Lee Taylor author page
6 puzzles by Lee Taylor
with Constructor comments
| T | E | A | O | M | A | N | S | L | U | R | P | |||
| A | R | P | X | E | N | A | H | A | N | O | I | |||
| B | A | R | T | E | N | D | S | B | I | O | T | I | C | |
| A | S | I | A | N | S | A | V | O | N | A | L | A | ||
| S | E | C | T | C | L | A | N | S | K | I | S | |||
| C | R | O | A | T | I | A | L | I | C | H | E | N | S | |
| O | S | T | A | T | T | N | N | Y | O | N | G | O | ||
| N | E | W | S | E | V | E | N | T | ||||||
| G | A | Z | E | B | O | D | E | S | I | E | R | R | ||
| E | D | I | T | O | R | S | E | S | C | A | P | E | E | |
| M | A | P | S | K | I | S | S | P | I | N | T | |||
| I | M | F | M | E | T | A | J | E | S | T | E | R | ||
| N | A | I | L | E | D | S | T | O | N | E | A | G | E | |
| I | N | L | A | W | H | A | N | D | P | E | A | |||
| S | T | E | P | S | A | X | I | S | H | S | T |
| L | H | A | S | A | S | U | M | O | F | E | Z | |||
| M | A | I | S | E | L | O | P | A | L | A | L | E | ||
| O | N | T | H | E | D | O | U | B | L | E | T | A | R | |
| W | A | T | T | A | N | T | E | C | A | T | O | |||
| H | O | B | S | H | A | K | E | A | L | E | G | |||
| G | R | E | N | A | D | E | T | I | M | E | ||||
| R | I | G | R | I | T | A | G | E | N | I | E | S | ||
| I | P | A | B | E | S | T | M | A | N | M | R | I | ||
| T | E | S | L | A | S | M | E | L | D | W | I | N | ||
| I | R | E | S | T | I | E | T | A | C | K | ||||
| L | O | O | K | A | L | I | V | E | D | O | I | |||
| A | C | H | E | L | I | O | N | O | T | I | S | |||
| Y | E | A | G | E | T | C | R | A | C | K | I | N | G | |
| E | A | R | A | G | U | E | S | P | I | N | E | T | ||
| R | N | A | P | O | P | S | H | A | N | G | S |
| G | A | Z | A | C | U | R | E | A | S | Y | E | T | ||
| A | L | O | T | A | S | A | P | B | O | O | Y | A | ||
| F | O | O | T | S | T | E | P | S | S | L | U | R | P | |
| F | E | T | A | L | R | I | O | T | O | R | E | S | ||
| C | O | G | D | N | A | L | A | B | ||||||
| K | I | C | K | B | A | L | L | M | I | C | R | O | S | |
| A | S | H | M | A | Y | P | E | T | E | R | I | |||
| S | L | A | S | H | E | D | C | A | S | S | A | T | T | |
| H | E | L | L | O | S | S | U | B | T | H | U | |||
| A | S | K | O | U | T | H | E | A | D | S | H | O | P | |
| B | U | R | E | A | U | Y | E | A | ||||||
| G | R | O | G | R | I | T | E | E | S | S | A | Y | ||
| N | O | A | H | S | T | E | L | E | P | H | O | N | E | |
| A | D | R | E | P | C | Y | A | N | A | M | E | N | ||
| T | E | D | D | Y | H | E | L | D | Y | E | W | S |
| A | L | P | S | A | J | A | R | R | E | A | C | T | ||
| W | O | O | L | P | O | L | O | A | L | L | A | H | ||
| N | O | N | O | B | L | O | O | D | Y | M | A | R | Y | |
| S | K | Y | P | E | L | E | S | A | G | E | ||||
| P | R | A | Y | S | Z | U | R | I | C | H | ||||
| G | E | Y | S | E | R | S | E | N | T | A | I | |||
| H | A | D | J | R | O | A | N | S | L | A | N | T | ||
| E | R | G | O | O | G | L | E | S | A | L | T | O | ||
| A | R | I | E | S | E | S | A | U | Z | I | O | N | ||
| L | E | E | A | P | R | K | E | N | Y | A | N | |||
| S | T | R | A | T | A | G | Y | R | O | S | ||||
| M | I | S | H | A | P | D | U | T | C | H | ||||
| E | V | E | N | S | T | E | V | E | N | S | A | L | E | |
| S | E | R | I | F | R | I | T | A | A | X | I | S | ||
| L | E | R | O | Y | O | N | E | G | N | I | P | S |
| A | R | C | S | T | I | E | R | C | A | K | E | C | H | A | M | P | ||||
| N | O | A | H | B | A | L | T | O | A | D | A | R | P | E | T | A | L | |||
| T | H | R | E | E | F | R | E | E | T | H | R | O | W | S | A | R | T | I | E | |
| E | P | S | I | L | O | N | C | U | T | R | A | T | E | L | I | S | A | |||
| E | R | A | S | E | D | L | E | E | S | V | O | I | C | E | S | |||||
| S | T | R | E | E | T | R | E | A | L | R | A | R | E | W | H | A | L | E | ||
| C | U | E | S | S | C | R | A | M | S | K | E | N | N | Y | ||||||
| A | N | A | C | T | H | E | W | S | D | A | I | S | E | S | H | O | P | |||
| B | A | D | H | A | B | I | T | S | S | U | B | R | U | F | O | U | S | |||
| E | J | E | C | T | O | W | L | I | S | H | P | I | N | T | S | |||||
| S | A | F | E | S | H | O | E | S | E | C | T | I | O | N | V | E | S | T | ||
| P | L | U | S | H | I | N | S | I | D | E | M | A | U | V | E | |||||
| E | S | T | E | E | M | T | E | E | H | E | R | M | I | T | A | G | E | |||
| C | O | Z | L | O | O | T | E | R | T | A | O | S | C | I | V | I | L | |||
| S | P | R | E | E | B | A | R | N | E | S | M | O | N | A | ||||||
| U | N | I | Q | U | E | N | E | W | Y | O | R | K | M | C | E | W | A | N | ||
| P | I | N | U | P | S | T | I | E | S | S | I | T | A | R | S | |||||
| D | A | D | A | O | V | E | R | A | C | T | C | A | R | A | F | E | S | |||
| A | C | E | R | S | I | R | I | S | H | W | R | I | S | T | W | A | T | C | H | |
| T | I | B | E | T | S | E | N | T | A | B | E | T | S | S | T | A | R | |||
| E | N | T | R | Y | E | D | G | Y | S | I | R | E | T | A | M | S |
My first puzzle was published in the Times in 2015, and it was only the fourth puzzle I ever constructed. Four years and 36 unsuccessful New York Times submissions later comes puzzle number two! Now I know my first puzzle was a fluke, total beginner's luck. I have learned a lot about constructing a good puzzle since then and hope that solvers will enjoy this one. I find language endlessly entertaining and favor themes that spotlight the fun of words. I enjoyed researching this puzzle and learned a lot of (spoiler alert) new tongue twisters along the way. I hope it will not take me another 36 tries to create a puzzle suitable for the Times!
PS I was able to find a home for 23 of those other puzzles.
| G | O | O | C | A | F | E | S | S | A | V | O | R | I | V | A | N | A | |||
| U | M | P | E | B | O | L | A | O | P | E | R | A | G | O | L | E | M | |||
| L | A | P | L | O | O | K | B | E | F | O | R | E | Y | O | U | L | E | A | P | |
| P | R | O | W | L | L | E | O | N | A | R | D | O | P | A | C | E | R | S | ||
| S | H | O | W | S | T | O | R | T | E | T | I | N | A | |||||||
| A | L | I | A | S | E | S | I | N | A | N | I | T | Y | |||||||
| M | U | T | T | B | E | N | C | H | B | L | A | M | E | O | G | E | E | |||
| A | G | E | L | O | L | O | A | A | R | E | N | H | L | |||||||
| H | E | S | S | A | D | R | E | M | G | R | O | W | L | C | O | R | P | |||
| A | U | D | I | O | F | E | T | A | S | A | U | R | O | R | A | E | ||||
| F | A | T | F | A | R | M | F | I | T | I | C | E | L | A | N | D | ||||
| A | T | T | I | R | E | D | A | R | C | E | D | T | R | Y | O | N | ||||
| C | A | R | S | D | I | P | S | O | L | O | O | S | E | N | C | A | A | |||
| A | R | A | F | A | I | N | L | U | F | F | E | U | R | |||||||
| D | U | C | T | B | F | L | A | T | E | X | T | O | L | M | I | N | T | |||
| E | N | T | I | T | L | E | R | E | T | E | S | T | S | |||||||
| B | O | A | R | S | L | A | V | E | N | A | B | O | B | |||||||
| A | C | C | E | S | S | S | T | I | L | E | T | T | O | O | W | L | E | T | ||
| C | L | O | T | H | E | S | M | A | K | E | T | H | E | M | A | N | I | V | E | |
| N | O | V | A | E | P | O | K | E | R | O | R | A | T | E | S | E | X | |||
| E | D | E | N | S | A | G | E | N | T | S | I | N | E | S | S | S | T |
I was on a long flight last fall and ran out of reading material. I wished I had a crossword puzzle to do. Then I thought, "I think I'll make one — how hard can it be?" That was the beginning of the journey that ends with my puzzle appearing this Sunday in the Times.
This was actually my third puzzle; the first two got rejected. Joel and Will showed endless patience with me as I worked through four revisions to finally get this one right.
The first revision strengthened the theme clues. It also forced me to make my own grid, something I hadn't tried before. That ended up being funner than I expected as I like the aesthetics of the grid designs.
The second revision had me eliminate boring entries like ALDA and TEPEE and strive for words not commonly seen. Unfortunately, while adding more vibrant and interesting words, I allowed some weaklings to sneak in as well.
Revision four ruthlessly eradicated all those words Will identified as unacceptable or unlikable. Perseverance paid off and I finally got the coveted "yes" from Joel.
I love language and often think about turns of phrase. There is often humor, sometimes unintentional in the things we say, and that is what inspired the theme. My favorite entries are FAT FARM and BOBOS.
And a little about me: I work for the National Park Service as the superintendent of San Juan Island National Historical Park in Washington State. I grew up in a family that bought multiple copies of the Sunday New York Times so that everyone could work on the crossword puzzle independently.