Shaun Phillips author page
2 puzzles by Shaun Phillips
with Constructor comments
| T | A | B | L | E | T | S | K | S | P | I | C | O | ||
| E | G | R | E | T | I | K | E | A | E | V | A | N | ||
| T | O | O | T | H | F | A | I | R | Y | P | O | N | E | |
| S | N | O | R | E | R | A | S | T | I | N | ||||
| I | M | A | G | I | N | A | R | Y | F | R | I | E | N | D |
| D | E | M | O | C | D | A | B | O | D | E | ||||
| E | G | O | B | U | N | I | O | N | ||||||
| A | R | E | Y | O | U | F | O | R | R | E | A | L | ||
| N | E | W | M | O | M | B | A | Y | ||||||
| L | A | S | S | I | S | E | A | I | C | E | ||||
| L | O | C | H | N | E | S | S | M | O | N | S | T | E | R |
| A | S | T | R | O | H | E | Y | D | A | Y | ||||
| D | E | S | I | S | A | N | T | A | C | L | A | U | S | |
| E | T | O | N | H | U | S | H | T | U | T | S | I | ||
| N | O | N | E | O | N | E | S | S | M | E | A | R |
Hello again, friends! You can imagine me shouting 32A in jubilation when the acceptance email came through for this puzzle so soon after my first one had run — and they were published within two weeks of each other. What a thrill!
I was worried about turning 40 this year, but having that landmark birthday fall serendipitously between these two publishing dates helps me feel as if I'm experiencing my 51A instead. Cue the "DAD!" dance move from the "Bluey" theme song.
The inspiration for this puzzle came when I uttered the revealer phrase to my young daughters during one of their many ridiculous antics. The idea of blurting this phrase out when face-to-face with similarly unbelievable beings ran from there.
I appreciate the editors allowing me to sneak the rare and elusive second revealer in at 49D. I'm also grateful to them for helping me keep today's clues Monday-friendly. I fear my debut puzzle on July 24 may have given some solvers cause to grumble, as if I were, in fact, the token-thieving, toy-hogging claw machine depicted in that grid.
I want to thank you (yes, you, dear solver) for taking time to enjoy these funny little gridded pieces of my heart that the wonderful New York Times team helped me share. I appreciate you and hope that you enjoyed the solve.
| S | T | U | B | H | U | B | T | E | C | H | I | E | S | |
| P | I | E | R | O | N | E | R | E | R | I | N | S | E | |
| A | L | F | A | L | F | A | O | N | A | T | E | A | R | |
| S | T | A | N | D | I | N | M | I | N | I | S | U | B | |
| D | O | T | S | P | E | E | T | |||||||
| J | O | A | N | N | O | B | E | S | E | |||||
| O | S | H | E | A | A | T | M | P | I | D | A | Y | ||
| C | L | A | W | M | A | C | H | I | N | E | G | A | M | E |
| K | O | S | I | N | D | Y | C | A | R | M | E | D | ||
| W | N | Y | C | A | T | A | D | |||||||
| I | C | E | H | U | T | U | T | U | R | N | S | |||
| C | A | R | O | T | I | D | I | R | O | N | O | U | T | |
| A | M | U | S | E | M | E | N | T | A | R | C | A | D | E |
| R | I | P | E | E | M | A | I | L | E | R | I | N | ||
| E | S | T | O | P | S | S | E | T |
Greetings, friends and fellow crossworld denizens! I'm honored to make my debut. Thanks to Christina Iverson, Tracy Bennett, and the rest of the New York Times puzzle team for their thoughtful feedback and editing along the way. I also want to thank the many constructors who built wonderful, creative puzzles over the years that I derived relaxation, education and joy from solving.
As with my luck using the consternating contraption depicted in this grid, only after many "dropped" attempts did I finally snag a prize with today's puzzle. To all of you budding constructors diligently feeding your time and energy tokens into the puzzle-building process, I'm rooting for you! It's worth $18 of quarters (emotions) to haul in the $5 stuffed animal (published debut) that you can brag about to your friends who really only came for the pizza (Wordle) and candy (the Mini). Darn. My metaphor is giving me a "game over" alert.
The inspiration for this puzzle took hold when my longtime love-hate relationship with 35As bumped into my newfound love-love relationship with the niche and nerdy art form that is crossword grid art. An artsy nod of respect to the aficionado Jeff Chen, whose curated collection of beautifully blocky pieces and master class of insights helped immensely in developing my tastes.
My home is Silicon Valley, where 31D-powered doohickeys frolic autonomously like herds of wild antelope, but I grew up in Middle Tennessee, so I'm pleased that the editorial team allowed my decidedly tougher, but refreshingly G-rated and bedazzled, clue reference for 49D. I have three amazing daughters and an incredible wife who will appreciate this puzzle's remaining family-friendly. Next time any of you are out on Broadway in Nashville, be sure to visit the iconic 49D's Honky Tonk.
I hope solving this puzzle gave you a nice pick-me-up!