D | I | S | C | S | C | A | T | S | A | S | K | S | V | A | M | P | S | |||
I | C | A | R | E | A | C | H | Y | U | N | I | T | I | N | O | I | L | |||
M | E | R | Y | L | I | R | A | N | T | I | M | E | G | A | T | O | R | |||
D | I | F | F | E | R | E | N | C | E | O | F | O | P | I | N | I | O | N | S | |
O | S | L | O | H | A | L | F | N | O | T | E | S | ||||||||
C | L | A | R | O | S | O | W | E | T | O | O | U | S | T | I | M | P | |||
H | I | G | H | W | A | Y | M | E | D | I | A | N | T | A | T | T | L | E | R | |
A | L | I | E | N | O | A | T | T | N | U | T | E | V | I | T | E | ||||
T | A | L | L | C | U | R | I | O | B | O | O | T | M | A | R | S | ||||
S | C | E | P | T | E | R | N | E | R | D | A | V | O | C | A | D | O | S | ||
S | T | O | C | K | D | I | V | I | D | E | N | D | ||||||||
H | O | T | S | A | U | C | E | S | O | D | A | R | A | T | T | R | A | P | ||
O | P | A | L | S | K | O | R | S | M | E | L | L | R | E | L | O | ||||
O | R | N | O | T | S | N | O | W | S | E | A | H | A | D | I | T | ||||
D | A | G | W | O | O | D | A | N | I | M | A | L | P | R | O | D | U | C | T | |
S | H | O | A | L | I | A | E | N | E | M | Y | A | M | E | X | E | S | |||
S | P | A | R | E | R | O | O | M | A | F | E | W | ||||||||
M | O | D | E | O | F | T | R | A | N | S | P | O | R | T | A | T | I | O | N | |
A | T | A | R | I | I | A | G | O | H | A | I | L | E | N | D | O | W | |||
G | O | T | I | N | E | T | O | N | I | K | E | A | A | D | E | L | E | |||
S | H | A | F | T | R | E | N | E | S | S | N | S | M | S | D | O | S |
I am delighted to be making my crossword debut. I began doing crossword puzzles only a few years ago. When I decided to set a goal of constructing one myself and hopefully seeing it in the New York Times, I had no idea how challenging and humbling it would be.
Although the theme and theme answers have stayed the same since its inception, the rest of the grid underwent multiple iterations before it became the puzzle you see today. I am so grateful to the NYT puzzle editors for their patience, guidance, and encouragement throughout the process. I am pleased with the final product, and along with a theme that appeals to the math geek in me, there are more than a few entries that just made me smile. I hope you enjoy it.