Matthew Sewell author page
12 puzzles by Matthew Sewell
with Constructor comments
| Total | Debut | Latest | Collabs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 8/24/2016 | 11/27/2019 | 2 |
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Rebus | Circle | Scrab | Debut | Fresh |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 1.64 | 75 | 60% |
See the 75 answer words debuted by Matthew Sewell.
| S | P | A | S | S | U | N | C | A | M | P | ||||
| H | E | L | P | C | O | L | O | N | P | L | E | A | ||
| A | C | M | E | L | O | T | T | E | U | P | S | Y | ||
| S | C | O | W | A | T | R | I | A | S | I | S | I | ||
| T | A | N | A | S | H | A | N | T | I | N | A | N | ||
| A | D | D | E | R | S | E | M | U | E | G | G | |||
| I | P | E | C | A | C | T | R | I | F | L | E | |||
| S | L | A | S | H | H | A | H | N | O | O | B | S | ||
| A | L | S | I | H | A | V | E | I | T | D | O | E | ||
| C | O | T | V | A | N | G | O | G | H | G | A | G | ||
| K | E | E | N | E | N | N | E | W | E | R | A | |||
| S | S | S | N | S | D | O | Z | E | D | |||||
| F | I | A | T | E | R | O | S | |||||||
| G | R | O | W | T | H | P | O | T | E | N | T | I | A | L |
| A | H | A | E | A | D | O | E | M | B | A | ||||
| P | O | T | T | E | X | P | E | W |
MATTHEW: I'm afraid to look at how many iterations we went through on this puzzle. I think the germ of the idea (ha) was mine, but the cool pots element — which took it from 'Hmm, maybe there's something there' to 'We have to find a way!' — was Jeff's.
We came up with a decent version and sent it in... and got a rejection from Will & Co. that said (as I recall) that they liked the idea, but pretty much nothing about our execution, including the revealer and most of the theme entries. Argh! Good thing neither Jeff nor I lack persistence.
It's a pleasure to see this one make the light of day at last, and I hope solvers enjoy the fruits (er... leaves?) of our efforts.
JEFF: Hopefully this puzzle grows on you ...
(Maybe that should have been "groans on you")
| S | Q | U | A | D | G | O | A | L | S | S | T | O | W | |
| O | U | T | S | I | D | E | C | A | T | H | A | S | H | |
| D | I | N | N | E | R | D | A | T | E | A | X | L | E | |
| A | T | E | E | H | E | L | L | I | O | N | ||||
| E | S | C | A | P | E | R | O | O | M | |||||
| I | D | E | A | L | S | S | M | E | L | L | ||||
| G | R | E | E | N | L | I | G | H | T | T | E | A | ||
| E | R | U | D | I | T | E | R | A | I | M | E | N | T | |
| L | I | E | N | O | N | F | A | C | T | O | R | S | ||
| I | D | T | A | G | L | I | K | E | N | S | ||||
| H | E | T | E | R | O | N | Y | M | S | |||||
| P | I | E | R | O | G | I | O | G | R | E | ||||
| U | S | D | A | A | V | O | C | A | D | O | O | I | L | |
| F | L | A | T | D | E | S | A | L | I | N | A | T | E | |
| F | A | Y | E | S | T | A | R | S | Y | S | T | E | M |
Solvers might be surprised to learn that 1-Across wasn't a seed entry for this puzzle; it wasn't even in the original submitted version. This puzzle began with the grid shape, which seemed interesting somehow (it's unusual in having a relatively low number of Across entries). I did the middle first, which I do NOT recommend as a construction strategy, and generated a number of variants for the big corners in the NW and SE.
The first version avoided infelicities like 6-Down at the expense of liveliness, and was rightly returned with a polite, "close but no cigar." I swapped in the corners you see today and tried my luck a second time, and I hope solvers enjoy the result. My thanks to Will Shortz and the rest of the puzzle team for their improvements to the finished product.
| C | O | A | T | J | I | B | A | P | T | N | O | |||
| A | R | C | H | A | B | E | L | T | A | R | O | T | ||
| S | P | C | A | Z | E | E | S | M | C | A | T | S | ||
| T | H | E | W | I | Z | A | R | D | O | F | I | D | ||
| R | A | D | T | C | M | A | E | N | E | A | S | |||
| O | N | E | N | I | L | L | I | F | E | O | F | P | I | |
| A | N | U | B | I | S | O | P | T | ||||||
| I | M | A | B | E | L | I | E | V | E | R | ||||
| M | A | R | A | T | T | L | E | E | ||||||
| T | H | I | S | I | S | U | S | E | N | L | I | S | T | |
| V | I | S | H | N | U | E | M | T | T | O | I | |||
| S | O | M | E | L | I | K | E | I | T | H | O | T | ||
| C | A | C | A | O | E | D | E | N | W | A | N | T | ||
| U | R | A | L | S | D | E | B | T | I | C | E | E | ||
| E | R | N | S | T | S | Y | S | G | A | R | R |
I guess you've got to stand for something! I hope solvers enjoy this mix of silliness (in the theme clues) and toughness (in the rest). This is one of those themes that seems at first to offer a lot of possibilities for entries ("Oh, I can put this together without too much trouble"), then reveals its complications in the execution ("@$#!") — especially after I added the extra constraint that each theme entry should come from a different genre. My thanks to Will and the rest of the team for their improvements to the puzzle.
| L | O | S | T | D | O | G | B | E | C | K | P | R | E | E | M | P | T | |||
| A | R | M | O | I | R | E | A | L | O | E | S | H | A | N | T | I | E | S | ||
| T | E | A | R | G | A | S | L | I | N | T | E | A | S | T | A | S | I | A | ||
| S | I | C | E | L | E | C | T | N | E | P | A | L | ||||||||
| D | O | R | O | T | H | Y | G | A | L | E | A | D | D | I | N | E | B | B | ||
| U | N | O | S | O | E | D | I | P | A | L | R | E | G | A | L | I | A | |||
| B | I | B | A | S | K | S | T | H | E | D | A | R | L | I | N | G | S | |||
| Y | O | Y | O | D | I | E | T | E | R | A | S | U | E | M | O | T | E | |||
| A | N | N | U | A | L | S | T | E | T | S | R | A | T | S | R | O | D | |||
| T | P | K | S | H | A | I | B | A | J | A | R | T | E | |||||||
| L | I | T | T | L | E | O | R | P | H | A | N | A | N | N | I | E | ||||
| B | E | E | I | O | N | S | S | A | Y | R | K | O | S | |||||||
| B | A | A | P | E | E | R | G | Y | R | O | S | I | M | E | L | D | A | |||
| A | B | D | U | L | O | P | E | P | U | T | O | N | A | N | A | C | T | |||
| N | I | C | K | A | N | D | N | O | R | A | O | V | I | D | S | E | A | |||
| N | E | A | R | Y | O | U | R | E | D | T | A | P | E | S | I | L | L | |||
| S | S | R | M | S | N | B | C | J | O | N | A | R | B | U | C | K | L | E | ||
| M | A | C | A | O | M | O | U | N | T | A | I | R | ||||||||
| G | O | T | O | T | O | W | N | E | U | R | O | L | I | N | E | O | U | T | ||
| T | E | A | S | E | R | A | D | T | R | E | Y | U | T | T | E | R | E | D | ||
| O | D | Y | S | S | E | Y | E | N | D | S | X | S | A | N | D | Y | S |
My suggested title for this puzzle was "Gone Grr." I'd guess that anybody who reads the NYT constructor comments knows that the puzzles are a team effort, and that editorial changes are made in hopes of hitting the right tone and balance for the audience. I'm grateful for all the ways that process improves the final product — in this puzzle, for example, the clue for 80-Across is a great and fun addition to what I submitted (which is to say I wish I'd thought of that).
At the same time, the editorially-added clue for 73-Down gives me pause. I don't object to entries or clues that might touch on sex (3/3/18's NUDE SCENE with the ingenious clue "Hot take?" doesn't bother me), but I think PLAYMATES in the Playboy sense evokes an infantilizing attitude toward women that is not ok. I realize that others may respond to the clue differently.
I asked if Will would consider changing it, and he replied with a gracious note to the effect that it was too late to revise, and anyway that Playboy Playmates are part of the world, and thus fair game for the puzzle. I understand that point. But insofar as the clues constitute a series of choices about what are interesting, clever, and/or suitable ways to lead to the correct entry, I think there's some importance to *which* way the puzzle chooses. In this case, it's not the path I would've taken. Wherever solvers might come down on these issues, though, I hope they enjoyed the puzzle and had fun finding those missing four-legged friends.
| M | A | R | C | O | M | O | A | T | S | M | I | G | |||
| O | W | N | U | P | V | A | N | D | A | L | A | C | A | ||
| B | L | A | Z | E | O | F | G | L | O | R | Y | K | E | G | |
| C | R | A | W | O | N | T | P | E | C | S | |||||
| P | T | B | O | A | T | A | A | A | A | A | N | A | T | ||
| F | E | E | B | U | R | N | I | N | G | L | O | V | E | ||
| C | A | L | A | M | A | R | I | P | O | S | E | R | |||
| E | T | E | R | N | A | L | F | L | A | M | E | ||||
| S | P | A | T | E | O | I | L | S | A | N | D | S | |||
| L | I | G | H | T | M | Y | F | I | R | E | S | H | H | ||
| A | Q | U | A | R | O | A | N | W | I | S | E | L | Y | ||
| S | U | E | T | P | U | T | S | Y | N | C | |||||
| H | A | R | D | I | S | C | O | I | N | F | E | R | N | O | |
| E | N | E | I | B | E | A | M | S | E | N | V | O | Y | ||
| S | T | D | A | B | E | T | S | R | E | S | T | S |
The spark for this was hearing "Burning Love" on the radio. In a flash, I jotted down a few more theme candidates. I hope the relatively adventurous vocabulary for a Monday kindles some interest for solvers. My thanks to Will, Sam, and the NYT puzzle team for fanning this particular flame.
| R | I | N | G | T | A | B | S | A | T | R | A | P | S | |
| T | H | O | R | E | A | U | T | R | E | E | S | A | P | |
| S | E | X | I | E | S | T | M | A | N | A | L | I | V | E |
| A | Z | T | T | U | D | O | R | A | L | L | ||||
| M | R | E | S | G | E | S | T | T | O | M | ||||
| R | I | M | S | O | R | T | S | A | L | I | V | A | ||
| I | T | A | L | I | A | N | A | M | E | R | I | C | A | N |
| I | N | D | U | C | T | E | E | S | ||||||
| C | H | A | N | C | E | T | H | E | R | A | P | P | E | R |
| R | A | C | K | E | D | E | V | E | S | R | X | S | ||
| I | N | C | A | W | E | D | C | O | L | T | ||||
| E | G | O | A | L | T | A | R | U | F | O | ||||
| S | T | U | D | I | O | E | X | E | C | U | T | I | V | E |
| T | E | N | A | N | T | S | S | I | M | I | L | E | S | |
| O | N | T | R | U | S | T | T | A | S | T | E | R | S |
About two years ago, my friend and colleague Diana Joseph improved my life by sending me a link to "Sunday Candy" — and 34-Across is my way of repaying that debt. (I suppose the clue for 56-Across balances the sublime with the... well, sublime in another way.) I aimed for a good range of reference points in the clues, and I'm grateful to Will, Joel, and Sam (and everybody else on the NYT games team) for their improvements to the puzzle. I hope solvers enjoy the result.
| A | B | U | S | E | M | E | N | D | O | L | D | S | ||
| L | A | S | T | C | H | A | N | C | E | M | E | E | T | |
| C | R | U | S | H | I | N | G | I | T | E | A | V | E | |
| A | R | R | O | N | B | A | S | E | G | R | I | P | ||
| Z | A | P | S | T | U | G | N | B | A | J | A | M | ||
| A | G | E | N | T | N | E | W | T | O | E | T | O | ||
| R | E | D | E | E | M | M | A | I | N | I | T | E | M | |
| A | N | Y | S | E | C | O | N | D | ||||||
| K | I | C | K | E | D | I | N | N | E | L | L | I | E | |
| I | M | O | T | E | X | T | S | T | E | E | N | Y | ||
| S | A | M | O | S | A | P | P | P | D | O | T | E | ||
| S | L | E | W | R | E | A | R | E | D | N | O | L | ||
| C | I | N | E | S | T | R | E | A | M | L | I | N | E | |
| A | V | O | N | I | N | T | E | R | V | E | N | E | S | |
| M | E | W | S | R | A | Y | S | S | E | E | D | S |
I hope solvers have fun with this themeless; I was glad to be able to work in what seemed like a good variety of entries without too many compromises. As a solver, I enjoy when the mid-length entries are lively, and I felt like luck was on my side with this one — for example, 6-Down and 25-Across were both "Hm, I wonder if that would work..." ideas that panned out. I suppose that's a sideways way of saying that I didn't go looking for a 6-Down, but maybe sometimes you look up and you find yourself with one anyway. C'est la vie.
| A | R | M | O | R | S | L | O | B | R | A | H | |||
| S | O | A | M | I | P | A | P | A | S | O | L | O | ||
| S | T | R | A | P | A | M | E | N | M | O | T | T | ||
| H | A | R | O | L | D | A | N | D | K | U | M | A | R | |
| S | E | E | B | A | E | B | I | O | ||||||
| P | R | A | E | T | O | R | I | A | N | G | U | A | R | D |
| B | I | B | L | E | C | R | A | S | H | |||||
| J | O | E | L | S | W | I | S | S | H | O | O | P | ||
| E | A | T | E | N | S | U | N | U | P | |||||
| F | O | U | N | D | I | N | G | F | A | T | H | E | R | S |
| E | M | S | A | L | T | L | I | P | ||||||
| L | E | N | D | M | E | Y | O | U | R | E | A | R | S | |
| O | L | A | Y | T | A | T | I | T | R | A | I | L | ||
| N | E | V | E | T | R | O | D | E | L | I | Z | A | ||
| S | T | Y | O | D | E | S | R | O | L | E | X |
Matt: The idea for this puzzle came from my wife, Alisa. But I take all the blame for my initial set of theme answers, some of which did not amuse as much as I'd hoped. I know for 'countrymen' I had BONO AND THE EDGE, wryly clued as composers of the masterpiece "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark"... c'mon, that's crossword gold, don't you think, Jeff?
Jeff: (searching for the "crickets" emoji)
Matt: Ok then. Will and Joel suggested that I check whether Jeff would be willing to help out with a revision, and he generously agreed to pitch in.
Jeff: If "pitch in" means "make funny comments," and "funny" means "annoying," then my wife agrees wholeheartedly. I enjoyed going along on this quest, although we somehow still haven't gotten to White Castle yet.
Matt: With Jeff on board, together we got this on its feet. I suspect some solvers will hesitate over 23-Across, but I think it's important for the puzzle to embrace new vocabulary. I appreciate Will and Joel's help sharpening this to its final form, and hopefully, Jeff and I will be back with more down the road.
Jeff: Along with the WHITE CASTLE BURGERS I WAS PROMISED. Jeff is getting upset!
| U | P | C | W | E | E | D | S | R | A | H | S | |||
| S | A | O | I | T | S | O | N | I | N | A | P | T | ||
| B | L | O | C | K | H | E | E | L | S | E | D | E | R | |
| O | L | D | I | E | S | E | C | A | D | A | ||||
| E | O | N | S | R | E | B | O | U | N | D | G | U | Y | |
| X | K | E | L | A | H | R | O | O | P | S | ||||
| P | A | S | S | J | U | D | G | M | E | N | T | |||
| O | S | S | I | A | N | T | E | A | C | U | P | |||
| D | R | I | B | B | L | E | G | L | A | S | S | |||
| A | C | M | E | T | A | T | A | B | E | A | ||||
| S | H | O | O | T | E | M | U | P | S | C | A | R | T | |
| H | A | R | R | I | S | U | T | U | R | N | ||||
| E | V | A | D | E | F | A | S | T | B | R | E | A | K | |
| R | E | L | E | T | A | K | I | R | A | T | M | I | ||
| Z | E | R | O | Q | A | T | A | R | S | E | X |
This became a pangram by accident: I had something different in the bottom-middle, but while writing the clues I noticed a minor duplication with another answer in the grid. Argh! The best fix brought in a Q, and there it was.
I appreciate Will and Joel's improvements to this puzzle, as well as the contributions of the test-solvers and the others involved in producing the final product.
| M | O | O | C | H | E | D | R | E | F | U | G | E | A | D | A | P | T | S | ||
| A | D | R | I | A | N | I | A | M | A | Z | E | D | C | O | V | E | R | T | ||
| R | E | C | O | R | D | S | M | O | V | I | E | H | T | H | E | A | T | E | R | |
| N | T | H | M | A | C | A | B | R | E | R | E | Y | L | A | N | E | ||||
| E | T | E | S | T | A | L | L | Y | V | C | R | S | B | A | R | D | S | |||
| R | E | S | T | S | R | T | E | M | E | R | I | T | A | N | D | Y | S | |||
| T | O | L | E | D | O | M | I | R | E | S | G | N | C | |||||||
| S | P | R | O | U | T | S | L | A | N | D | O | A | R | C | H | W | A | Y | ||
| T | R | A | D | E | D | U | S | H | S | E | N | A | T | E | E | E | R | O | ||
| R | E | H | B | S | T | A | L | K | N | W | A | D | I | D | ||||||
| A | S | H | Y | S | E | T | T | O | C | U | G | A | T | E | D | G | E | |||
| F | A | A | M | M | E | L | A | K | E | R | V | I | A | L | ||||||
| E | L | L | A | A | I | R | H | L | I | N | E | R | T | R | E | N | T | E | ||
| S | E | L | L | E | R | S | N | E | S | T | S | R | A | I | N | G | O | D | ||
| L | O | T | O | K | A | P | I | P | I | R | A | N | H | |||||||
| B | A | S | I | N | G | R | I | P | S | G | A | G | L | O | C | A | L | |||
| A | C | T | A | S | A | G | E | S | M | I | C | A | S | W | H | O | A | |||
| D | C | O | N | O | R | C | R | O | S | E | T | E | A | A | R | B | ||||
| G | R | O | C | E | R | Y | H | S | T | O | R | E | O | W | N | U | P | T | O | |
| E | U | G | E | N | E | R | A | S | C | A | L | N | O | T | N | E | A | R | ||
| R | E | E | S | E | S | T | O | U | S | L | E | I | N | S | O | L | E | S |
I developed a very different version of this puzzle as a 15x15, but along the way I came to the sinking realization that though maybe the gimmick was technically interesting, it didn't seem like it would be especially enjoyable for solvers. I scrapped that approach, and asked myself how I might inject some fun into the idea... and, as often happens in life, posing the question in the right way was all it took to find a path forward.
My thanks to Will and Joel for their improvements, and I hope this provides an entertaining start to your puzzling year.
| A | R | I | A | L | S | H | E | A | P | L | U | G | ||
| T | O | N | N | E | T | A | S | S | E | A | S | E | ||
| R | O | C | K | E | T | J | S | Q | U | I | R | R | E | L |
| E | M | U | L | S | I | O | N | B | O | K | ||||
| S | I | R | E | M | E | T | S | J | E | R | S | E | Y | |
| T | E | S | T | S | H | E | X | A | P | O | D | |||
| V | I | S | O | R | S | T | U | N | S | |||||
| C | O | U | R | T | J | E | S | T | E | R | ||||
| W | E | A | N | E | R | O | D | E | S | |||||
| S | A | L | D | A | N | A | A | D | R | A | G | |||
| J | U | L | E | S | E | T | J | I | M | Y | O | U | R | |
| E | M | I | E | S | P | R | E | S | S | O | ||||
| S | C | R | A | M | B | L | E | T | H | E | J | E | T | S |
| S | P | I | N | R | E | P | O | N | O | T | E | S | ||
| R | U | D | D | O | K | S | O | T | B | O | N | E |
My friend and colleague David Clisbee used the phrase SCRAMBLE THE JETS in a meeting, and that was that. I wanted each theme entry to feature J-E-T-S in a different order — that plus all those Js made construction interesting. I'm grateful to Will and Joel for their improvements to this grid; I hope solvers enjoy encountering ROCKET J. SQUIRREL, and don't begrudge JULES ET JIM its French title.
| T | A | S | K | R | A | M | P | S | W | I | N | G | ||
| V | L | O | G | O | N | I | O | N | E | R | I | E | ||
| T | A | U | S | C | A | L | V | I | N | B | A | L | L | |
| A | N | N | C | O | C | A | P | A | C | |||||
| P | O | D | R | A | C | I | N | G | M | A | C | A | W | |
| E | N | T | E | R | O | N | O | N | E | M | O | R | E | |
| R | I | A | N | B | A | N | E | T | ||||||
| F | A | N | T | A | S | Y | S | P | O | R | T | S | ||
| T | L | C | T | H | Y | P | A | R | ||||||
| B | A | K | L | A | V | A | K | E | E | N | E | S | T | |
| A | N | S | E | L | Q | U | I | D | D | I | T | C | H | |
| T | A | S | N | C | I | S | E | R | A | |||||
| P | O | O | H | S | T | I | C | K | S | S | M | U | T | |
| A | R | I | A | A | L | A | M | O | A | P | B | S | ||
| W | E | L | L | R | O | S | E | N | O | S | S | O |
I hope solvers share my pleasure in seeing CALVINBALL in a New York Times puzzle. It's such an evocative idea of pure creative play, and I liked balancing it with the more contemplative POOHSTICKS — very different visions of childhood (and philosophies of life), each lovely in their own ways.
I'm grateful to Will and Joel for their improvements to this grid, and I'm also indebted to two other editors who've helped immeasurably in my development as a constructor: Stan Newman and Brad Wilber. Brad's mentorship in particular has been a great boon to me — even though he had no direct involvement with this puzzle, it's fair to say it wouldn't exist without him — and I'm very happy to be able to acknowledge that publicly.