Jeanne Breen author page
1 puzzle by Jeanne Breen
with Constructor comments
See the 5 answer words debuted by Jeanne Breen.
| H | I | M | B | O | O | T | C | H | A | R | M | S | ||
| M | O | I | I | N | C | H | A | U | L | A | I | T | ||
| M | U | D | S | L | I | D | E | M | E | A | S | L | Y | |
| S | U | E | T | E | W | E | T | A | N | |||||
| H | D | T | V | S | H | U | R | R | I | C | A | N | E | |
| O | U | R | S | M | A | R | Y | A | N | N | ||||
| O | L | E | L | E | N | O | R | A | B | B | I | |||
| F | L | A | M | I | N | G | V | O | L | C | A | N | O | |
| S | M | I | T | S | S | E | L | L | D | A | M | |||
| D | U | H | A | M | E | L | O | M | N | I | ||||
| R | E | C | I | P | E | F | O | R | Q | U | I | E | T | |
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| A | P | P | A | L | L | D | I | S | A | S | T | E | R | |
| D | E | S | P | O | T | E | N | V | Y | O | P | I | ||
| S | L | E | U | T | H | R | A | P | S | N | A | B |
Jeanne Breen: Just a little over a year after diving into crossword construction, I'm thrilled to be making my New York Times debut in collaboration with Jeff Chen. I'm an infectious disease physician, an instructor at Yale School of Medicine and a consultant to the biopharmaceutical industry. When not working, there's a good chance you'll find me swimming laps, reading or being amused by my Chihuahua, Griffin.
In April of 2023, after many years of solving crosswords, I decided I wanted to learn how to construct them. I took Brooke Husic and Natan Last's four-session construction course, bought Patrick Berry's Crossword Constructor's Handbook, consulted several online tools, and attempted to create my own puzzles. When I contacted the Times puzzle editors about possibly connecting with a mentor, Tracy Bennett pointed me toward Jeff, who couldn't have been more gracious toward this rookie.
We batted ideas back and forth across the continent via email (I'm in Connecticut, Jeff's in Seattle), testing out phrases that might generate good themes. Jeff mentioned RECIPE FOR DISASTER, and I immediately thought of HURRICANE and MUDSLIDE — and Dairy Queen's Blizzard treat, which didn't end up in the final version. Once we had our final theme set, Jeff let me take the lead in laying out the grid and was both encouraging and patient as I did so. Filling the grid was similarly collaborative.
In addition to serving as a wonderful new hobby, constructing has introduced me, both in person and virtually, to so many inspiring, encouraging, friendly, and witty people from whom I know I'll continue to learn. Gratitude! I'm in genuine awe of the many, many creative constructors whose work is represented on this site and feel honored to join them.