Keiran King author page

One of the great joys in my life is taking on a Herculean construction task and seeing it through to a finished product. The exhilaration of finally cracking a seemingly impossible challenge is 75% of why I keep on constructing.

(The other 25% is stupidity.)

Requiring certain theme entries to be at fixed numbers is right up there with the toughest of trials. It's easy to get the first two or three into place, but trying to massage everything in is like solving a Rubik's cube — that operates under its own internal laws of physics. Thought you had a way to get all the reds and blues lined up? Bwa ha ha, I now operate in n-dimensional space, you sad little 3-dimensional being!

A great construction challenge doesn't necessarily lead to a great solving experience, though. Once I saw the gimmick and put in ONE, I quickly wrote in TWO through SEVEN at the appropriate spots, and the puzzle was effectively over.

Now, thanks to Keiran's careful craftsmanship, I did get a lot of pleasure from such long extras as FOREST FLOOR, SOLILOQUY, VIOLINIST, THOREAU. Talk about FINESSE — classing up the joint!

And better yet, the grid is so Monday-friendly. No major offenders, only minors such as ARR, FTS, SGT, TUE — stuff that's called out on editors' spec sheets as undesirable, but all easy entries for newer solvers to figure out.

There is something to be said about lobbing up a softball once in a while. I bet a lot of newer solvers will feel great about finally being able to finish a NYT crossword.

Although the solver in me shrugged and didn't get a lot out of the puzzle, the constructor in me was awed by the audacity of the task. I'm not sure I would have taken it on, seeming like the constructor's equivalent of building a perpetual motion machine.

There's a lot to admire in this audacious debut. As a classical music lover and former cellist, I loved the notion of "classical composers sounded out with single words." Here they are, in case you didn't bother to search for the individual elements:

ROWE + SCENE + KNEE = Rossini

PACK + ELLE + BELL = Pachelbel

SHOW + PAN = Chopin

BATE + HOE + VENN = Beethoven

Notice how all the pronunciations are pretty darn good. I didn't like Pachelbel at first, but I think I've been pronouncing his name wrong all these years — apparently, it is "Pack-el-bel," not "Pahk-el-bel." (Or maybe I'm too much of a joon pahk fan.)

Also, it's very cool that Keiran used almost all normal words. The only oddball was BATE. (I love Mike ROWE and "Dirty Jobs.") If only he'd found a way to work in BAIT, it would have been a perfect set.

Speaking of working things in, working in 11 extra pieces of theme? That's insane. I would have told him that it couldn't be done cleanly. I was wrong, as the fill is amazingly smooth for the level of difficulty. ABED, CIRC, DELE, HWY is about as much crossword glue as any other Wednesday puzzle, but the theme is MUCH harder to execute on than average.

As much as I appreciated the puzzle as a constructor, I didn't particularly enjoy the solving process. When Keiran showed me the concept way back when, I didn't bother to look up the individual words; felt like too much work. Same happened during my solve.

It's a shame that some people will piece together BARBER OF SEVILLE from the crossings, and not bother to find the playful homophones making up "Rossini."

I wonder if it would have been more enjoyable if the clue for BARBER OF SEVILLE had been [Composition by cigarette purchase + Vogue rival + Old AT&T symbol?]?

But overall, it's a rare debut that makes me think so much and probe my feelings. Looking forward to more from Keiran.