Robert Won author page
1 puzzle by Robert Won
with Jeff Chen comments
See the 1 answer word debuted by Robert Won.
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Nice twist on the out-of-fashion "both words can precede X" genre, ROCK AND ROLL hinting at BLACK(ROCK), BED(ROCK), MOON(ROCK) and COFFEE (ROLL), SPRING (ROLL), JELLY (ROLL).
Ever wonder how to create one of these? It's not hard, but it takes brute force, patience, and judgment. Start by creating a list of words that can precede each:
ROCK: ACID BED BLACK CHRIS CLASSIC FOLK GLAM HARD LITTLE MOON PLYMOUTH PUNK RED SOFT THIRTY
ROLL: BARREL BREAD COFFEE DINNER DRUM EGG JELLY ONION PIANO SPRING SUSHI SWISS
From there, you test each pairwise. ACID BARREL, no. ACID BREAD, no. Rinse and repeat until the people around you question your grasp on reality.
Finally, the judgment calls. HARD BREAD is a thing. Is it a great phrase that's theme-worthy, though? How about CLASSIC PIANO?
And on another level, is BLACK(ROCK) theme-worthy? Although there are so many different Blackrocks out there that there's a strong chance solvers will at least recognize some form of the term (Blackrock is big to us finance wonks), it's much better to generate the type of click that BED(ROCK) achieves.
With just four themers, I expect a ton of bonuses and a squeaky-clean grid. Lots of points for BOONIES, INKBLOT, even STERILE. ABOIL is not HALER fill, though, and lesser dings for DEFS ESS kind of stuff.
Neat to see something a bit different, to keep a tried-and-true theme genre alive. MOON JELLY is an especially nice find; a colorful phrase that produced such a strong click in MOON(ROCK) and JELLY(ROLL).