Mary Crane author page
1 puzzle by Mary Crane
with Constructor comments
See the 1 answer word debuted by Mary Crane.
| M | A | D | D | H | O | S | T | P | A | B | S | T | ||
| E | T | R | E | A | N | N | A | O | M | A | N | I | ||
| S | T | E | W | S | T | O | C | K | S | P | L | I | T | |
| A | H | A | S | T | A | B | A | T | E | M | P | O | ||
| S | I | M | I | L | E | S | T | R | O | D | ||||
| S | H | R | I | N | K | W | R | A | P | F | Y | I | ||
| R | O | O | M | H | A | T | T | R | O | N | ||||
| F | A | U | N | W | E | E | P | S | H | I | Y | A | ||
| E | T | S | Y | A | R | E | O | R | E | O | ||||
| W | E | E | S | H | A | L | L | O | W | E | N | D | ||
| P | E | W | S | I | N | E | E | D | I | T | ||||
| A | R | I | A | N | A | M | O | M | S | Z | E | E | ||
| F | I | N | I | S | H | L | I | N | E | H | O | T | S | |
| A | T | O | N | E | A | C | E | D | O | N | E | L | ||
| R | A | N | T | S | G | E | L | S | V | E | R | A |
Finally, you've found a good theme.
When you're on a roll like this, it feels like you should be able to just plunk the themes down in the grid and sail away, but of course it's not that simple. After I set up my first grid, I could have sworn I heard the whole thing make a clunking sound and grind to a stop, so, I rearranged the words. Clunk. Move the themes to different rows? Nope. Scoot the letters over a square? Two squares? And so on, until about thirty attempts later the grid that had once felt strained was now purring with possibilities.
This puzzle taught me to listen to what it is telling you. If it feels stuck, it probably is.
For me, the clue to 49-Down will always be: my mom. Rita Mondville was a music and nature lover, a wild mushroom expert and the most loving person I've ever known. I dedicate this puzzle to her with much love and thanks for many happy hours playing scrabble around the dining room table.
Special thanks to the Diverse Crossword Construction group and editors, especially Tracy Bennett, who graciously shared her time and talents with me.