's hoping the chatty nature of this puzzle feels more familiar than annoying. (But now you know what it's like to have a conversation with me.)
I'm very amused by the crossing of BALLERS & PLAYERHATERS, SCHOLARSHIP & ESSAY, and AMITOOLATE & ICOMEINPEACE.
The symmetric placement of MAKESLOVE and GETSBORED is purely coincidental.
In hindsight, I should've linked together SNUB and NOM.
| U | M | S | M | A | L | A | L | A | F | I | G | S | ||
| P | R | O | M | O | C | O | D | E | S | O | P | E | C | |
| S | H | R | I | N | K | W | R | A | P | O | R | N | O | |
| H | Y | D | R | A | B | E | D | F | L | E | U | R | ||
| O | D | I | E | C | A | P | T | O | S | S | I | N | ||
| T | E | D | M | A | T | S | H | O | G | U | N | |||
| D | O | N | T | L | I | E | T | O | M | E | ||||
| F | O | R | C | E | D | S | M | I | L | E | ||||
| I | U | N | D | E | R | S | T | A | N | D | ||||
| S | T | A | R | R | Y | E | G | G | B | A | R | |||
| S | A | U | T | E | S | S | R | I | M | O | V | E | ||
| H | I | R | E | D | M | A | C | S | A | W | E | D | ||
| I | D | I | D | N | O | V | I | S | I | T | O | R | S | |
| P | S | S | T | O | N | E | T | I | M | E | U | S | E | |
| S | O | T | O | G | O | D | Y | E | S | T | E | A |
Many thanks to Hide The Pain Harold for inspiring the middle entry. Feel free to tag me in your FORCED SMILE pics on Twitter.
My cryptocurrency clue for FOOLS GOLD was taken out. Sad emoji.
The replacement clue for LOW BATTERY made up for it. I'm mad I didn't think of it first. So clever!
The original clues that came to mind linking 20-Across, 39-Down, and 49-Across were never written because this is a family-friendly newspaper. You're welcome and/or I'm sorry.
| D | C | B | A | S | E | D | K | E | E | P | T | O | ||
| A | L | I | S | T | E | R | S | O | R | L | E | A | N | |
| G | O | T | T | A | C | A | T | C | H | E | M | A | L | L |
| A | V | E | R | Y | G | I | R | L | S | S | K | A | ||
| M | E | M | O | T | I | C | O | S | C | A | I | N | ||
| A | R | E | R | I | N | K | S | C | A | N | E | D | ||
| B | O | O | T | Y | S | H | O | R | T | S | ||||
| K | I | N | G | O | F | B | E | E | R | S | ||||
| M | E | D | I | A | C | I | R | C | U | S | ||||
| G | O | T | O | N | O | N | E | H | R | B | E | T | ||
| O | V | E | N | P | U | G | E | T | M | A | L | E | ||
| O | I | L | B | A | R | E | D | D | A | M | N | S | ||
| G | E | O | C | E | N | T | R | I | C | O | R | B | I | T |
| L | A | N | C | E | D | S | N | O | W | C | O | N | E | |
| E | D | E | S | S | A | G | O | D | H | O | O | D |
This was all a very elaborate ruse to get a rejection letter saying, "The team just wasn't very excited by your BOOTY SHORTS 15x."
That message never arrived. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
| I | M | H | O | T | O | S | S | S | I | T | E | |||
| N | O | O | B | S | A | L | A | D | H | O | O | D | ||
| C | U | T | S | P | R | I | C | E | R | A | N | G | E | |
| A | N | D | C | O | P | R | P | E | R | S | O | N | ||
| S | T | E | E | D | S | O | I | L | U | P | ||||
| S | N | O | T | F | L | O | P | W | H | O | ||||
| J | O | K | E | W | R | I | T | E | R | N | E | A | T | |
| C | H | I | L | D | I | S | H | G | A | M | B | I | N | O |
| T | I | N | Y | K | N | E | E | B | O | A | R | D | S | |
| S | O | G | J | E | T | T | L | O | A | D | ||||
| L | A | S | S | O | E | D | G | E | R | S | ||||
| B | L | U | E | M | O | O | N | S | E | D | A | N | ||
| B | O | C | A | B | U | R | G | E | R | N | O | N | E | |
| O | W | L | S | T | R | U | C | E | T | U | D | E | ||
| Y | E | A | H | Y | E | O | W | S | T | I | R |
Hello! After years of obsessive solving, and a handful of polite rejections, it's exciting to actually have a puzzle published! And on Saturday, no less. Let's go streak(break)ing!
I'm a politics/religion blogger from Naperville, IL. The NYT crossword has always been a pleasant distraction, and it was both enjoyable and wildly frustrating to try and create my own grid. Mad respect for those constructors who manage to churn these things out on a regular basis. I don't know Zhouqin Burnikel or Patrick Berry, but they are my patron saints.
This puzzle started with the CHILDISH GAMBINO seed. After that, I was tried to stack up as many longer entries as I could around it. I used to like Chris ODOWD until he created a logjam in the grid.
The team's edits make a ton of sense, and they made a suggestion that improved the northwest part of the grid (curse you again, ODOWD). Some of my swapped-out clues include "You don't want to be on a tight one" for LEASH and "Reds state" for OHIO... but I'm glad they kept the gist of my clue for 34-down!
Apologies for the gluey answers. I'm cringing as I look at a bunch of those 3- and 4-letter entries (special ugh to JCTS, OTOS, and YEOW). Next time, I'll just do a 15x15 stack with no black boxes anywhere. Should be a breeze.