E | B | B | H | A | N | D | I | N | U | M | N | O | ||
L | E | E | E | L | O | I | S | E | B | R | A | N | ||
I | T | S | M | Y | T | R | E | A | T | E | R | G | O | |
O | C | E | A | N | I | T | P | R | O | |||||
T | H | E | G | O | A | T | A | L | I | B | U | Y | ||
A | N | S | W | E | R | T | H | E | P | H | O | N | E | |
O | O | H | E | A | T | U | P | |||||||
C | L | E | A | N | Y | O | U | R | R | O | O | M | ||
F | R | O | N | D | S | P | Y | |||||||
D | O | Y | O | U | N | E | E | D | A | R | I | D | E | |
R | C | A | L | O | L | O | N | E | T | I | M | E | ||
L | O | T | S | A | A | L | V | I | N | |||||
J | E | F | F | P | I | C | K | U | P | L | I | N | E | |
O | L | A | F | I | N | V | I | T | E | N | O | W | ||
B | I | N | S | N | E | S | T | E | D | E | R | S |
As a senior in high school, I'm familiar with the unwanted cringe that women are often subjected to under the guise of romance. I wanted to reimagine the meaning of PICK-UP LINES, combining my interests in wordplay and gender parity, and today's theme answers were born fairly quickly. The plant lover in me is excited that the clue for FROND made it in — I love all things biology, and this clue also serves as a mini reference to the theme.
Part of my interest in crossword construction stems from the fact that young female constructors aren't always represented well in the Times. For my Gen Z solvers out there: I tried my best to incorporate "BRUH", but tragically, it did not survive the editing process. We will get there someday. I'd still like to extend my gratitude towards the NYT and Ross Trudeau for guiding my initial efforts in the wonderful world of crossword construction. Happy solving!