G | O | A | T | S | A | B | E | T | A | W | O | L | ||
A | R | N | I | E | M | Y | N | A | C | O | P | E | ||
B | E | E | K | E | E | P | E | R | S | T | O | R | N | |
S | O | W | I | N | G | N | O | T | E | L | A | G | ||
O | H | O | L | Y | N | I | G | H | T | |||||
O | L | S | O | N | O | W | L | G | N | A | S | H | ||
Y | O | U | T | U | B | E | S | T | U | N | T | |||
S | U | B | T | L | Y | A | L | O | H | A | S | |||
S | A | L | U | T | E | N | F | U | E | G | O | |||
T | R | E | V | I | R | I | M | S | T | R | E | W | ||
D | E | C | A | F | L | A | T | T | E | |||||
P | A | T | Y | A | M | S | S | T | Y | M | I | E | ||
A | L | I | A | S | P | E | L | L | B | O | U | N | D | |
S | L | O | B | E | L | L | E | S | U | L | K | Y | ||
S | Y | N | C | R | E | F | S | P | R | E | S | S |
I live near Chapel Hill, NC and have been constructing crosswords since 2019. Many thanks to the Internet crossword community and especially everyone who's ever test-solved a puzzle and shared their feedback with me.
My favorite entry in this puzzle, making its only second appearance, is 44-Across, which gives me an opportunity to advocate for the more frequent appearance in US crosswords of a language spoken by over 50 million Americans.
Favorite clues of mine that made the final cut include 17-Across, 8-Down, and 58-Down. My favorite editorial addition is the 10-Down / 11-Down combo.
Potential theme entries that went by the wayside in the brainstorming process included OPIONEERS, OCANADA, OHENRY (the writer), OHHENRY (the candy bar), DETOXDIET, Seattle's UDISTRICT, and the late, lamented mall bookseller BDALTON.
Data points for fellow aspiring constructors: I submitted this puzzle in January 2021. I believe this was my fourteenth submission to the Times. The editing team made no changes to the grid I submitted.
Since 2020 I've been posting puzzles on my blog Lexicon Devil. Please check them out if you haven't already. You can also follow me on Twitter and Twitch.