C | L | A | P | E | G | G | O | I | S | A | Y | Z | O | R | R | O | ||||
L | A | L | A | C | R | I | S | I | S | M | O | D | E | A | R | Y | A | N | ||
A | M | E | R | I | C | A | N | S | N | I | P | P | E | R | P | E | A | C | E | |
S | A | R | A | C | E | N | S | T | A | H | L | S | P | A | N | K | S | |||
P | R | O | S | E | D | U | D | E | L | I | P | R | E | A | D | |||||
T | H | E | L | A | T | T | E | S | H | O | W | S | A | P | ||||||
A | B | H | O | R | R | E | N | T | A | D | M | I | T | S | M | A | S | H | ||
A | L | O | H | A | S | A | E | R | O | O | P | H | E | L | I | A | ||||
M | O | M | M | Y | Z | E | D | S | A | G | R | E | E | M | E | N | T | |||
C | O | M | E | S | T | O | V | S | I | G | N | E | D | O | M | |||||
O | D | E | H | O | O | T | P | U | R | S | U | I | T | S | S | A | ||||
A | U | T | O | J | O | S | I | E | S | A | D | D | L | E | D | |||||
J | O | L | T | I | N | J | O | E | N | I | N | O | O | V | O | I | D | |||
I | R | O | N | A | G | E | S | E | T | I | I | M | D | O | N | E | ||||
B | Y | N | E | S | S | S | G | T | S | S | O | B | S | I | S | T | E | R | ||
E | X | E | A | S | T | A | R | R | I | S | B | O | R | N | ||||||
R | A | V | I | O | L | I | N | O | E | L | A | R | E | N | A | |||||
F | R | I | E | Z | E | P | A | T | T | I | O | P | T | I | M | U | S | |||
R | E | M | I | T | A | S | H | O | O | T | I | N | T | H | E | D | A | R | K | |
A | D | A | G | E | G | I | A | N | T | S | Q | U | I | D | E | L | S | E | ||
N | S | Y | N | C | A | N | D | S | S | T | E | S | S | L | E | W |
This puzzle began life as a joke. I asked a friend, have you heard about the movie sequel about the greatest mohel in Brooklyn? Anyone who knew what a mohel is has gotten a LOL moment at the answer: AMERICAN SNIPPER. (For those of you who don't know, a mohel is the person who performs the Jewish rite of circumcision.) It's such a simple, concise little gem that, when I realized it was a great puzzle idea as well, it seemed like it would be a snap to sit down for a few minutes and come up with some more theme movies.
Ha! chalk that one up to rosy-cheeked optimism. It seems that the universe of words that form new words with a doubled letter is not nearly so big as I would have thought. And that list shrinks considerably when you try to fit them into a set of movie titles that are both familiar enough to everyone and yet still make any kind of sense as a phrase. So Will rejected my first draft, but encouraged me to find some new theme entries to replace the ones he didn't care for. And that too required a pretty fair amount of research work, plus some serious back-and-forthing with Will before arriving at the final set. So a big vote of thanks here to IMDB.com for a wealth of keyword titles to sift through, and to Will and his assistant Joel, both for their input and even more so for their patience.
BTW, this is a good thing to know for any of you puzzle writers who are struggling with rejection slips: getting a Times quality crossword can take a large amount of work and perseverance. So don't give up!
Finally, I am personally quite pleased with working both a GIANT SQUID and a JOLTIN JOE into the grid. It seems to me that the giant squid is an eminently worthy animal for the puzzle pantheon. And as for JOLTIN JOE, hey, come on, he's the Yankee Clipper, and I love the Yankees, even though we came up a little short this year!
M | O | B | I | L | E | A | P | P | W | A | I | T | E | |
O | N | O | N | E | S | W | A | Y | A | M | A | H | L | |
S | E | E | N | I | T | A | L | L | D | O | M | E | D | |
T | A | R | A | G | E | E | D | R | A | K | E | |||
B | A | T | S | A | L | A | M | I | S | |||||
S | T | R | O | B | E | S | R | E | L | E | N | T | ||
T | H | I | N | A | S | A | R | E | E | D | R | G | S | |
R | E | T | D | M | A | R | F | I | D | O | ||||
U | M | A | F | A | S | H | I | O | N | I | C | O | N | |
C | O | M | S | A | T | S | T | R | E | A | M | S | ||
K | N | O | T | T | E | D | R | A | F | |||||
D | I | R | A | C | Y | O | G | A | D | D | T | |||
U | T | E | R | I | A | L | A | N | M | O | O | R | E | |
M | O | N | E | T | D | I | E | T | S | O | D | A | S | |
B | R | O | D | Y | S | O | L | O | S | H | O | T | S |
In my themeless crosswords, I like to lead off with something that makes me appear considerably more tech savvy and up-to-date than I actually am. In this case, we start with a MOBILE APP at 1-Across. Since I don't have a cell phone — and I may yet become the last person in America not to have one — I've never actually used a mobile app, let alone downloaded one. But never mind: in the age of Google, even a tech ignoramus can feign knowledge by dropping a trendy app name or two.
Then, I tried to work in as many long, lively entries as I could. In this puzzle, there's 14 answers of 9 letters or more, which I suspect is pretty much my theoretical limit, although I'm sure the younger, less computer-challenged set has improved on that. I tried to make the answers widely and interestingly varied in terms of learning categories, though, and I'm pleased with how the puzzle came out.
S | A | W | S | A | S | T | A | A | N | G | L | O | Z | O | L | A | ||||
H | E | A | P | L | A | H | R | R | I | L | I | N | G | I | S | P | Y | |||
A | R | G | O | O | N | E | G | A | N | I | M | A | L | H | O | U | S | E | ||
W | O | N | T | G | E | T | F | U | E | L | E | D | A | G | A | I | N | |||
E | L | O | O | L | I | N | R | E | S | E | C | T | M | O | I | |||||
M | I | R | E | S | E | N | O | L | R | E | A | R | E | N | D | |||||
I | K | I | S | S | E | D | A | G | R | I | L | L | E | T | A | S | T | Y | ||
D | O | A | S | I | D | O | M | E | Y | E | R | S | P | H | I | L | ||||
I | N | N | P | A | G | E | D | C | A | S | T | A | S | P | E | L | L | |||
S | S | E | G | H | I | X | E | R | A | P | T | E | S | T | S | |||||
M | O | V | E | S | L | I | K | E | J | A | G | U | A | R | ||||||
S | T | E | A | M | E | R | A | L | E | E | I | N | S | S | T | |||||
M | I | N | I | S | T | E | R | T | O | T | R | A | N | E | C | A | B | |||
O | R | E | L | L | I | O | N | E | L | N | O | T | D | O | N | E | ||||
K | A | S | E | M | B | R | A | K | E | O | N | T | H | R | O | U | G | H | ||
E | N | C | R | U | S | T | E | D | N | A | A | C | T | O | R | |||||
Y | A | O | N | E | W | I | S | H | G | E | M | S | D | I | M | |||||
L | I | V | I | N | L | A | V | E | H | I | C | L | E | L | O | C | A | |||
C | I | T | I | Z | E | N | K | A | N | E | A | B | E | T | I | T | L | L | ||
O | P | E | D | N | E | E | D | E | R | L | I | N | D | T | T | O | P | |||
X | O | X | O | D | R | E | S | S | F | A | T | S | Y | O | Y | O |
First off, I have to confess that I know next to nothing about things with motors, not cars in general nor NASCAR specifically. In fact, I am so lame that once, when a guy at the next gas pump asked me if my car was a V-8, I just stared at him blankly for a moment, slowly realizing I had no idea whatsoever. So it should come as no great surprise that the inspiring pun here, WON'T GET FUELED AGAIN, ended up laying fallow for a couple of years after I thought of it. (Note to aspiring puzzle writers: go write this stuff down! For one thing, you will eventually forget even very good gags. Even more importantly, with the occasional memory jog from your ideas notebook, your subconscious mind at work on a puzzle can be a wonderful ally.)
Anyway, I realized — finally, at last! — there are few things more American than cars and rock and roll. And if you can put them both together, well, sorry, but you've got a hit on your hands. The rest was a long slog to find songs famous enough to fill out the idea (Da Do Run Run anyone? My Sweet Ford?) I do want to add that my personal favorite here is LIVIN' LA VEHICLE LOCA, which shouldn't work — it's not even the right number of syllables! — yet somehow does.
One surprising note to add for my fellow baby boomers: I was shocked to discover that "Break on Through," the Doors's first single and iconic to my mind, in fact bombed when it came out. It couldn't even crack the top 100 on the charts. Finally, my biggest disappointment here is the omission of the lovely ballad "Drive" by the Cars. That is simply the perfect title and group for my theme, but sadly there is absolutely no way it could go in this puzzle.
B | U | T | T | D | I | A | L | E | D | G | I | B | E | |
O | N | A | R | A | M | P | A | G | E | U | N | O | S | |
T | I | D | A | L | B | A | S | I | N | M | O | B | S | |
S | T | A | P | L | E | R | S | A | C | N | S | A | ||
P | A | C | T | S | L | O | V | E | L | Y | ||||
I | C | E | S | I | M | I | I | N | A | P | E | T | ||
N | A | N | S | L | E | T | S | A | S | I | D | E | ||
B | R | I | E | F | E | N | C | O | U | N | T | E | R | S |
A | D | D | E | R | T | O | R | N | S | C | U | T | ||
D | E | B | T | E | E | M | E | I | N | E | N | S | ||
S | A | L | O | O | N | S | L | O | O | P | ||||
O | L | Y | N | A | M | O | N | S | E | R | V | E | ||
R | E | T | D | C | A | S | S | I | O | P | E | I | A | |
T | R | O | Y | T | A | K | E | S | A | S | E | A | T | |
S | S | N | S | S | M | A | R | T | P | I | L | L | S |
I read a story online about a guy who was playing loud rap music in his car one day while driving home from work, when he somehow shifted around on the cellphone in his pocket and accidentally autodialed his own home. His wife answered the call and, when all she heard were the angry-sounding voices in the background, not unreasonably assumed he was in trouble and phoned 911. It took the police to unravel the situation for her, and I imagine it was to rather more than a small dose of embarrassment — or amusement — on everyone's part.
I got a kick out of this story, all the more so when I heard the new-to-me term for it, BUTT-DIALED. The clue for it came to me immediately, which is a little unusual, so I gave it pride of place in my puzzle at 1 Across. I guess all this is a long-winded way of saying that I hope there are lots of crossword lovers who are as readily amused by a clever neologism as I am!
S | T | A | R | J | O | N | E | S | B | L | A | S | E | |
W | O | R | E | A | W | I | R | E | M | I | L | K | Y | |
A | N | N | E | M | E | A | R | A | O | L | L | I | E | |
R | I | E | L | S | A | S | H | C | A | K | E | S | ||
M | E | S | S | P | A | T | O | I | S | I | D | O | ||
S | R | S | T | O | X | I | N | S | I | N | O | N | ||
D | O | R | I | C | A | B | D | U | L | |||||
A | C | T | I | O | N | S | M | A | J | E | S | T | Y | |
D | B | A | C | K | J | A | B | A | T | |||||
J | A | N | E | P | F | I | Z | E | R | C | E | L | ||
U | T | Z | D | A | R | N | E | D | T | A | L | E | ||
S | T | A | T | E | T | A | X | S | R | T | A | S | ||
T | E | N | O | R | M | I | L | A | K | U | N | I | S | |
O | R | I | O | N | E | N | E | M | Y | M | I | N | E | |
R | Y | A | N | S | S | G | T | P | E | P | P | E | R |
F | I | R | E | F | O | X | M | O | Z | I | L | L | A | |
O | N | A | R | A | N | T | C | R | O | N | I | E | S | |
E | X | C | I | T | E | R | M | E | N | O | T | T | I | |
S | K | E | E | T | E | R | S | E | N | T | I | N | ||
D | O | M | E | S | S | I | L | T | ||||||
A | L | F | A | N | E | A | T | H | T | E | L | L | ||
G | O | O | S | E | G | L | O | O | M | B | O | A | ||
H | A | Z | A | R | D | A | N | O | P | I | N | I | O | N |
A | D | Z | G | O | M | A | D | T | E | R | S | E | ||
S | E | I | S | S | E | M | I | S | O | D | E | S | ||
D | E | M | S | S | E | N | T | A | ||||||
R | U | B | A | T | O | S | L | E | D | D | O | G | ||
A | P | E | L | I | K | E | I | P | H | O | N | E | S | |
G | O | A | L | L | I | N | N | O | O | N | E | R | S | |
U | N | R | A | T | E | D | E | N | C | A | S | E | S |
D | I | M | W | I | S | P | C | B | S | T | V | A | G | E | O | L | D | |||
A | N | A | R | O | U | E | A | U | D | I | O | V | E | N | D | O | R | |||
R | A | I | S | I | N | B | R | A | N | D | I | N | G | E | N | G | I | N | E | |
E | N | D | A | T | P | E | L | T | S | T | A | R | T | A | N | E | W | |||
D | E | S | K | O | S | I | E | R | S | U | S | E | R | |||||||
S | H | O | E | G | R | E | E | N | S | F | E | E | D | I | N | G | ||||
G | A | S | A | R | N | E | N | E | A | L | L | E | N | Y | A | |||||
O | F | M | I | C | E | A | N | D | M | E | N | D | I | N | G | E | S | L | ||
I | R | A | N | I | S | V | O | A | A | M | O | R | T | I | Z | E | S | |||
N | O | L | T | E | O | O | Z | E | D | D | A | R | N | |||||||
L | O | N | G | T | I | M | E | N | O | S | E | E | D | I | N | G | ||||
I | D | I | O | S | C | R | U | M | B | E | A | D | S | |||||||
B | R | I | T | A | N | N | I | A | A | M | I | H | U | E | V | O | S | |||
R | U | N | A | I | N | T | W | E | G | O | T | F | U | N | D | I | N | G | ||
I | B | O | O | K | G | O | A | D | S | E | G | A | N | E | T | |||||
G | E | N | T | L | E | B | E | N | D | I | N | G | L | O | L | L | ||||
R | I | L | E | S | T | A | R | E | D | O | A | H | U | |||||||
C | O | L | A | N | D | E | R | S | R | I | G | S | O | R | S | E | R | |||
A | V | E | N | G | E | D | R | A | W | I | N | G | P | E | N | D | I | N | G | |
T | E | E | T | E | R | A | T | B | A | T | E | A | R | L | A | C | E | |||
E | R | R | O | R | S | S | A | C | H | A | D | R | A | Y | N | E | D |
S | E | C | T | A | D | O | L | P | H | T | I | L | L | C | A | R | B | |||
E | L | L | A | S | O | N | O | R | A | I | S | A | Y | A | L | O | U | |||
R | A | I | S | E | T | H | E | P | O | T | E | N | T | R | E | N | O | U | S | |
B | L | O | T | T | O | F | E | E | D | T | H | E | K | I | T | T | Y | |||
E | R | U | P | T | S | S | R | I | S | E | N | |||||||||
U | S | C | E | N | S | I | L | E | O | N | C | E | D | E | B | T | S | |||
N | I | A | D | I | V | A | S | S | W | A | M | I | S | U | E | T | ||||
M | E | L | D | S | S | O | L | T | I | I | R | O | N | S | C | P | U | |||
A | G | L | O | W | O | R | N | A | T | E | S | H | A | K | E | N | ||||
N | E | T | G | A | I | N | M | A | T | C | H | T | H | E | A | N | T | E | S | |
H | E | N | N | A | S | G | R | E | S | I | R | R | A | H | ||||||
B | R | E | A | K | T | H | E | H | O | U | S | E | S | T | O | K | E | U | P | |
R | E | B | R | E | W | R | O | N | D | O | S | N | I | O | B | E | ||||
I | V | E | R | O | W | E | L | E | V | A | D | E | A | N | D | O | R | |||
N | U | T | S | S | A | N | Y | O | E | L | A | T | E | D | A | M | ||||
G | E | S | T | E | D | A | T | A | R | E | M | A | I | L | S | T | S | |||
E | D | S | O | H | O | N | E | L | L | I | E | |||||||||
D | R | A | W | T | H | E | F | L | U | S | H | E | N | T | E | R | S | |||
M | E | S | A | V | E | R | D | E | C | U | T | T | H | E | C | A | R | D | S | |
V | E | E | R | E | N | I | D | A | M | A | Z | O | N | I | M | A | N | |||
S | L | A | T | P | O | C | O | R | E | B | U | T | S | L | A | S | S |
S | C | R | I | M | P | S | H | E | F | T | S | B | U | R | R | O | ||||
G | O | E | S | B | O | O | M | A | M | O | R | A | L | U | S | E | U | P | ||
T | H | E | L | A | P | P | O | F | L | U | X | U | R | Y | G | H | A | N | A | |
S | O | L | I | N | I | L | D | O | G | G | E | R | E | L | ||||||
P | I | C | T | A | T | O | U | R | D | I | N | N | E | R | ||||||
A | E | C | S | O | U | W | R | I | T | S | A | D | E | P | T | |||||
P | L | O | W | S | O | N | H | E | A | D | S | B | R | O | T | H | E | R | ||
B | L | E | W | U | P | A | G | A | E | L | S | A | L | U | T | A | R | Y | ||
S | A | D | I | E | O | W | N | W | A | L | K | T | E | R | R | A | ||||
I | D | A | H | O | G | A | V | E | U | P | S | O | O | N | ||||||
P | A | T | D | A | N | E | T | O | R | E | P | L | Y | S | R | S | ||||
A | S | I | F | D | R | I | E | S | T | T | A | X | I | S | ||||||
I | S | L | E | T | P | E | R | P | C | H | O | S | O | D | A | S | ||||
R | E | T | R | A | C | E | S | C | H | A | N | G | E | A | F | I | N | N | ||
S | T | A | R | T | E | D | C | O | H | E | N | A | R | I | A | N | N | A | ||
S | T | E | E | D | R | O | N | E | E | M | I | A | T | A | G | |||||
T | R | A | V | E | L | E | R | S | C | Z | E | C | H | S | ||||||
T | H | E | S | T | R | I | P | I | S | O | I | A | G | O | ||||||
B | A | B | O | O | B | A | S | Q | U | E | I | N | T | H | E | G | L | O | W | |
A | L | E | U | T | E | I | D | E | R | S | E | V | E | R | M | O | R | E | ||
R | E | N | T | S | D | I | D | N | T | A | E | R | A | T | E | S |
S | P | A | L | E | D | S | P | A | R | S | P | O | P | A | R | T | ||||
T | I | N | O | A | R | I | A | R | L | E | N | A | C | A | C | I | A | |||
E | L | T | R | A | I | N | S | D | E | L | I | A | S | H | R | E | D | S | ||
W | O | R | D | P | R | O | C | E | S | S | I | N | G | T | E | A | S | E | S | |
S | T | E | E | R | N | A | T | E | S | G | I | R | L | |||||||
A | I | M | T | A | C | O | S | H | E | M | L | A | C | |||||||
S | P | E | L | L | C | H | E | C | K | A | O | N | E | E | L | M | O | |||
L | E | X | C | A | N | T | E | N | D | L | E | S | S | L | O | O | P | |||
A | N | T | E | L | I | D | S | N | O | D | E | S | O | P | E | N | S | |||
M | A | R | X | U | F | O | N | A | U | T | F | L | O | |||||||
S | L | A | P | R | A | N | D | O | M | N | O | I | S | E | R | O | S | Y | ||
A | L | E | I | V | E | S | D | N | A | T | U | T | U | |||||||
F | A | U | N | A | S | I | S | A | L | P | I | E | R | S | T | E | M | |||
D | I | P | S | W | I | T | C | H | E | S | L | O | A | F | G | E | M | |||
A | N | T | I | T | R | E | Y | B | A | C | K | U | P | C | O | P | Y | |||
T | O | O | E | A | T | M | O | O | N | Y | L | E | A | |||||||
N | O | R | M | P | A | M | P | A | R | S | V | P | S | |||||||
P | L | A | S | M | A | F | I | L | E | P | R | O | T | E | C | T | I | O | N | |
O | U | T | L | E | T | E | X | I | L | E | D | E | F | E | R | S | T | O | ||
S | T | O | O | G | E | E | I | G | E | R | O | A | F | O | T | T | O | |||
H | E | P | T | A | D | D | E | N | T | S | R | R | S | A | S | K |
A | D | D | E | D | E | D | I | C | T | S | A | N | T | I | W | A | R | |||
B | E | A | R | E | R | C | A | M | E | R | A | C | O | U | R | A | G | E | ||
O | F | F | I | C | E | C | O | M | P | L | E | X | A | D | R | E | N | A | L | |
R | E | F | E | R | T | O | P | O | L | E | B | I | N | D | R | Y | ||||
T | R | Y | E | A | R | P | S | A | L | K | S | C | I | A | ||||||
V | E | R | N | E | T | R | I | N | I | E | N | R | O | L | ||||||
J | A | P | E | D | I | E | M | S | K | U | N | K | G | I | R | L | S | |||
A | M | O | R | C | R | A | M | E | C | C | E | R | E | G | A | L | ||||
K | E | E | N | S | E | A | S | E | K | E | A | A | L | A | M | O | ||||
E | X | T | O | L | S | G | O | S | P | E | L | N | O | D | N | A | P | |||
I | N | A | T | T | E | N | T | I | V | E | P | U | P | I | L | S | ||||
D | S | C | T | U | B | R | A | M | A | D | A | S | U | I | T | U | P | |||
R | I | F | L | E | I | V | Y | N | O | R | A | S | T | O | L | E | ||||
I | D | E | A | S | R | E | N | A | S | W | I | G | O | P | E | N | ||||
B | E | E | C | H | D | R | A | N | O | N | A | R | C | U | S | E | D | |||
A | T | E | I | N | V | I | T | U | S | H | E | I | S | T | ||||||
D | N | A | E | L | I | T | E | S | E | T | H | A | P | E | ||||||
G | A | S | G | T | O | D | O | T | E | T | R | A | I | N | E | D | ||||
O | B | E | R | L | I | N | S | O | F | T | S | H | O | U | L | D | E | R | S | |
R | E | L | I | E | V | E | O | T | I | O | S | E | S | O | L | A | C | E | ||
E | L | A | P | S | E | S | L | E | T | S | O | N | M | E | R | Y | L |