Lewis Rothlein author page
9 puzzles by Lewis Rothlein
with Constructor comments
See the 54 answer words debuted by Lewis Rothlein.
Lewis Rothlein lives in Asheville, North Carolina, where he teaches yoga. His work life has taken a winding course, from being a journalist, to a syndicated newspaper columnist, to teaching elementary school, to owning a yoga studio. He began solving crosswords after seeing the movie WordPlay, and several years later, he began making puzzles, where his favorite part is coming up with clues that make him go "Yes!"
| P | R | U | N | E | S | S | S | N | R | E | D | C | O | D | ||||||
| D | E | T | O | X | E | S | S | C | O | O | B | H | E | R | O | I | Z | E | ||
| A | V | E | N | U | E | Q | H | E | L | L | O | E | A | R | G | A | S | M | ||
| S | D | S | U | E | N | D | O | W | A | M | O | S | ||||||||
| A | C | T | E | A | C | R | E | S | A | D | D | R | I | F | F | |||||
| A | T | H | O | S | R | I | M | S | S | N | O | T | S | T | I | L | E | |||
| T | R | A | P | B | E | T | A | D | I | R | T | S | N | O | W | |||||
| O | A | R | G | R | O | I | N | S | S | A | T | I | R | E | E | R | E | |||
| M | I | D | I | R | O | N | T | A | T | E | R | P | I | N | A | T | A | S | ||
| N | O | J | O | K | E | A | R | O | A | R | S | C | Y | T | H | E | ||||
| N | U | K | E | S | N | A | P | S | O | N | K | A | M | A | ||||||
| B | A | N | S | T | R | E | K | W | I | S | E | C | N | B | C | |||||
| T | H | A | T | H | E | N | U | P | S | P | I | N | A | K | I | N | ||||
| W | A | Y | A | H | E | A | D | B | O | O | A | N | D | E | R | S | O | N | ||
| T | A | L | C | S | E | L | F | T | B | I | R | D | ||||||||
| F | L | E | W | A | T | F | R | O | T | H | I | N | A | S | E | C | ||||
| S | R | A | S | W | E | L | L | S | G | O | I | N | G | S | L | O | W | |||
| T | A | D | A | D | I | Y | T | P | S | G | I | S | H | |||||||
| I | C | Y | H | O | T | E | F | F | A | C | E | S | K | O | O | Z | I | E | ||
| R | A | M | O | N | A | D | I | A | B | O | L | O | U | R | B | A | N | E | ||
| S | A | Y | O | K | S | N | E | E | R | B | R | I | B | E |
LEWIS: I came to Jeff with a seed idea for this theme, and when he countered that it needed something more to make it stand out, I replied, "Care to brainstorm?" This is not a small ask, as Jeff, the wearer of a seemingly impossible number of hats, is SO busy, and the brainstorming for our collaborations rarely runs less than 100 emails.
"Sure!" he replied.
I hope our solvers will find appealing what our thinkstorm wrought!
I'm so pleased to have ETHEL in the grid. My grandma Ethel filled my world with love, glorious food, and humor. She would have kvelled over this puzzle.
| C | O | D | A | N | B | A | F | A | B | L | E | S | ||
| A | D | A | M | O | E | D | L | I | A | I | S | E | ||
| R | E | B | U | T | T | E | D | O | L | D | M | A | N | |
| B | A | S | S | O | B | L | A | R | E | D | O | U | T | |
| E | G | O | L | A | D | E | N | |||||||
| N | O | R | M | B | B | A | L | L | A | C | T | |||
| C | H | E | E | R | I | E | S | T | A | L | E | R | T | |
| I | F | C | Y | E | A | H | I | G | H | L | I | E | ||
| S | U | I | T | E | H | O | M | E | S | A | L | E | S | |
| N | P | R | M | E | T | E | D | T | O | S | S | |||
| R | A | D | A | R | S | E | E | |||||||
| P | R | O | V | O | L | O | N | E | S | I | L | O | S | |
| R | E | C | A | N | T | S | K | I | P | T | O | W | N | |
| E | L | A | I | N | E | F | E | D | U | G | L | I | ||
| P | O | L | L | E | D | W | D | S | P | O | S | T |
I avoided super large cities for this puzzle. Even though the reveal's TOWN can indicate one, as in the song "My Kind of Town" (referring to Chicago), I usually think of a town as something cozier in size.
This puzzle is brought to you by the letter O. I've never seen so many long O's in a 15 x 15 before — and I look for things like that — 19 of them! CHEERIEST reminds me of the show "Cheers", and it makes me happy to see NORM sitting on top of it.
The theme was given to me by my dog and best-bud Chester, who unfailingly brought me to zen during our walks, allowing clues and themes to tap on my shoulder. Chester left this world a half year ago, and was an angel to everyone who knew him. This puzzle's for you, big boy.
| S | I | N | K | G | A | U | S | S | P | U | B | S | ||
| I | S | E | E | U | P | S | E | T | O | N | I | T | ||
| N | O | W | W | H | E | R | E | W | E | E | D | G | E | |
| B | L | T | A | R | E | S | R | E | M | O | T | E | ||
| A | D | O | R | N | S | H | E | R | S | A | P | |||
| D | E | N | A | L | I | G | E | O | R | W | E | L | L | |
| L | E | C | A | R | S | I | N | K | Y | |||||
| N | O | M | A | N | I | S | L | A | N | D | ||||
| B | L | A | H | S | T | E | E | L | E | |||||
| R | O | M | A | T | O | E | S | G | U | S | H | E | R | |
| A | T | E | A | I | L | A | R | M | A | X | E | |||
| I | T | G | I | R | L | E | V | E | N | N | A | P | ||
| S | E | A | R | R | I | D | E | S | A | D | D | L | E | |
| E | R | M | A | I | N | E | R | T | A | L | T | A | ||
| D | Y | E | S | G | E | N | T | S | P | E | S | T |
LEWIS: Not only is Jeff an overseer of this site and reviewer of every single NYT puzzle, but he also writes novels that get published and has two young kids — enough to keep anyone more than jammed for time. Yet somehow, he fit in exchanging 130 emails with me over the final two months of 2019 — a very rewarding back-and-forth — as we brainstormed, constructed, and polished this puzzle.
We started with a completely different theme based on repeating letter strings like today's puzzle but using a different gimmick. We spent weeks on it, then ran what we had by some people we trust and were met with a resounding "Meh!", bringing us to a back-to-square-one nadir. Then revelation hit: musical repeat signs! It gave us far better theme answers than the original theme, and we were on our way.
Additional theme answers we considered for today's puzzle are C[ARDBO]XES, PR[IMET]V, MATCHE[SWIT]H, and I[STHI]NGON.
| E | T | C | S | P | E | C | K | I | C | E | D | S | H | U | I | |||||
| G | O | E | S | H | E | L | L | O | M | I | L | E | C | E | N | T | ||||
| G | E | L | T | E | N | I | A | C | P | A | I | L | C | E | L | L | O | |||
| T | I | A | R | A | S | S | H | O | O | T | I | E | O | N | E | O | N | |||
| M | O | B | R | A | R | I | E | S | J | U | V | E | N | Q | U | E | N | C | Y | |
| I | T | A | L | Y | O | P | S | S | N | O | E | U | R | A | K | A | ||||
| N | O | T | I | S | N | A | I | L | D | A | D | A | I | S | T | |||||
| T | E | E | N | P | O | P | Z | E | A | L | I | T | P | E | O | P | L | E | ||
| G | I | L | L | E | N | D | O | R | S | E | C | L | U | E | S | |||||
| A | T | E | E | T | A | S | A | Z | T | E | C | R | E | M | A | P | ||||
| M | E | D | I | C | I | N | T | S | C | O | M | M | E | T | A | R | Y | |||
| O | P | I | N | E | R | O | P | E | S | S | U | E | D | S | Y | S | ||||
| N | E | C | C | O | S | A | B | R | I | N | A | H | A | I | L | |||||
| G | E | T | A | F | L | A | T | O | N | I | T | A | N | T | E | D | U | P | ||
| S | P | Y | F | I | L | M | T | O | M | M | Y | G | E | N | E | |||||
| F | A | R | A | S | A | S | E | N | N | A | M | M | A | T | T | E | ||||
| I | N | O | P | P | O | R | T | U | N | T | E | L | A | B | O | R | A | I | L | |
| N | O | B | L | E | L | I | E | A | H | E | M | D | A | M | M | I | T | |||
| A | R | B | O | R | H | E | R | D | R | E | L | A | Y | O | N | L | Y | |||
| L | A | I | D | A | M | I | E | A | N | G | L | E | R | E | E | D | ||||
| E | K | E | S | T | S | P | S | S | T | A | I | D | D | D | S |
LEWIS: I love working with Jeff because he's a good listener, leaves no stone unturned in his quest for a polished grid, and is crackerjack smart. And while we agree on the most important puzzle-making priorities, we often come at things from different angles, which makes for a lively and productive back-and-forth.
Take our brainstorming. The following took place over several weeks. We were discussing a theme involving AND/OR, and one of us said, "How about giving this theme a game show angle?", which led to a quiz-show-sounding "Name two terms related to…", from which the word "name" triggered the phrase "name drop," which suggested taking horizontal words that have names embedded and having the names drop down from them in the grid, which led to "Nah, turning-type puzzles are too common," which sparked, "Not if we can come up with a new variation," which brought us to today's theme.
Neither of us could recall seeing a puzzle where the solver had to go one way, then the other, through a string of letters. When we found phrases that allowed this to happen, we thought they were cool and thought many solvers would think so as well.
Hopefully, the journey from AND/OR to "What goes up, must come down" was fruitful, and you enjoyed this!
JEFF: Lewis comes up with interesting concepts. He's a fun guy to bat ideas around with, and he's incredibly receptive to tangential exploration. We've worked on a few projects together now, and we've never ended exactly where we started — sometimes doing something completely different.
It's such a pleasure to work with him. Mainly just ups!
| A | M | A | N | A | S | S | L | A | M | S | ||||
| B | A | L | O | N | E | Y | S | K | E | T | C | H | Y | |
| E | N | T | I | T | L | E | T | I | E | A | T | I | E | |
| T | I | E | R | S | S | H | E | L | L | E | N | A | ||
| T | A | R | S | S | N | A | I | L | L | E | T | S | ||
| I | C | E | I | F | O | R | G | E | T | R | O | T | ||
| N | A | G | A | N | O | B | E | T | O | N | ||||
| G | L | O | B | E | F | I | R | N | E | U | R | O | ||
| U | R | B | A | N | A | T | O | N | O | F | ||||
| A | S | H | T | A | N | G | E | L | O | P | D | F | ||
| S | T | E | T | S | T | E | P | S | D | I | E | S | ||
| Y | E | A | R | S | A | R | I | M | O | C | H | I | ||
| O | P | T | I | M | A | S | C | L | U | N | K | E | D | |
| U | P | E | A | R | L | Y | S | O | T | H | E | R | E | |
| E | D | D | I | E | A | T | O | D | D | S |
Will/Sam rejected my first iteration of this puzzle. They said the idea was creative, but they balked at the reveal (which was SIDESWIPE), rightfully calling it "stretchy." They also said it would be too tough for solvers because the theme answers were asymmetrical. I replied with a counter-proposal: What if, in addition to bringing the theme answers to symmetry, I changed the reveal to OFFSIDES? They said it sounds much better in theory, give it a shot, but no guarantees.
Thus this puzzle was born and tempered, and after a bit of further burnishing under excellent care, may it bring to many a lovely solving experience.
I made the first iteration a year and a half ago, yet just last week I woke up with the thought that SPLIT ENDS might also have worked as a reveal. Or maybe that's stretchy too.
| B | O | A | S | B | Y | O | B | H | E | R | A | |||
| A | R | N | E | S | A | U | N | A | O | N | E | G | ||
| Y | C | A | N | T | T | A | K | E | I | T | W | I | T | H |
| C | A | R | A | S | A | L | A | G | I | A | ||||
| T | W | O | T | E | R | M | B | J | A | M | E | S | ||
| K | A | N | E | L | O | T | T | N | A | S | T | |||
| O | L | D | Y | E | S | W | E | C | A | N | ||||
| D | A | S | I | S | A | Y | N | O | T | A | S | I | ||
| O | N | S | I | L | E | N | T | N | A | P | ||||
| K | O | P | F | C | A | T | E | C | A | G | E | |||
| N | M | E | A | N | S | S | H | O | O | K | O | N | ||
| B | E | N | A | L | V | A | E | A | V | E | ||||
| B | A | C | K | T | O | S | Q | U | A | R | E | O | N | E |
| E | R | I | E | G | O | U | R | D | R | I | G | A | ||
| D | A | L | Y | S | P | A | N | S | L | O | T |
My three other NYT puzzles have also been Thursdays, as is the one in the queue, but don't pigeonhole me just yet! Regarding this puzzle, when a search showed that while BACK TO SQUARE ONE has been done as a theme before, but not like this, I was happily surprised. Will, Joel, and Sam gave terrific suggestions for improving this — what keen eyes they have!
I liked the pairs that showed up: Famous middle names (ALVA, WALDO), enclosures (PEN, CAGE), and things in locks (OAR, KEY). Some theme answers left on the cutting room floor: MOUTH TO, SEA TO SHINING, EYE FOR AN, NEVER SAY, LIVE AND LET, SUNDAY BLOODY, FOOD GLORIOUS, and an outlier that I secretly love — TORA TORA.
I thought of the theme while walking my dog, who has no idea how much he helps me come up with puzzle ideas and clues.
| I | M | P | D | O | C | G | A | S | L | I | T | |||
| F | A | R | I | N | A | X | A | G | E | O | N | E | ||
| S | T | I | F | F | A | R | M | G | U | E | S | T | X | |
| X | O | F | T | E | A | R | A | N | T | A | T | |||
| S | A | F | E | E | E | R | I | E | I | K | E | |||
| O | U | I | A | N | K | L | E | B | I | T | E | R | ||
| D | E | X | I | S | M | S | I | L | O | S | ||||
| A | L | E | P | H | U | T | A | S | U | T | R | A | ||
| A | W | A | S | H | E | S | P | R | I | T | ||||
| O | U | T | D | A | M | N | E | D | X | A | F | T | ||
| N | N | E | B | A | S | I | E | X | I | F | Y | |||
| E | T | A | L | I | I | P | E | N | C | I | L | |||
| C | U | R | A | T | E | O | C | E | A | N | M | A | P | |
| U | N | E | V | E | N | T | U | M | S | I | D | A | ||
| P | E | D | A | N | T | T | Y | E | X | O | N |
One day the phrase "X marks the spot" just came to me; immediately, the crossword angel in my head interrupted to tell me that this could be a puzzle theme with X representing the word "spot". Then the crossword gremlin barked that surely it has been done before. And I looked and I looked, but never found such a puzzle. So I forged ahead.
Will/Joel liked the theme but had me rework several swaths, due to ugly fill. Because of this the puzzle was greatly improved. They kept most of my clues but substituted some excellent ones of their own, like the one for STIFFARM. I was able to balance the Xs in the theme answers, three at the end, three at the beginning, and one in me middle.
That's it from glint to print. May this puzzle bring solvers a hearty aha and some delicious headwork. I hope it hits the spot!
| M | R | I | O | T | R | O | L | A | P | P | E | |||
| B | E | N | B | R | A | N | M | I | C | R | O | N | ||
| A | L | K | A | L | I | N | E | U | P | H | O | L | D | |
| B | A | L | S | A | M | I | C | L | I | S | T | E | N | |
| A | B | I | T | S | N | A | R | E | D | E | M | O | ||
| N | E | N | E | T | R | O | D | G | A | I | T | |||
| E | L | G | R | E | C | O | B | E | Y | O | N | C | E | |
| O | L | D | E | E | N | |||||||||
| S | C | R | I | M | P | S | F | R | E | E | D | O | M | |
| K | O | E | D | L | I | M | O | G | E | R | I | |||
| I | M | A | Z | A | B | A | R | S | I | N | D | C | ||
| M | I | C | K | E | Y | I | M | P | O | R | T | E | D | |
| O | C | T | A | N | E | L | I | A | R | L | I | A | R | |
| F | A | T | T | E | R | E | C | C | E | S | L | O | ||
| F | L | O | O | R | R | A | Y | S | T | S | P |
I hope that this puzzle brings a hearty aha to many solvers in the process of figuring out how six legitimate-looking answers could be clued so wrongly. I was able to spread things out in two ways. One, having the MIC start two words, end two words, and be in the middle of two. And second, having three horizontal and three vertical theme answers. Also, they are scattered haphazardly to make finding them more challenging. I was pleased to have the reveal actually drop.
After I submitted the puzzle but before I heard back about it, another puzzle on an independent site showed up with the same reveal, and my heart sank. But it turns out that the theme was played differently in that puzzle, so only the reveals turned out to be alike.
Will and Joel had me revise some bad- and dull-fill areas, resulting in a punchier solve. I submitted several clues for most of the answers, and they did an artful job of mixing easier with more difficult while keeping the puzzle in the Thursday level of difficulty. They improved my wording on some and put in some of their own clues when mine were too cutesy or dull. I love their clue for GAIT.
To the solvers out there, may there be many post-puzzle-performance MIC DROP moments for you ahead!
| I | T | L | L | C | E | D | E | A | L | O | E | |||
| N | E | A | P | A | C | E | R | B | C | A | P | T | ||
| D | A | Y | S | L | A | R | G | E | M | O | U | T | H | |
| U | L | T | O | G | R | E | D | A | R | R | I | N | ||
| L | E | O | D | O | D | G | E | M | O | N | A | C | O | |
| G | A | R | D | E | N | E | A | R | S | |||||
| E | V | E | N | S | P | A | R | T | I | B | A | H | ||
| M | E | S | A | E | R | N | I | E | D | A | L | I | ||
| E | S | T | A | S | I | D | E | W | O | R | L | D | ||
| A | N | T | S | M | A | R | R | E | D | |||||
| G | R | U | D | G | E | M | A | T | C | H | I | V | E | |
| R | E | S | A | L | E | S | A | G | S | S | I | N | ||
| I | M | A | G | E | M | A | K | E | R | S | T | A | G | |
| P | A | G | E | S | H | E | B | A | F | E | T | E | ||
| E | X | E | S | A | R | O | W | O | R | E | M |
Will asked me to revise this puzzle twice. The first time was to clean up some ugly fill, but the only way I could rework the words was to change a theme answer to one with less pop (LARGEMOUTH to AVERAGEMAN). Will liked the cleaner grid, but asked that I keep LARGEMOUTH in, and, after I added two blocks, I was able to do it. Through such attention to detail, Will in effect polished the puzzle while allowing me to do all the work myself, which I greatly appreciated.
I came up with this theme after solving a puzzle with an embedded-word theme and seeing if I could think of a new one. I was thinking Wednesday for this puzzle, because the theme didn't seem tricky enough for Thursday. But I'm guessing the shape of the grid swayed Will toward the more difficult day. He said he would toughen up some of the clues, and now I think it fits Thursday quite nicely, even if the theme isn't so out-of-the-box.
An example of a toughened clue was that for ANTS. Mine was the tepid "Wingless creatures related to wasps," and it became the crisp "Mymecophobe's fear." While most of my clues were basically kept intact, the clue changes made the puzzle better. My first priority is to create an enjoyable solving experience, and I hope this was just that!
I'm a former journalist, schoolteacher, and business owner, and now I teach yoga. Crosswords are a hobby. I am thrilled at having my NYT debut!