Jeffrey Martinovic author page

The idea for this puzzle came to me one sleepless night about a year ago. Finding theme entries proved to be a fun and welcome diversion, and once I stumbled across the STRING/THREAD combo, I was fully roped in to seeing this idea through.

Constructing a Sunday puzzle like this is always a balancing act — trying to include sufficient theme content while minimizing undesirable compromises. The version of the puzzle I first submitted to the Times definitely included too many tradeoffs in the name of theme density. Thankfully, the editorial team was patient and insightful, working with me to shape the puzzle into what you see before you. It took dozens of iterations to land on this funky layout. As it turned out, this arrangement provided me the flexibility to strike a good balance, hopefully leading to an entertaining (and not tedious) Sunday offering - though you as the solver will have to be the judge of that. Thanks for solving/reading and have a great weekend!

Jeffrey Martinovic: This is one of those rare puzzles where the revealer preceded the rest of the idea. Last summer, Will and I were brainstorming themes off of random phrases, and eventually stumbled upon CONSIDER THE ODDS. We discussed the idea of this gimmick and at first glance I thought it would be impossible to pull off. But sure enough, with the help of some Python code and a bit of imagination, it was actually remarkably easy for us to find theme entries. Who would've thought learning about Gregor Mendel in Grade 11 biology would end up coming in handy for this engineering student? I hope that discovering these unexpected connections in the English language was as interesting and enjoyable for you as it was for me!

Here are a couple other entries that didn't make the final cut: [Get rid of] - BLOT OUT (BOOT), [Some fermenters] - BREWERS (BEES), [One might help a motorist get on the highway] - ROADMAP (RAMP)

Jeffrey: The basic idea for this puzzle (fittingly) came to me during a meeting last summer, while I was working for a professor in my school's astronomy department. Before long, Jeff and I had brainstormed around the concept enough to begin filling up a grid. That's where the real fun began - it took dozens (maybe even hundreds) of iterations between us to create the grid you see before you. I always enjoy working with Jeff on puzzles because he is super creative, but also rigorous in his approach, especially when it comes to constructing grids. This puzzle in particular was a test of determination due to its highly constrained layout and visual elements. Hopefully you enjoyed solving, and happy Sunday!

I'll end on a couple fun facts about the moon: The moon is tidally locked with the earth, meaning we always see the same side of it. Also, the moon is very slowly drifting away from the earth at a rate of a couple inches each year!

Jeffrey Martinovic: The base concept for this puzzle was inspired by the programming concept of concatenated lists. Fittingly, finding a workable theme set was just a matter of creating some Python code (which did not directly use concatenated lists, funny enough), along with the timely discovery of RSVPING by Will. From there, the process was quite smooth - it did take a few iterations to arrive at the wacky grid you see before you, but there were no major hurdles.

Working with Will is a pleasure, and his creativity was the biggest factor in making this puzzle shine.

Happy PI DAY everyone!

As an engineering student with an affinity for all things math, I've been thinking about making a PI DAY puzzle for a while. I'm glad to see this one come to fruition. A lot of things had to go right to make the puzzle work, and at every step of the construction process it felt like the puzzle was meant to be.

One of the challenges in constructing a puzzle like this is balancing the relatively low amount of theme content with engaging fill to keep the solving experience interesting, especially for an undersized grid with a constrained block pattern. I did my best to treat it as a themeless and maximize longer entries where possible. It's definitely a puzzle unlike any others I've ever constructed, but hopefully in a way that solvers will enjoy. You'll have to be the judge of that.

Have a great Thursday and enjoy some pie for PI DAY!