Scott Hogan author page
4 puzzles by Scott Hogan
with Jim Horne comments
See the 41 answer words debuted by Scott Hogan.
| O | H | R | A | T | S | M | A | I | T | A | I | S | A | C | S | P | A | |||
| M | O | O | S | H | U | E | N | R | O | L | L | A | D | A | P | T | E | R | ||
| S | H | O | W | E | R | S | L | I | K | E | L | Y | F | E | R | R | A | R | I | |
| O | M | A | N | A | T | M | L | E | A | S | E | S | O | R | T | A | ||||
| N | A | B | S | E | B | O | Y | A | T | C | A | M | P | |||||||
| E | Y | E | N | O | S | E | M | O | S | T | L | Y | C | L | O | U | D | Y | ||
| T | E | T | O | N | S | G | A | W | P | R | I | N | S | E | P | O | E | |||
| H | E | A | V | Y | S | N | O | W | S | T | E | V | E | S | N | I | D | E | ||
| I | S | L | E | A | I | L | S | A | M | A | T | I | A | L | O | T | ||||
| C | H | I | R | R | U | P | S | E | L | M | O | N | I | M | ||||||
| I | S | O | L | A | T | E | D | S | P | R | I | N | K | L | E | S | ||||
| E | O | N | M | A | D | E | D | E | S | K | D | U | T | Y | ||||||
| S | I | T | E | A | S | C | O | T | D | A | L | I | A | B | R | A | ||||
| C | M | E | R | E | T | O | T | E | S | W | I | N | T | R | Y | M | I | X | ||
| A | H | A | D | I | A | N | E | Y | A | W | N | V | I | S | I | N | E | |||
| M | O | R | N | I | N | G | F | R | O | S | T | G | L | A | D | T | I | S | ||
| L | E | T | S | E | E | S | T | E | W | O | D | E | S | |||||||
| M | E | O | W | S | C | R | O | W | E | A | G | O | A | L | O | U | ||||
| U | S | O | T | O | U | R | D | A | M | A | G | I | N | G | W | I | N | D | S | |
| I | A | S | S | U | M | E | E | L | I | D | E | S | I | A | M | T | O | O | ||
| R | U | E | T | A | W | A | T | C | O | S | T | T | Y | S | O | N | S |
| A | S | K | S | W | E | T | C | C | T | V | H | E | A | V | E | S | ||||
| C | H | I | A | S | I | N | E | O | R | E | O | U | M | P | I | R | E | |||
| D | I | D | N | T | M | I | S | S | A | B | E | A | T | H | O | R | N | E | D | |
| C | A | D | D | I | E | U | S | E | A | C | E | D | J | E | N | N | A | |||
| M | A | D | E | A | R | A | S | H | D | E | C | I | S | I | O | N | ||||
| C | I | C | E | R | O | R | E | I | N | E | R | S | E | W | ||||||
| S | O | S | O | V | O | I | L | A | N | O | R | I | S | K | ||||||
| K | N | O | W | T | H | E | D | R | I | L | L | E | L | I | S | H | A | |||
| A | S | S | E | R | T | Y | A | P | E | E | Y | O | R | E | T | O | N | |||
| C | R | I | M | P | S | O | N | E | O | N | D | W | E | L | T | |||||
| E | P | E | E | L | O | S | T | M | Y | T | O | U | C | H | I | P | A | S | ||
| M | O | L | D | S | S | E | O | U | L | G | E | O | D | E | S | |||||
| I | R | E | P | R | E | Y | O | N | A | D | A | S | O | N | O | M | A | |||
| L | E | S | S | E | E | G | A | V | E | M | E | T | H | E | N | O | D | |||
| T | W | O | C | A | R | V | A | L | E | T | R | I | N | D | ||||||
| K | I | A | R | O | T | A | T | E | C | O | P | S | T | O | ||||||
| S | A | W | R | I | G | H | T | T | H | R | O | U | G | H | M | E | ||||
| C | R | A | S | S | N | E | A | R | C | N | N | B | R | A | I | S | E | |||
| A | M | N | I | O | S | S | T | A | N | D | C | O | R | R | E | C | T | E | D | |
| R | I | N | G | U | P | T | A | C | O | A | M | I | E | H | E | A | D | |||
| S | C | A | N | T | Y | S | T | E | M | P | E | G | E | M | M | Y |
| O | F | T | S | P | A | T | B | A | R | O | N | H | A | B | L | A | ||||
| P | L | E | A | R | A | G | U | A | L | O | H | A | A | P | L | U | S | |||
| A | I | R | G | U | I | T | A | R | P | L | A | Y | S | A | T | R | I | C | K | |
| H | R | R | E | P | T | I | N | T | O | R | A | R | E | I | N | K | S | |||
| S | T | A | N | D | S | I | N | T | H | E | W | A | Y | C | O | L | D | |||
| T | O | O | I | N | S | T | L | E | N | S | C | A | P | |||||||
| J | E | R | K | S | A | R | O | U | N | D | M | I | D | U | S | E | ||||
| A | B | U | K | E | R | R | S | C | A | M | A | O | R | T | A | |||||
| D | O | S | E | D | F | A | L | L | S | O | U | T | O | F | F | A | V | O | R | |
| E | Y | E | L | E | V | E | L | A | W | A | R | E | L | I | T | E | R | |||
| A | C | E | R | L | W | O | R | D | L | O | E | B | ||||||||
| C | S | P | A | N | D | A | F | O | E | G | O | P | L | A | C | E | S | |||
| B | A | T | S | F | I | V | E | H | U | N | D | R | E | D | D | R | A | W | L | |
| F | R | E | E | S | E | A | R | L | N | A | E | S | M | A | E | |||||
| F | O | R | H | E | N | B | E | A | R | S | I | N | M | I | N | D | ||||
| S | N | I | F | T | E | R | G | L | A | M | R | O | E | |||||||
| L | O | C | S | P | L | A | N | T | S | E | V | I | D | E | N | C | E | |||
| S | M | I | Z | E | S | H | O | T | S | O | M | E | U | T | A | H | N | |||
| P | U | Z | Z | L | E | S | O | V | E | R | D | A | R | K | H | U | M | O | R | |
| O | N | E | I | L | S | T | E | N | O | A | I | D | A | P | E | S | O | |||
| T | I | D | E | S | N | O | D | T | O | S | L | I | T | D | E | N |
| R | O | F | L | A | W | E | D | T | R | E | A | T | T | E | M | P | T | |||
| O | U | R | S | C | A | L | E | R | A | S | T | A | A | N | A | I | S | |||
| S | T | U | D | F | A | R | M | S | A | Z | T | E | C | B | R | I | N | K | ||
| A | R | I | L | I | M | I | T | S | E | E | O | O | L | O | N | G | S | |||
| O | T | H | O | U | R | I | A | H | R | E | B | R | A | N | D | |||||
| B | A | S | P | A | N | I | C | B | A | D | R | I | P | |||||||
| T | E | A | R | S | A | T | E | D | A | M | B | R | O | U | H | A | H | A | ||
| A | R | T | D | E | C | O | D | E | N | I | M | O | C | T | A | G | O | N | ||
| D | O | O | R | S | T | O | P | S | O | L | E | M | N | E | L | O | P | E | ||
| S | S | N | S | N | U | G | N | A | T | O | C | R | O | N | E | S | ||||
| S | T | U | R | I | B | N | O | T | H | I | S | |||||||||
| C | A | T | N | A | P | G | A | R | B | O | H | H | I | W | A | S | ||||
| A | R | I | A | L | S | E | N | I | O | R | S | E | N | D | H | E | L | P | ||
| R | E | S | P | E | C | T | T | A | X | E | D | A | U | R | E | L | I | A | ||
| L | A | T | E | S | H | O | W | R | I | T | A | R | A | I | L | C | A | R | ||
| A | S | H | I | R | A | N | I | G | H | T | F | L | O | |||||||
| E | V | I | L | E | Y | E | G | E | N | U | S | T | O | M | B | |||||
| H | A | S | I | D | I | C | A | W | L | A | M | U | S | E | E | A | U | |||
| O | R | E | O | S | O | H | G | E | E | B | A | R | C | R | A | W | L | S | ||
| S | C | A | L | A | U | B | E | R | S | I | N | G | A | C | A | S | E | |||
| E | S | S | A | Y | P | O | R | E | S | T | E | E | D | E | G | A | D |
Jim here, sitting in for Jeff Chen who is ROFL.
Sunday NYT puzzles have titles. (With rare exceptions, other days do not.) Sometimes the title gives away the trick, and for that reason, many solvers avert their eyes. Today, I was able to guess the gimmick from the title alone. Fortunately, I guessed wrong, and the real trick is more fun than just shifting ON within a word. Here's how it works:
- In the bottom half of the grid, common phrases have their terminal ONs expurgated.
- Following Conservation laws, those ONs have to go somewhere. They float up to the ends of the answers immediately above.
These theme types work best when the modifications completely change the meaning of the base text, and that's where this puzzle shines. 3-Down transmogrifies BAT to BATON. That ON was stolen from SEASON in the answer below. Oh, Cap'n, 'TIS THE SEAS is the perfect answer to "Why art thou queasy?"
Entertaining themes only get you so far on a big Sunday crossword. You also need a sprinkling of outstanding clues.
- "God whose name sounds like the ammunition he uses" is Eros (aka, Cupid) whose ammunition (!) is ARROWS. Do they sound the same? Very close!
- "Takes a car, in a way." In a way gets us thinking that this must be either something about REPO or maybe GRAND THEFT AUTO. Wrong. When one UBERS, one takes a car. I love clues that I know I could never have thought up.
This is the second recent puzzle where a word got transformed into COUP. Perhaps the next one will run on January 6.