Lou Weiss author page
1 puzzle by Lou Weiss
with Constructor comments
See the 1 answer word debuted by Lou Weiss.
| I | P | O | D | P | S | A | L | M | T | R | A | M | ||
| M | E | N | U | O | N | S | E | T | R | A | C | E | ||
| P | R | E | V | A | I | L | I | N | G | W | I | N | D | S |
| S | U | G | A | R | H | A | D | H | A | T | C | H | ||
| L | M | A | O | E | R | I | N | |||||||
| P | U | L | L | E | D | S | T | R | I | N | G | S | ||
| I | P | A | D | O | T | H | D | E | L | E | T | E | ||
| E | D | Y | S | S | I | T | E | L | O | N | ||||
| D | O | U | L | A | S | N | O | T | I | M | E | D | ||
| P | E | N | T | A | G | O | N | B | R | A | S | S | ||
| E | D | A | M | K | N | E | E | |||||||
| H | A | R | P | S | O | O | H | A | F | L | A | T | ||
| T | H | E | S | O | U | N | D | O | F | M | U | S | I | C |
| M | O | N | O | G | R | I | L | L | G | A | R | B | ||
| L | Y | O | N | H | A | N | D | Y | E | T | S | Y |
I've always been into music and wordplay, so I liked the idea of a theme that had both, which is how I settled on orchestra section names as parts of phrases that have nothing to do with orchestras.
"Pulled Strings" came quickly and went into the grid easily — I love the wordplay in the clue, substituting "know-who" for "know-how" #dadjokes. "Pentagon Brass" began life as "Military Brass" but I just couldn't come up with surrounding fill that was up to snuff.
I got lucky on the revealer — I had titled the puzzle "The Sounds of Music" in my head, and when I was having trouble coming up with a revealer, it occurred to me at some point that it was staring me in the face. "The Sound of Music" has 15 letters, which was perfect for matching to "Prevailing Winds."
My heartiest thanks to Rodgers and Hammerstein for not calling their show "The Sounds of Music" and also to Robyn Weintraub for her gentle-but-firm feedback and generous mentorship along the way.